Murder and White Lace

What is good and what is bad? After you read this story, your ideas about this question might become confused.

Two elderly sisters, Judy and Titty, live in a slightly decayed Tuscan villa (Villa Fiorita). Judy emigrated to Italy when she was young and started a career as a wedding planner but retired a couple of years ago. Titty, her chain- smoking older sister, used to be married to an Englishman but joined Judy in Tuscany after his death. Seen from the outside, the two seem to be adorable ladies who couldn’t kill a flea. But behind this façade, they hide a very dark side. The household is completed by the housekeeper, Paolino, Judy’s former assistant but now suffering from a nervous disorder, and Filippo, Titty’s old but clever and well-trained pug, whom she brought over from England.

The three human inhabitants of the villa pursue quite strange occupations. Judy and Titty, well-known charity ladies, run an unconventional “waste disposal service”. In their cellar Titty attracts child abusers and brutal wife beaters in her well-equipped high-tech kingdom using the darknet, promising a fantastic all-inclusive holiday in her “luxury” villa. Judy is an expert in gardening and knows all about useful plants, that help with the passing of their victims to the afterlife. She prepares poisons in her laboratory, essential ingredients of her homemade Vin Santo, a typical Tuscan dessert or communion wine. Both sisters are absolutely convinced they are on the right side of the law, for far too often, villains don’t receive adequate punishment. Paolino constantly digs deep holes in the vineyard, searching for coins and ancient treasures. His excavations, of course, are very helpful for burying the victims.

The arrival of some unexpected guests is the initial spark for a series of hilarious, macabre, and crazy events full of misunderstandings and deceptive manoeuvers. Will the finely spun house of lies collapse? Will the truth about the two wonderful ladies be uncovered? All this is mixed with authentic Tuscan joie de vivre and atmosphere, as well as a sweet romantic love story between Judy and Gaetano, the local policeman (il Carabiniere).