This book takes cozy to a whole new level, with an octagenarian sleuth who just lets everything flow around her as she taps into all the skills and knowledge of the people her life of caring for and helping others has connected her to. Nonna Maria lives in a little island town that is a world unto itself, calm and contained even as the throngs of tourists descend on it during the summer months.
This volume has two completely unrelated cases for Nonna Maria to work on that have very different things at stake. One is a robbery that sees her goddaughter accused of a theft she did not commit, and the other is the murder of a woman no one seems to want to recognize. The very different cases make the jumps between scenes that deal with each a bit hard to keep up with, but both cases make for some fascinating reading.
My one nitpick would be that Nona Maria's peculiarities are interesting when mentioned once, but almost every person she talks to brings them up and that gets tiresome. It's like Carcaterra is constantly pointing out how peculiar and special her character is and is worried readers might miss that very obvious fact. Not a make-or-break element, but one I would have liked to see less of.
Overall, it's a slow-moving mystery that matches the pace and feel of the small island it's set in.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for the cozy read!