A private island on Lake Garda is the setting for the wedding of Iralian influencer Eva and English businessman Laurence. When one of the wedding party is found dead, it is clear that the killer is one of the group on the island. Will the police arrive before the murderer strikes again?

The story is told from the viewpoint of multiple characters, who slowly help the reader gain insight. I realised who the killer was quite early on,but hadn't pieced together they why or how. An enjoyable read, 3 and half stars rounded to 4.

Castello Fiore is a private island on Lake Garda and the setting for the wedding of Laurence to Italian influencer Eva Bianchi.
Eva had upset several people but others there have darker secrets.
Just as the wedding is about to begin there is a scream and Eva is found dead and the killer is amongst them.

An interesting concept leading to a great read. A well known influencer Eva is preparing for her wedding at a castle on the edge of Lake Garda. There is tension between some of the guests , particularly the grooms brothers ,one of whom is about to open a high class wine bar , but his family and an old school friend {employed by the family} try to get him to join the family firm. There are also a couple of guests who do not fit in , supposedly distant cousins of the Bride.As the guests gather for the ceremony there is a scream and the bride is found dead near the castle entrance stabbed with a valuable ceremonial dagger. Who could have done this and why leads to an interesting story and shows things were not as they first appeared on the surface.

Having read Tom Hindle’s previous novels I was looking forward to his latest Murder on Lake Garda. A society wedding is due to take place in a castle on a private island on Lake Garda but before the vows are taken murder takes place. All is certainly not what it seems and many family secrets come out as the guests realise that they are trapped waiting for the police to arrive. I really enjoyed this story which had me hooked from the start and certainly kept me turning the pages. The characters were well crafted if not necessarily all very likeable. The authors writing seems to improve with each novel and this is his best yet. With a modern nod to the golden age of crime writing this book stand out. I’ll certainly be waiting in anticipation for the next. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this novel in return for an honest review.

Having read A Fatal Crossing and loved it I was pleased to be given the chance to read Murder on Lake Garda and I wasn't disappointed .What a fabulous read ! Set in a glamourous castle on an island in Lake Garda there is to be a Wedding attended by well to do British and Italian guests no expense spared .Then on the day of the Wedding there is a scream and a body is found stabbed to death in a cove ,but who is the murderer ?The island is locked down waiting for the Police to arrive but the murderer is still amongst them all. The story kept me guessing all the way through fast paced a joy to read .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.

Well, as weddings go, this one is surely memorable. At least ... is it a wedding if the ceremony doesn't actually take place? A certain, how should I put it ...? disruption stops proceedings before they really get going, and soon the guests of this swanky, not going to be wedding are trapped in an exclusive Island venue with a murderer. It's a locked room mystery with a difference, but even the champagne, the fancy castle and the beautiful Italian sunshine can't remove the chill that fils the air.

It's hard to review this book without giving away too much, but it is safe to say that one of the wedding party meets their end in the most dramatic way, and best laid plans are soon scuppered. It is an intriguing premise and an arguably unlikeable set of wedding guests, so it is also one of those scenarios where you don't necessarily feel any sympathy for the victim, more the thrill of the chase as the list of suspects is finite. It can only be one of the people on the island, can't it? Well, the thing about islands is that they are fully accessible by boat - as long as you have one. So maybe the list isn't as short as it could be. It's a true mystery, a whodunnit that spotlights the author's talent for creating a Christie like tale and some truly wicked and detestable characters.

I liked the way in which the author built up this story, using the point of view of someone who sits just outside of the elite group whose wedding we are about to attend. Our principal narrator in this murder mystery is Robyn, connected to the 'family' by way of her partner, who happens to be the groom's brother, Toby. Robyn is trained as a journalist, a skill that adds to the story in unexpected ways. There are a lot of dark secrets to be uncovered between the two families, the Bride's and the Groom's, and Robyn's inquisitive nature lends and authenticity to her pursuit of the truth in spite of the danger she faces. When one murder becomes two, she may well hold the key to solving the whole mystery. Her's isn't the inly perspective, and the author uses the alternate narrative carefully to sow seeds of doubt about motive and add to the tension.

The author does a grand job of creating a myriad suspects, and dressing the landscape and the story with red herrings and misdirection. Despite the very modern world in which the story is set - a world of Instagram Influencers and Hedge Fund Management - there is a very Christie-esque feel to this book. That sense that dark things can happen in beautiful places. Tom Hindle creates such a vibrant and vivid depiction of Lake Garda and the ostentatious island setting for the wedding with all its coves and secrets, that it I felt transported. The family are the kind of privileged, affected idiots that have you rooting for the underdog, and the motive is as old as time. It works perfectly to create a wonderful piece of not quite so cosy crime fiction. I really enjoyed it.

Murder mysteries keep chugging along, though my feeling is that Murder On Lake Garda wants to be a little more distinguished than the ticking over of endless cupcake cosy mysteries. There is an attempt to play with the big boys of yore here, not least in its length and its structure. After a brief bit of foreshadowing, we join our characters a couple of days before a wedding on an island on Lake Garda. So we have a confined space, we have an event where there are lots of family and so-called friends all tensely rubbing up against each other, and - in our nod to the current age - a victim who is an Instagram influence of little popularity with the party. She's Italian, the rest are the kind of characters that could have turned up in Saltburn, not landed gentry but the kind of working bank rich that expect the next generation to work in the family business, and cover up for each other's indiscretions. The book is partially quite so long because there are so many suspects and motives.

The book itself has a couple of viewpoint characters, whose insight and knowledge actually narrows down the suspect pool pretty quickly. Probably the lead sleuth is an ex-journalist in a relationship with the warward brother who wanted to be journalist but got sick of only being offered clickbait jobs (which feels a bit author insert). The misdirects are solid. and once you've thrown in a Mafia subplot (we are in Italy) and a missing antique, the book manages to fill its run time and reveal its secrets the requisite two pages behind the reader. Not reinventing the form, but sits nicely within it.

Not an heir to Dame Agatha, sadly. This was a bit run of the mill for me and didn't really grab me. Loved the setting and the descriptions were very evocative. I just couldn't focus on the book without my mind wandering-sorry

A major thank you to the wonderful team at Penguin for granting me access to this arc. As a bit of a murder mystery fanatic, I was expecting big things.

This was a fun murder mystery, with a range of complex narrative threads. I was slightly confused throughout, but I think it adds to the whole experience of the novel if you are sat with one thousand and one questions swirling through your head.

One thing that's for sure, is that Tom Hindle can write. There is no denying the literary talent that he possesses and the way in which he describes settings makes it genuinely easy to picture the places within the narrative. Hindle also was able to build tension excellently and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout most of the narrative.

I just felt as though the narrative didn't reach the heights I wanted it too. Nonetheless, it was a cosy little murder mystery with fantastic description and shade EVERYWHERE.

I have read A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle but it wasn’t for me. I thought I would give him another go as I was drawn to the lovely cover and liked the premise of the book. Murder on Lake Garda is published on 18th January 2024.

The story is set in Italy, on a private island on Lake Garda. The wealthy Laurence Heywood is going to marry Eva Bianchi, an Italian influencer. As everyone is waiting for Eva to come down the aisle, there’s a scream…

I liked the setting of the book a lot and it was great escapism, especially in the cold and Wintery weather. There were quite a lot of characters, none of them particularly likeable. They all felt like they were lacking depth for me and some of them were so cliche.

The book felt too slow paced for me. The chapters were nice and short and I was curious enough to keep reading, but I was never totally invested and gripped by the story. I felt like it was missing something. Despite two murders occurring on the island, it’s a long time before anyone takes matters into their own hands and contacts the police themselves. I found this a bit unlikely. I also wondered why the other staff didn’t do anything? Where were they when everything was going on?

Overall, I preferred this book to A Fatal Crossing, but it didn’t quite hit the spot for me. Thanks to Penguin Random House UK and NetGalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

The setting for this murder mystery is a beautiful island in the middle of Lake Garda. However, an island means that the wedding party are trapped with the body of the bride and of course, the murderer is stuck there as well. The mystery is full of suspense with lots of sinister and worrying sub-plots going on among the guests and family. Inevitably this means lots of possible suspects which leads to lots of twists and turns and red herrings of course. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review

The setting for this murder mystery is enviable, set on a beautiful island in the middle of Lake Garda - but it also means that the wedding party are trapped with the body of the bride and of course, the murderer is amongst them! Suspenseful, with several equally sinister and worrying sub-plots going on amonst the guests and family, there are lots of possible suspects - and it was only just before the end that I guessed who the murderer might be!

**Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read an advanced e-copy of this book. All opinions are my own **

Amazing location and a well written enjoyable book! I read this in 3 sittings as I was intrigued to what happened next! I thought the author set the scene for the murder perfectly with the main characters having a good dose of attention within the chapters. I worked out pretty early on who the actual murderer was but I assumed this was drip fed into the plot and it didn’t ruin it for me! I was more intrigued to see ‘how’ it happened. Great read, thoroughly enjoyed!

Murder on Lake Garda by Tom Hindle is an entertaining murder mystery. It’s quite complex, with a variety of false leads, but for me it lacks something that would make it compelling, and I’d rate it a fun read.

The novel centres on a gathering of well-to-do British and Italian guests at a wedding in a fairy-tale castle on Lake Garda. From the outset relationships are strained between various groups of guests and family members. It becomes clear that several of them have terrible secrets and axes to grind. The couple who are marrying are Laurence Heywood, from a wealthy British family and Eva Bianchi, an attractive Italian social media influencer. Guest Robyn feels a misfit at the wedding. Her partner, Toby Heywood, is the son of the hosts but he has rejected a role in the family business and they blame Robyn for influencing his decision.

The guests participate in various events prior to the day of the wedding, with relationships between them not getting any better. Then there’s a murder. Who might be responsible? Robyn hasn’t met any of her fellow guests before, so we learn about them through her eyes. As far as the families are concerned because Robyn is a stranger that makes her a suspect too. Both Robyn and other guests think they have theories about who had the motive and the opportunity to be the murderer. An additional complication is that among the guests are two unidentified individuals. Are they the true murderers? Now everyone is trapped in the castle on the tiny island and the police haven’t shown up to investigate and prevent any further disaster.

Hindle is wonderfully descriptive and it’s easy to imagine the dramatic setting of the story: the glamour, luxury and sheer beauty of the Italian location are a stark contrast with the horror and tragedy that’s taking place.

The author builds the tension and suggests a number of possible perpetrators among the case of characters. The characters are given detailed back stories, but they are mostly not very likeable, and I found it hard to empathise with them. The denouement wasn’t entirely surprising, though there were a few details that were nicely handled and made the journey worthwhile.

An entertaining story, with some good red herrings.. It never really rang true in parts and a fair number of the characters were very cliched . I felt the book described the ambiance of Lake Garda very well. A good holiday read. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

4.25🌟
A fast paced, easy to follow read with twists and turns all round the place. There are parts where I found it easy to guess and then changed my mind and then changed it again, but I feel that shows the quality of this murder mystery.

I liked the fact we didn't follow a detective round, instead we got chapters from different characters so we could see all of the chaos unravelling behind the scenes and understand the true nature of what was going on.

The book is also laid our starting in the present then taking you on a bit of a flashback before ending up back in the present again, which is quite nice to add a solid level of backstory so it's easy to understand and introduces the characters well.

An intimate wedding in the most beautiful surroundings, what could possibly go wrong. Well there is always a murder of course. This is a very modern twist on the golden age of crime murder mysteries that are so popular at the moment. There is a cast of likely suspects who are all so easy to dislike you really get the feeling that any of them could be guilty. The plot twists and turns nicely, there is a modern vibe of social media influencers and the dark side of the internet.
I love the setting of this book, I am a big fan of anything Italian and the author really gives you a sense of place in his descriptions. The cast of characters are very well written, so much so that they are all really dislikeable which is, I think, what the author was aiming for.A very engaging read.

The landscape described in this book is wonderful, is a true escape and has such potential. However, I became more and more frustrated on the island with the inactivity, stupidity and downright nastiness of some characters not to mention a body appearing to be abandoned in the hot sun! The entitlement expressed by most of the ' cast makes them unlikeable. I still enjoyed large elements of the book as the descriptions in some areas exude warmth. I would recommend this as a holiday read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Robyn joins her boyfriend, Toby, for his brother, Laurence’s wedding to Italian influencer, Eva Bianchi in Lake Garda.

Toby doesn’t want to join the family business that his late father set up, no matter how much his mum and brother keep on at him.

Eva’s Dad, Vito, is keeping secrets from his family, and expects everything to be settled on his daughter’s wedding day.

When things go horrendously wrong and someone is found murdered, it is down to Robyn to work out what has happened and try to prevent anymore murders.

I read this story in one sitting, it’s a great cozy mystery. I liked the descriptive writing about Lake Garda, it meant I could picture it well in my head.

I can’t say that I was overly struck on the majority of the characters. They came across as selfish, wealthy people who didn’t care about anyone other than themselves.

I’m finding these stories are improving with each book. As I’ve stated before, the books do have an Agatha Christie style to them.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Murder on Lake Garda was a little predictable and not terribly compelling but as with Agatha Christie novels there were many guests at this wedding who had a reason to want to kill and it was enjoyable working through who was most likely candidate. The perfect holiday read.