Why a Booktrail?
2000s: The Todes are heading to Italy – and taking murder and mayhem with them.
Old School Ties
What you need to know before your trail
Close to Rome, set among ancient ruins and freshwater springs, languishes the magnificent Villa Rospo, a jewel in the Tode family portfolio, and one they had virtually forgotten – until Sir Ecgbert and Alice decide it’s the perfect place for their honeymoon. Now suddenly everyone wants a piece.
Sir Ecgbert’s brother Esmé sees it as an opportunity to restore his lost fortunes by turning it into a luxury eco wellness hub. His business partner Charlie Tysedale only wants it to escape from his dreaded bestselling-author wife. India Tode sees in it the ideal holiday home, while Sir Ecgbert envisages a yoga retreat. Piers Slayer-Wilson-Tite, has his eye on making it his personal love-nest. Meanwhile, some of the locals have excellent reasons for keeping it just the way it is.
When the body of Piers’s wife, Elizabetta, is discovered floating among grapefruits in the spring at the bottom of Villa Rospo’s famous gardens, there’s only one thing everyone agrees on . . . that there’s absolutely no need to call the police.
Travel Guide
The Gardens of Ninfa and the Gardens of Rospo
The Gardens of Rospo in the novel are fictional and inspired by the very real Gardens of Ninfa in Lazio, Italy. The author says in her author note that these gardens are magical and easily reachable from Rome.
“Built around clear=water springs and the ruins of an ancient city, the city of Ninfa was sacked in 1399 and never quite recovered. At the turn of the 20th century, Ninfa was transformed into a pleasure gardens by English aristocrats. Gardeners working there today still occasionally dig up human bones.
Leonardo da Vinci, of many talents, was set the to the crumbling city of Ninfa by the Duke of Milan to do something about the drainage. It was one of the many tasks he never saw through to the end.”
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Old School Ties
Destination: Rome Author/guide: Daisy Waugh Departure Time: 2000s
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