Death in the Dolomites A Rick Montoya Italian Mystery by David Wagner

Rick Montoya lives in Rome, but he takes some vacation time to go skiing with Flavio, his buddy from college.  They both went to school in New Mexico and Flavio was a skiing star there.  Rick is happy to have some time with him, even if he is a lady's man.  He never expected to get involved in a murder case...

Poisoned Pen Press and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published September 1st, so you can grab a copy then.

Rick's Uncle is a policeman and he's trying to get Rick to join the force.  Rick is good at detecting but has no desire to be a cop.  However, when a man goes missing and an inspector is sent to find him, it seems he's already talked to Rick's Uncle and Rick is being pulled into service.  He doesn't mind, much.  Skiing is fun but detecting is a challenge.

When boys locate the dead body of the missing man, the case becomes more serious.  As Rick and the Inspector nose around, they begin to make enemies.  This is a very small Italian town where everyone knows everyone and everyone else's business, too.  Making waves is frowned upon.  

Rick gets seduced by the dead man's sister, has a couple of close calls with death, and eventually digs down to the truth.  Everybody in town has a motive of some kind.  It's not an easy case.  But he's persistent and Flavio even comes in handy here and there.

You taste Italy, the mountains, the snow and the cold as you read the story.  The small town politics, the fight over one piece of ground, and the characters that live there are believable and often found in small secluded towns.  Mr. Wagner has written a good mystery with lots of characters to look over.