The style is streetwise Hemingway, the theme is Faulkner in a nutshell. -- <strong><em>New York Times Book Review</em></strong> Lively...engrossing. In addition to solving the murder, Stapinski produces a vivid picture of the region's hardships, past and present. -- <em>New Yorker</em> Murder in Matera is a remarkable family saga that captures the beauty and grit of southern Italy. The powerful and complicated matriarch at the center of Stapinski's tale will stay with you long after you finish the book. -- <strong>Gay Talese, author of <em>Unto the Sons</em> and <em>The Voyeur's Motel</em></strong> This book is many things: a gripping murder story, an ancestral journey, a tender yet funny reflection on motherhood and love of country, family, and food. But mostly it's just a total page turner. Helene Stapinski is incapable of delivering a dull moment. -- <b>Meghan Daum, author of <i>The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects Of Discussion</i></b> Meticulously researched and evocative, Murder in Matera is a powerful story of identity and destiny-and it's honestly, beautifully told. -- <strong>Mark Rotella, author of <em>Amore: The Story of Italian American Song</em> </em>and <em>Stolen Figs: And Other Adventures in Calabria</em></strong></em> Fascinating and informative . . . Stapinski's description of the near-feudal life in southern Italy in the 19th century is compelling. -- <em><strong>Newsday</strong></em> A thrilling detective story. . . . Stapinski pursues the study of her family's criminal genealogy with unexpected emotional results. -- <em><strong>Library Journal</strong></em> Entertaining...part memoir, part murder mystery...Stapinski retells her decadelong search for the truth about the early life of her great-great grandmother Vita. -- <b>Publishers Weekly</b> An enticing page-turner . . . a rollicking, magical tale. -- <em><strong>Kirkus Reviews</strong></em> Stapinski's research reveals a tragic, twisty history -- <b>Booklist</b> A murder mystery, a model of investigative reporting, a celebration of the fierce bonds that hold families together through tragedies...Stapinski artfully teases out the suspense and the often shocking revelations that she shares here, fearlessly, about her family's cherished and most troubling myths...Murder in Matera is a gem. -- <strong><em>San Francisco Chronicle</em></strong>