I enjoy picking up a book where I don’t know what to expect, and it’s even better when the book I’ve selected doesn’t match my expectations — but in a good way. From the title, I supposed this book would be all shiny concept, heavy on clever plot, no emotional engagement, but probably funny. It does have a shiny concept, but the concept (as it should be), is just the kick off. Heroine Capri (like the car, the pants or the island) Sanzio, granddaughter of a serial killer, makes her living giving – you guessed it – serial killer tours of San Francisco. She’s been quite successful, and the patrons only infrequently ask questions about her grandfather, who was known as “Overkill Bill.”
Bill got his moniker because he used three methods to kill each of his victims (as Lenny on Law & Order might put it, he used a belt and suspenders). Her grandfather is long dead but when a copycat murder occurs, Capri latches on to it for several reasons. One, she thinks she might do a podcast about the new crime (along the way, hopefully exonerating her grandfather), and the reason she needs to do the podcast is that her ex mother in law has cut off grad school funding for her daughter. Then, the grandmother herself is killed in the exact same manner. Now the eyes of the police are on Capri and possibly her daughter, making her investigation even more important.
The family pulls together in the wake of the grandmother’s death. She was an unpleasant socialite who had been a difficult mother-in-law but Capri is still of the strong opinion that she didn’t deserve to be murdered. The unexpected part of the novel comes in after the set up. Capri’s family pulls together after it all goes down. We, as readers, get to know her daughter, her ex-husband, and her former father in law.
Capri’s doggedness also leads her to uncover many unpleasant realities about her ex mother in law’s life, things that her family was completely unaware of. The tale of corruption and fraud she winkles out is really straight out of an old Rockford Files episode. Meanwhile, the cops are on her ass and she’s worried for her daughter.
The tours she runs are sprinkled throughout the book, lending the story authentic atmosphere and a flavor of San Francisco – a city that’s been home to killers, sure, but is also beautiful and historic. The little factoids about killers were often familiar to me (I did run a crime bookstore for decades) but they might be new to the reader. This wasn’t really a light read but it was a fun one, with a tricky plot at the center. It was far from all high concept but instead returned to straight up mystery trope territory. I very much liked Capri and hope she makes another appearance. — Robin Agnew