The Unraveling of Julia

Edgar winner Scottoline (The Truth About the Devlins) delivers a pulpy paranormal gothic set in the Tuscan countryside. After Julia Pritzker’s husband is murdered in their Philadelphia neighborhood, she receives a letter informing her she’s inherited a €3 million estate in Chianti. Her benefactor is a stranger named Emilia Rossi, and Julia—who was adopted as an infant, and has no idea who her birth parents are—suspects the inheritance might point toward answers about her origins. As Julia settles into her Italian villa, she learns from her neighbors and new housekeeper that Emilia was a recluse (some say madwoman) who believed she was a descendent of the strong-willed 16th century duchess Caterina Sforza. Though Julia’s not opposed to the occult, she’s mostly embarrassed by Emilia’s musings, until she starts sensing the duchess’s presence wafting through the villa’s corridors. As Julia scrambles to figure out what’s going on with the help of handsome librarian Gianluca Moretti, she learns she may possess long-dormant supernatural abilities. Scottoline serves up plenty of Tuscan atmosphere for the armchair traveler, but her plotting is unfocused, with Julia’s journey of self-discovery too tangled up in convoluted subplots to land. This is a mixed bag. Agent: Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media Group. (July)