Love and Death in Venice

A summer in Venice seemed like a great idea to Ariadne Caulfield and Judith Sheridan—right up until Judith’s suitcase is stolen off the train before they even arrive in the city. Perhaps Judith should have taken the hint and gone home, but the sights and sounds of the magical city soon have them both dreaming of the possibilities ahead of them. 

While Ariadne settles into her job teaching history at the American International College, Judith—unable to get a position teaching—begins work at an abused women’s refuge. The summer has its ups and downs, but they eventually find themselves in new relationships, Judith with Suzanne Hanks and Ariadne with an art dealer—and Mafia boss.

The professors’ quiet summer abroad is drastically changed when their paths cross with Tarek Duka, a ruthless Mafia thug. Brutal, dangerous, and corrupt, he has one thing on his mind: finding Rachele—a woman who escaped from him once before and does not want to be found. And the women are determined to protect her.

Before they know it, Judith and Ariadne discover themselves dealing with the darker side of the once-gilded city, where romance and fantasy are the veneer while the Mafia, sex-traffickers, and death dance in the shadows to avoid the light.

Filled with the sights and sounds of one of the world’s most mysterious cities, Love and Death in Venice is the first novel in a series of adventures for professors Caulfield and Sheridan.

During her tenure on the faculty in the English Department and Women’s Studies at Florida State University, Bonnie Hoover Braendlin wrote articles on autobiography, ethnic literature, and the female bildungsroman and edited volumes of film criticism. Love and Death in Venice, her debut novel, is the first in a series about the adventures of two North Florida professors when criminal activities intrude on their academic lives.