The Adventure of the Vatican Cameos

De: Dan Andriacco

Narrado por: Steve White

Fresh from almost getting killed helping Sebastian McCabe solve The 1895 Murder, Jeff Cody and Lynda Teal are enjoying their honeymoon alone in Rome when mystery and murder intrude.

The disappearance of a young American’s Roman boyfriend seems like a familiar tale of a summer romance leading to heartbreak . . . until a cameo necklace purchased at the Vatican is stolen right off of Lynda’s neck.

The feisty young journalist finds a connection between the two events as she solves her own case for the first time. In a departure from the McCabe - Cody mystery novels, she also narrates the story.

The many fans of Jeff and Lynda will be delighted to read this short story bridge to the next novel in the series, The Disappearance of Mr. James Phillimore.

©2013 Dan Andriacco (P)2018 MX Publishing

Vatican Cameo redux ...

A Cody & McCabe series story with Cody's new wife, Linda, solving this mystery. And a very clever twist at the end!

Jeff and Lynda's Roman Honeymoon

"The Adventure of the Vatican Cameos" is a short story in the Sebastian McCabe-Jeff Cody series that sits between books three and four. I prefer reading a series in the order suggested by the author. I made an exception this time because the introductory commentary says that it is unlike the books that precede it.

Thomas Jefferson Cody and his new bride Lynda (née Teal) are honeymooning in Rome. They are there as tourists when a series of bizarre events occur. First, a young woman, Amber Kidwell, is distressed over her missing boyfriend and her ransacked room in the BnB. Lynda notices the young American is wearing a cameo necklace incongruous with her casual outfit. Apparently, Jeff Cody is something of a skinflint, so when he buys a cameo necklace for Lynda in the Vatican gift shop, it is both romantic and out of character. And last, there is the rather swarthy man, who Lynda thinks of as a gypsy, watching the building where the Codys and Ms. Kidwell are staying.

The missing member of the series team is Jeff's best friend, Sebastian McCabe, who is a professor of English whose literary hero is none other than Sherlock Holmes. While Jeff is making his cameo purchase, Lynda surreptitiously picks up a copy of the Holmes short stories in Italian. She never expected to need bedtime reading material on her honeymoon, but Jeff is one of those guys who reads to go to sleep.

While at the Trevi Fountain, Lynda becomes the victim of a street thief who unceremoniously yanks her new cameo necklace off her neck.

That night, after reading “The Adventure of the Six Napoleons,” by Arthur Conan Doyle, Lynda starts to put two and two together and is ultimately responsible for solving the crimes.

Listening to an audiobook presents certain challenges, especially when the narrator does character voices while having an accent himself. Overall, Steve White does an admirable job with soft-spoken Lynda and the deeper voice of Jeff Cody. I did find the southern accent he does for the American Amber Kidwell sometimes difficult to understand. It was a phrase here and there but still disconcerting.

Overall, the story and narration provide an admirable listening experience.