Annamaria Alfieri

Book & Glasses


Mystery Novel Reviewers Offer High Praise for Annamaria Alfieri


The Africa Series

"Alfieri aims for the audience who loved Out of Africa, with heartbreaking romance married to a complex mystery."
- Kirkus

"With the flair of Isak Dinesen and Beryl Markham, the cunning of Agatha Christie and Elspeth Huxley and the moral sensibility of our times, Alfieri permeates this tragic novel with a condemnation of imperialism, a palpable love of Africa, a shocking conclusion and a reminder that good does not always triumph."
- Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch

"Set in 1912, Alfieri's captivating, complex second mystery set in East Africa highlights cultural and social issues."
- Publishers Weekly

"Alfieri illuminates the complexities and cruelties of the colonial rule while giving readers an engrossing romance and mystery."
- Booklist

"An enjoyable read... This historical mystery novel set in the early 20th century Kenya is worth reading."
- Old Africa Magazine

"In Alfieri's intriguing series starter, some humans are less trustworthy than the wild animals in British East Africa in the early 20th century. The author expertly captures the beauty and danger of the land and the duplicity of man."
- RT Bookreviews (4 stars)

"A beautiful and sensitive story set in colonial Africa-a moving tale of intrigue and love. Every page a pleasure."
- Michael Stanley, Barry Award Winning author of Deadly Harvest

"This fourth offering from acclaimed historical novelist Annamaria Alfieri is a departure from her earlier South American settings....a murder mystery with a romantic touch in an exotic land. The pages bring that era's African towns and jungles to life, which we would traverse today in the comfort of a jeep... we await the sequel and the appearance of Out of Africa writer Karen Blixen."
- Historical Novel Society Review

"Alfieri's novel brings Africa to Technicolor life. If you don't have the urge to re-watch Out of Africa with Robert Redford and Meryl Streep after reading Strange Gods, your sense of discovery needs to be resuscitated."
- Kings River Life Magazine

"A murder mystery in the classic whodunnit tradition...The solution is satisfyingly tragic and complex."
- Historical Novel Society Review

"From acclaimed historical novelist Annamaria Alfieri, a murder mystery with a romantic touch in an exotic land. We await the sequel."
- Historical Novels Review

"This fourth offering from acclaimed historical novelist Annamaria Alfieri is a murder mystery with a romantic touch in an exotic land."
- Historical Novel Journal

"The desire for liberty-the freedom to be one-self-is already addressed by the author in countless permutations of context, drawing upon only the first four of ten commandments. This reviewer looks forward to what lessons of tolerance and liberty the next six will bring."
- Deadly Pleasures Magazine

"I found the ending of [The Blasphemers] to be multi-layered and heart pounding. I felt a mixture of sadness and relief as I closed my Kindle. I'm curious to see where life takes Vera and Justin and the other characters next."
-Kings River Life Magazine


The South American Stories

"Alfieri effortlessly recreates 17th-century Peru in her impressive debut... The author nicely balances action and deduction in a mystery that works as a political thriller as well as a historical whodunit."
- Publishers Weekly

"In this nail-biting debut thriller..., an intriguing era in Latin American history comes alive under Alfieri's sure hand. Highly recommended."
- Library Journal

"As both history and mystery, City of Silver glitters."
- Washington Post

"Alfieri's debut is a vividly rendered historical soap opera, replete with political intrigue, church scandal, feuding families, illegitimacy, lovers past and present and women fabulously gowned and jeweled."
- Kirkus

"An engrossing, fast-paced mystery packed full of historical fact that illuminates the story but never overshadows it; a great read, highly recommended."
- Historical Novel Society

"(Alfieri's) excellent historical mystery has...heartache and sorrow, but it also has romance and humor...The mystery is the icing on an already delicious cake....people with whom I fell in love...Invisible Country is a mystery that will nearly impossible to forget."
- Gumshoe Review

"Alfieri has written an antiwar mystery that compares with the notable novels of Charles Todd."
- Kirkus Review

"A fast-paced, suspenseful thriller with a large cast of appealing characters, Invisible Country is a story about ordinary people struggling to survive. Kudos for a fascinating setting and for the unusual historical period that make this novel a refreshing, enjoyable read."
- Historical Novel Society Review

"The author's recreation of Paraguay in the 1860s is perfectly entwined with the plot and never comes off like a travelogue or historical research. Fans of historical mysteries should not pass this one up."
- Mystery Scene Magazine

"With a spectacular cast of characters who cover the wide spectrum of Argentine politics in the Perón era, Annamaria Alfieri fashions a sly mystery around the most intriguing figure of them all, Eva. Alluring and sophisticated, with enough twists and turns to bring readers into nearly every corner of Buenos Aires, Blood Tango is a single-sitting read, full of startling revelations and clever plotting."
- Manuel Muñoz, PEN/O. Henry and Whiting Writers' Award-winning author of What You See in the Dark

"Top Ten Thrillers: Blood Tango. "This inventive South American noir reimagines the colorful relationship between Argentinean president Juan Peron and his wife Eva, caught up in a brutal murder mystery amid the tumultuous political scene of 1940s Buenos Aires."
- The Christian Science Monitor

"This ambitious novel doesn't romanticize its historical figures. As Evita might have wanted, the common people are its stars."
- The Boston Globe

"A compelling mystery and a passionate and empathetic portrayal of the endlessly fascinating Evita Perón combine in a gripping tale that brings 1945 Buenos Aires fully alive."
- Carolyn Hart, author of What the Cat Saw

"Alfieri's atmospheric third stand-alone historical with a South American setting...Alfieri (Invisible Country) once again convincingly evokes another time and place."
- Publishers Weekly

"Alfieri's novels are packed with political intrigue, religious dogma, stupefying mystery, and passionate romance...Mystery fans need to discover the novels of Annamaria Alfieri...She has a talent for taking real people and placing them into fast-paced mysteries that are intriguing and controversial."
- Gumshoe Review

Silver Falchion Award Finalist
- Killer Nashville 2013

“Me gustó mucho este libro. Descripciones minuciosas me permitían imaginar la vida en las alturas del Perú, sus minas de plata, la pobreza de los indígenas con salarios irrisorios y la vida en un convento al ritmo de sus oraciones. Una atmósfera sofocante muestra la corrupción de los que están en el poder. Muchas acciones sin aliento para descubrir al culpable de los asesinatos hacen de esta novela, una historia cautivadora y muy interesante desde el punto de vista histórico.” 
- Christine Boos, NetGalley Reviewer