Siena, Italy: the land of wine, sun, and romance. Only for Faith Murphy, such things are too lucky for her. It's more like, "Fleeing four thousand miles from one Rossi only to find another Rossi and a dead man was perfect Murphy luck, Faith thought as she walked on the herringbone brick walkway.“ Well aware of her family name’s tendency towards such things, she knows all the Murphy’s Laws by heart and had added quite a few of her own.

In Dying For Siena you have a wonderful mathematician, a woman who while smart in numbers seems at a loss for love. Her boss turns out to be the evil boss of all bosses, and has zeroed in on her because of her low self-esteem. Done in by years of emotional abuse, she becomes the next victim of Dr. Kane. Only now it seems even when he's dead, she might still be his victim as she is the prime suspect in his murder. Reason being because she found him first and called it in.

Dying For Siena combines the gorgeous landscape of Siena, Italy, the traditions of Palio and the thousands of years old horse race of one area neighborhood against another. The food, smells, taste, and texture of Italy is woven so well into this story you are surprise to look up and find you are not there. All of this makes a perfect backdrop against the cold dead way that Dr. Kane was murdered. Who among the colleagues killed him? They all had motives, some more than Faith. Then there is Nick Rossi. The man she slept with and had wondrous night she can’t forget. Nor can she forget that he could not even remember her name the next morning. Now he shows up all repentant and ready to rescue. Faith wants none of it. All she wants is to be allowed to work at the Math Conference in peace.

Of course the old Murphy curse will not allow such a simple request. Faith must now find a way to beat the curse, prove her innocence, and maybe even trust her heart.

Reviewed By Nancy Louise
© February 2007