The Night Villa by Carol Goodman

Classics professor Sophie Chase is drawn against her better judgment to the isle of Capri to participate in the excavation of the Night Villa, which was destroyed by Mount Vesuvius. She hopes to find a journal written by the young slave girl she wrote her thesis on who was embroiled in a fight for her freedom in the Roman Courts.

The sultry atmosphere of Capri was so beautiful described I felt I had escaped from New Hampshire’s harsh spring weather. I couldn’t wait to get back to the book to find out what new twist had developed amongst the devious crew of characters; the software millionaire, the brilliant, beautiful yet insecure student, the worldly professor who is Sophie’s former lover, and the ex-husband who had disappeared into the mysterious Pythagoras Cult. All this and secret pagan rites too. You will find this literary thriller difficult to put down.