Best Served Cold (Rick Montoya Italian Mysteries, #8)

by David Wagner

Revenge is a dish best served cold

When an old college friend leading a religious tour in Assisi asks interpreter Rick Montoya to fill in for their guide who's gone missing, Rick is happy to oblige. He's looking forward to seeing his old friend, and the food and wine of Umbria sound like the perfect reward for a tense translation job he's just completed for the police in Palermo involving witness testimony against the mafia.

But when the shady tour guide is found dead the next morning under suspicious circumstances, Rick's relaxing gig turns into an unofficial job assisting the local police inspector with her interviews of the tour group members. Could one of the pious pilgrims be a cold-blooded killer? Or has one of the victim's many shady dealings finally caught up with him?

For fans of Martin Walker and Donna Leon, BEST SERVED COLD takes readers on a delicious excursion through the Umbrian hills as Rick leads his tour-and the police investigation-to a killer conclusion.

• ISBN10: 1728271010
• ISBN13: 9781728271019
• Publish Date: 1 September 2023
• Publish Status: Transferred
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Poisoned Pen Press
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 256
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Best Served Cold is the 8th mystery featuring translator and amateur sleuth Rick Montoya written by David P. Wagner. Released 1st Aug 2023 by Sourcebooks on their Poisoned Pen Press imprint, it's 244 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats. 

This is a destination mystery, and the settings and culture are wonderfully integral to the story. The protagonist is an unusual one, he's a translator and consultant and is drawn into working with the police when an acquaintance (also a translator and guide) disappears and turns up dead.

It's an intricate and very well crafted plot and the characters are finely rendered and believable. Although not *at all* derivative, it reminds me in a lot of positive ways of Leon's wonderful Brunetti mysteries, and the Bruno mysteries by Martin Walker.

The intertwined mysteries and denouement and resolution are well done and satisfying. It's a self-contained novel, so it's not necessary to have read the other books in the series. With 8 books extant already, it would make a great choice for a binge or buddy read. The quality is high enough and it's well written enough to also be a good candidate for a mystery bookclub selection. 

Four and a half stars. Really well done.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.