Letters from Federica
BOOK REVIEW
Reviewed By K.C. Finn for Readers’ Favorite REVIEW RATING 5 STARS
BOOK REVIEW By Susan Keefe
An outstanding mystery story.
Suzanne Mondoux, the author of this outstanding mystery, is a voice for animals, an explorer and is dedicated to the protection of animals and the environment. She is a professional author of children’s and environmental books. This is her first mystery story, which I found compelling and intriguing reading, its twist and turns kept me riveted until the last page.
The protagonist is Leo Orsini a talented performance artist and songwriter, who at the age of six met the girl next door, the girl whom he would love for all his life, the beautiful Federica Russo.
Theirs was a true love story, however, it was one which was to be cut short cruelly just two weeks after their wedding, forty years before this story begins.
Leo is a generous man who has loved, drunk and eaten to excess all of his life. Surrounded by friends, he has a successful career, lives in a beautiful castle, and has found love again in the form of William, a sensitive and compassionate heart surgeon. He appears to have it all, yet he is still haunted by Federica’s disappearance.
Herself a singer, musician, and songwriter, Federica had left a series of letters to him, poems in which she expresses her deep love for him, yet also her fears. But what can she be afraid of, what demon was lurking in the shadows of her mind? How could she the happy, beautiful wife he married, in just a few days turn into a haunted woman who then disappears?
These questions torment Leo, and he is racked with guilt wondering if there were things he should have noticed or done. Then, following a private reading of the letters to his close friends’ it is decided to investigate further.
As they delve into the true meanings of the letters and re-live their memories of Federica, secrets from the past are revealed, and it becomes apparent that she is trying to protect Leo, but from what?
This story is outstanding, giving its readers a glimpse into the lifestyle of high fliers, yet it is heart-wrenching and deeply emotional. I highly recommend it to lovers of a really good mystery!
BOOK REVIEW
Reviewed By K.C. Finn for Readers’ Favorite REVIEW RATING 5 STARS
Letters From Federica is a work of fiction in the mystery and interpersonal drama sub-genres and was penned by author Suzanne Mondoux. The central character is Leo Orsini, who in his youth had a very passionate and loving affair with our titular character Federica. When tragedy strikes and their young love is ruined, Leo moves on through the years and finds love and success again, but he can never quite leave behind the sensation of losing the love of his life. A series of letters from Federica brings him back to explore the truth about her disappearance, and the unfolding mystery reveals a lot more than Leo bargained for as tragedy seems to loom for him too.
Author Suzanne Mondoux has crafted a superb and highly involved mystery tale that plays out a realistic drama alongside a truly suspenseful plotline where past and present collide. One of the great strengths of this novel is its commitment to a deep involvement with the emotional arc of the central character and his relationships within the tale. I really admired the narrative style in allowing us to become very intimate with Leo and understand the way he is so haunted by Federica’s fate, and the letters offer an interesting addition to the narrative which shifts the tone and atmosphere in an artful way. What results is a layered work which is much more than first meets the eye, and overall I would certainly recommend Letters From Federica to readers who are seeking a suspenseful drama read with plenty of mystery.