A Stranger in Disguise (A Commissario Scala Mystery in Rome) by P.J. Mann – Review by Tara Johnson Barnes

A Stranger in Disguise: An Italian Murder Mystery by P. J. Mann
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A foreign acting company has come to Rome to put on a play to raise funds for a crumbling old theatre when suddenly one of their actors winds up dead. Detective Scala ends up with the task of solving the murder which initially seems easy enough. The last person to see the victim becomes the prime suspect who just happens to have been caught on surveillance leaving the area at the same time as the murder. The disappearance of the prime suspect makes them look even more guilty until their body is also discovered. Detective Scala now figures that there must be more to the case than initially suspected and starts to dig farther. As he digs farther into the life of the victim he learns that she had her own deep, dark secrets. It is up to Detective Scala to figure out what the victim’s secrets were before more innocent lives are lost.

This murder mystery was brilliantly written, and I was in awe of the determination Detective Scala had to solve the case. He really sunk his teeth into the mystery and would not let go until the case was solved. The more Detective Scala looked into the murders the more layers of the proverbial onion he was able to peel back. The case turned out to be far more complex and involved than he originally thought but it only made Detective Scala work harder to uncover the truth. He was hyper focused, determined, hardworking, diligent, and smart. Detective Scala is the type of person you would want to have on your side. A great book full of action, suspense, mystery, intrigue, and a few twists and turns that will take you by surprise!

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