Varigotti and the contrasts between work-life and vacation time, seaside ways to make a living and the more complex networks of urban life take center stage in [b:Il Molo|21541681|Il Molo|Theresa Nash|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1395821977s/21541681.jpg|40876179].

The way coupled characters find romance, work together, eat together, quarrel together, and separate or re-commit creates the rhythms of the book.

The author self-describes [b:Il Molo|21541681|Il Molo|Theresa Nash|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1395821977s/21541681.jpg|40876179] as a 'romantic crime novel' but that doesn't quite cover all that actually happens between the characters. The book borrows elements from various forms of murder mystery, crime, and police procedurals. The story makes several attempts to assert itself in the crime genre but is, above all, a celebration of its setting on Italy's Ligurian coast.

There are other locale oriented crime stories with compelling, charismatic detectives and other murder mysteries with anti-heroes and strong dramatic arc. This story has to compete with those, but the extras here related to interpersonal dynamics are the author's true strengths. I hope we'll see more of that.

A good first effort. I would read a sequel with Martha as a protagonist set in Geneva or one where she returns to Varigotti and we learn more of inspector Moroni's life.

Martha is a character who teases and at equal turns even irritates the reader with an unusual female protagonist's inner narrative experience.

The self-examination of her dreams offers an alternate story-line. It's a literary device readers don't encounter very frequently which could make Martha a character readers want to return to if further developed.