#Blogtour The Unravelling of Julia by Lisa Scottoline

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Unravelling of Julia by Lisa Scottoline. Published by No Exit Press, pub date 14th August 2025. Blogtour courtesy of Random Things Tours.

About the Author

Lisa Scottoline is a #1 bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author of 33 novels. Lisa has been President of Mystery Writers of America and she reviews fiction and non-fiction for the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. She has over 30 million copies of her books in print and is published in over 35 countries. She lives with an array of disobedient pets, and wouldn't have it any other way. Follow @lisascottoline on X

About the book

When Julia’s husband is brutally murdered in a random attack, her life unravels in ways she never could have foreseen. Haunted by his death and spiralling into despair, Julia seeks refuge in a secluded Italian villa she has mysteriously inherited from a stranger. But her sanctuary becomes a prison as she uncovers disturbing connections to her own past – and faces chilling threats that may not be imaginary.

Caught between a heritage she doesn’t understand and a darkness she can’t escape, Julia must confront secrets that could cost her what little she has left. The Unravelling of Julia is a gripping, atmospheric tale of grief, memory, and a descent into psychological terror that will keep readers turning pages deep into the night.

Review

If you take the astrology aspect and the way Julia becomes almost obsessive in her interpretation of horoscopes and messages, it's quite easy to follow how such open and leading statements could be perceived as personal by the reader. In this case Julia makes connections and creates patterns that are a self-fulfilling prophecy. Her natural instincts on the night her husband was murdered become predictive in nature, because the astrology supports her bias and messaging.

It's not a leap to say that someone in the throws of guilt and grief could find themselves in a vulnerable position, perhaps also equally unable to see clearly through a forest of sudden new acquisitions and acquaintances. Wealth, property in Italy and a mysterious benefactor to boot.

At first Julia is drawn in by the mystery, but soon things take a more sinister turn when the property overseas appears to come with built in ghosts and night terrors, and the nearby townspeople have a dislike for anyone associated with Julia's strange benefactor.

It's mystery built on top of a house of grief and a lifetime of questions about identity. The lengths people will go to eradicate any risk to their own agenda.

Buy The Unravelling of Julia at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Bedford Square Publisher - No Exit Press, pub date 14 August 2025. Buy at Amazon com. 

#Blogtour Eternals by Lisa Scottoline

It's my turn on the Blogtour Eternal by Lisa Scottoline.

About the Author

Lisa Scottoline is a #1 bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author of 33 novels. Lisa's books are book-club favorites, and she and her daughter Francesca Serritella have hosted an annual Big Book Club Party for over a thousand readers at her Pennsylvania farm, for the past twelve years. Lisa has been President of Mystery Writers of America and she reviews fiction and non-fiction for the New York Times, Washington Post, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

She also writes a weekly column with her daughter for The Philadelphia Inquirer entitled Chick Wit, a witty take on life from a woman's perspective, which have been collected in a bestselling series of humorous memoirs. Lisa graduated magna cum laude in three years from the University of Pennsylvania, with a B.A. degree in English, and cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she taught Justice & Fiction. She has over 30 million copies of her books in print and is published in over 35 countries. She lives with an array of disobedient pets, and wouldn't have it any other way. Follow @LisaScottoline on Twitter

About the book

What war destroys, only love can heal. - Elisabetta, Marco, and Sandro grow up as the best of friends despite their differences. Elisabetta is a feisty beauty who dreams of becoming a novelist; Marco the brash and athletic son in a family of professional cyclists; and Sandro a Jewish mathematics prodigy, kind-hearted and thoughtful, the son of a lawyer and a doctor. Their friendship blossoms to love, with both Sandro and Marco hoping to win Elisabetta's heart. But in the autumn of 1937, all of that begins to change as Mussolini asserts his power, aligning Italy's Fascists with Hitler's Nazis and altering the very laws that govern Rome. In time, everything that the three hold dear--their families, their homes, and their connection to one another--is tested in ways they never could have imagined.

As anti-Semitism takes legal root and World War II erupts, the threesome realizes that Mussolini was only the beginning. Against this backdrop, the intertwined fates of Elisabetta, Marco, Sandro, and their families will be decided, in a heartbreaking story of both the best and the worst that the world has to offer.

Unfolding over decades, Eternal is a tale of loyalty and loss, family and food, love and war--all set in one of the world's most beautiful cities at its darkest moment. This moving novel will be forever etched in the hearts and minds of readers.

Review

The author not only gives an excellent view of the slowly encroaching changes, as the future horror of the Nazi era is foreshadowed in small moments and reflected in different ways for the three main characters. Each one of them has their own burdens to carry, but some of them find their lives systematically eradicated for merely being the wrong kind of person.

What is really well described is the way the Jewish people especially, were in a state of disbelief to the point of not really wanting to believe the society, friends, neighbours and colleagues suddenly viewed them as enemies of the state. More than that, they were portrayed as evil incarnate and the root of things wrong. The good citizens who fought for their country, won accolades, were scientific pillars of their countries. Why would they suddenly fear the people who had previously sang their praises.

Why would men-in-arms, veterans be completely oblivious to the fact their brothers in combat now view them as the enemy. Mussolini's homegrown fascism is seen as a completely different entity to the fuelled hatred of the Nazi regime. You know what they say  - first they came for...and then...

As the division grows and the hatred spreads the lives and relationships of Marco, Sandro and Elisabetta are changed forever.

It's a coming-of-age story embedded in one of the most disruptive periods of history with richly drawn friendships, and the emotional minefields of young people laid bare. The norm becomes a new reality, a state of fear and constant betrayal is the new friend on their shoulders. This author knows how to tug on the heartstrings and keep readers captivated.               

Buy Eternal at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎No Exit Press; pub date 9 Mar. 2023. Buy at Amazon com.