SCATTERED LEGACY: MURDER IN
To outsiders, the relationship between Manhattan antiquities assessor Annalisse Drury and sports car magnate Alec Zavos must look carefree and glamorous. In reality, it’s a love affair regularly punctuated by treasure hunting, high adventure, and the occasional dead body.
When Alec schedules a getaway trip to show Annalisse his mother’s Italian birthplace, he squeezes in the high-stakes business of divesting his family’s corporation. But things go terribly wrong as murder makes its familiar reappearance in their lives – and this time it’s Alec’s disgraced former CFO who’s the main suspect.
Accompanied by friend and detective Bill Drake, Annalisse and Alec find themselves embroiled in a behind-closed-doors conspiracy that threatens the reputation and legacy of Alec’s late father – linking him to embezzlement, extortion, and the dirty business of the Sicilian Mafia. The key to it all might be a gifted set of rosary beads where Annalisse can use her skills for appraising artifacts to uncover the truth. She leads Alec toward answers that are unthinkable—and events that will change their futures forever.
Scattered Legacy is the third in Marlene M. Bell’s thrilling Annalisse series, which weaves romance, crime, and historical mystery into addictive tales to instantly captivate fans of TV show Bones or Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.
This time around in the Annaisse series, we have Annalisse and Alec trying to rekindle some romance and relax on vacation in Italy. But, needless to say, that plan does not work out! They end up saving a cat from a mobster, researching an ancient rosary, and solving a couple of murders to boot! If you need to catch up with the series, read my review of STOLEN OBSESSION (Book 1) and SPENT IDENTITY (Book 2).
Let’s start with the end of the novel. Because this novel ends with a bang! I found the reading slow to start, but those final four chapters were worth the wait. Between the action sequences, the reveal of a surprise baddie, and all the characters in peril, Ms. Bell does a wonderful job with the wrap up of SCATTERED LEGACY.
Ms. Bell’s writing flows well and is very descriptive and conversational. There is a section where Joey, one of the mobsters, is reminiscing about blood oranges that had me adding oranges to my grocery list for the week. And being glad I never had to pick oranges as a kid.
Along with Annalisse and Alec, Italy and the Italian police are vivid characters within the book. Especially the police. I love this quote from P.I. Bill Drake:
Capture in a foreign county by police adds half a dozen reasons why detectives should study international law if they’re planning to go abroad. Drake skipped that part.
Ok. Yes. Bill remains one of my favorite characters in this series! What can I say? I’m a sucker for a P.I. in a Hawaiian shirt!
While the book is mostly told from Annalisse’s point of view, we have a few chapters from the mobsters and Alec. I appreciated the POV of the mobsters and learning more of their backstory. But I’d love to read more of Alec’s point of view. I think it would help give the readers further connect with his character.
Now to those rosary beads I mentioned earlier. Part of what I’ve enjoyed throughout this series is the connection of ancient artifacts to present times, through history and flashbacks. The special rosary beads in SCATTERED LEGACY are no different. I’ll leave that secret for you to explore yourself. But let’s just say, look to the heavens for inspiration.
I have mixed feelings about Annalisse. I really do appreciate her big heart, intuition, and especially her reliance on research to solve problems. But her lack of confidence in herself, and more importantly, her lack of confidence in her relationship with Alec resulted in disengagement for me as a reader. Given the world today, I’d rather have a confident heroine that I can believe in. I will say that Annalisse does begin to redeem herself in respect to Alec and their relationship by the end of the novel.
While SCATTERED LEGACY is the third in a series, Ms. Bell sprinkles enough of the previous stories into this one to easily follow along. Honestly, I’ve read the first two and had a difficult time remembering some what happened in the first two books, so I was glad of the refresher!
I do enjoy a good crime\amateur sleuth story. Especially when it comes with a side of globe-trotting. If you enjoy that as well, check out Annalisse’s series!
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I love your perspective after having read all 3 books in the series. I have read the first 2 and look forward to this Italian escape (and cliffhanger ending)! That means there’s a book 4!
Thanks, Kristine! And I agree on that cliffhanger ending!