Talking Location With … Kat Gordon: ICELAND
Mystery full of atmosphere set in TUSCANY
23rd February 2026
An Enigma by the Sea by Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini, mystery full of atmosphere set in Tuscany.
An Enigma by the Sea by Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini, translated into English by Gregory Dowling, is an atmospheric, cleverly humorous, and quintessentially Italian mystery straight out of the Agatha Christie genre. It transports readers straight to the wintry Tuscan coast with evocative prose that describes an environment as central to the novel as the group of eccentric characters who all play their part.
Set within an exclusive gated community hidden among the pine forests of the Maremma, the novel blends mystery with philosophical rumination and social satire. The characters are introduced gradually but charmingly although it did take me a few chapters to understand who was who – perhaps that had more to do with the unfamiliar Italian names than anything to do with the prose.
The evocative sense of place comes across strongly, especially in the first few chapters. The Gualdana—a fictional enclave along the Tyrrhenian coastline—is depicted with brooding winter skies, dense forests and a sense of secrecy that permeates its villas and pathways. From the sprawling pine groves to the icy sea where, first, a British toddler goes missing, then a dubious count’s body washes ashore, the authors create a setting steeped in atmosphere. This is not what your usual summer tourist has in mind when thinking of Tuscany: it is wintry, brittle and steeped in mystery.
And, of course, to add to the mystery, there has to be a crime. The bumbling detective is aided by a few well-meaning sidekicks and locals, much like an Agatha Christie mystery!
The story does take its time to build as the atmosphere builds. But this is the authors’ way of building the suspense – indeed, the central crime doesn’t happen until well into the novel, and the focus on character observation and mood nearly put me off. But eventually tensions rise, obsessions become obvious, Tarot cards prevail – and ultimately, the amateur detective prevails.
An eccentric novel? Definitely. Atmospheric? Certainly. A slow burn? Almost certainly.
Val for the TripFiction Team
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