Tuscan Temper — Margaret Moore

In Borgo San Cristoro, in Tuscany, Diana Fothergill was a bit of a legend. The beautiful, blonde, English wife of Pier Francesco Guerrazzi, one of Italy's greatest composers and conductors, had been a young violinist when she met her much older, famous husband. Years of love, devotion, and raising her children with her beloved husband had filled her life. But after his death, Diana changed. Always impressive, Diana was called Madré by her children who at some point had decided she was too distant for the childish Mummy, too English for Mamma, too elegant for Ma, and too aristocratic for Mum. Once shy and reticent, she had become more restrained, remote, powerful and, toward her children, despotic. The other focus of her life besides her children, was the St. Christopher Festival which began as a way to nurture young musicians and eventually opera and theater students. The summer school and festival were quite famous and Diana reveled in controlling every detail in the lives and careers of all involved. A fearsome and fearless woman, Diana didn't realize that she had engendered a hatred in someone so fierce that one day that person would bury an ax deep in her skull as she napped in the pleasant shade of her pergola. Dr. Ruggero Di Girolamo, the magistrate in charge of the investigation, begins the task of finding a killer among Diana's family and colleagues when murder strikes again. Dr. Di Girolamo's search for the killer has a truly Tuscan flavor in this suspenseful new mystery by Margaret Moore.