Of Masques and Murder

Carnevale in Acorn Hollow is all about masquerade balls and sinfully delicious Italian desserts. But this year, it’s being spiced up with disastrous romances, blackmail, and even a murder….In the Italian-American community of Acorn Hollow, it’s Carnevale. The townspeople are reveling in masked balls and lively processions-and overindulging in meaty lasagnas and rich desserts like sanguinaccio and bomboloni.For once, though, the town’s most ardent Italophile, matriarch-turned-reporter Rita Calabrese, is not in the holiday spirit. With no crime to solve, nothing to write about, and the clock ticking down towards her hasty and ill-advised Lenten resolution to stop interfering in (or, as she would say, improving ) the lives of others, she’s staring down forty days of sheer boredom.But that’s before her twin sister is blackmailed for a scandalous indiscretion and the world’s most uncouth, boorish houseguest shows up and refuses to leave until Rita gives him a crash course in feminism and romance, all to woo back his estranged wife.Rita tries to adhere to her Lenten resolution, but fate has other plans. When a friend’s wine is poisoned at a masquerade ball and a local vintner’s glamorous fiancee is murdered, Rita bows to the inevitable and dives into an investigation rife with suspects and riven by romantic entanglements and family drama. Featuring mouth-watering recipes for Italian classics, including lasagna and Italian Easter pie!