Chapter by Chapter

A murder mystery set in the Renaissance in beautiful Venice Italy. Corset, murder, and mystery? What more can a girl ask for?I can’t even begin to imagine a time where it was customary for a family to choose whom their daughter will marry. I mean really, you could end up with the sweetest man on earth, or an insane person, he could be your age, or many years older! It’s truly a gamble, and the parents hold all the cards.Such is the case for main protagonist, Cassandra Caravello. Born into a wealthy family, whose mother and father are now deceased, Cass is betrothed to her lifelong friend, Luca. Luca, who is in school abroad, and whom she hasn’t seen in nearly four years.The story opens up at a funeral. The funeral of Cass’ friend, Liviana. Having a difficult time dealing with the funeral, Cass goes outside for a breath of fresh air where she ends up running into (literally) the super hot Falco. Don’t think that is her only time of meeting this dashing fellow. No, no…after paying a visit to Liviana’s mausoleum, Cass is shocked and stunned to find that, not only does she end up running into Falco again, but in the casket of where Liviana is supposed to be, the body of a courtesan who looks to have been strangled and had an “X” carved above the location of her heart. And this is not the only body that both Falco and Cass encounter.Falco and Cass decide to team up find who the mysterious woman is, what happened to her friend’s body, and who is responsible for murdering these woman. But all their digging and snooping has put Cass in the spotlight, and the murderer has his sight set on her. Now it’s a race against time to find the person responsible for all this death, before death comes knocking on Cass’ door.Venom by Fiona Paul is completely full of mystery…obviously. Set in a world where chivalry is not dead, and breathing is a challenge due to the corset, readers can’t help but get caught up in this addicting tale of murder. The world created by Fiona Paul is one that anyone can easily get caught up in. Who hasn’t dreamt of stepping into the days of the Renaissance! The dresses…the romance…The multiple twists and turns found within the pages had me intrigued for the entirety of the book. Once I thought I had figured who the murderer could possibly be, another equation is brought forward, and I’m forced to rethink my decision. Such is the way of a well written murder mystery.The characters portrayed in Venom are unique unto themselves, all of which has personality traits that readers will thoroughly enjoy following. And the characters who are evil and mean, are truly that! I found Falco to be so sweet but immensely mysterious. Cass knows that he is an apprentice to an artist, but there’s also so much about Falco that Cass doesn’t know…so much WE don’t know. Can he be trusted? Are his feelings true, or does he have a secret agenda? I found Cass to be extremely brave. But I also found that her ease of running around with Falco while she is supposed to be betrothed a little bothersome. You hear her discussing the matter to herself and has brought it up with Falco as well, and yet she doesn’t stay away. Cass gets mad at Falco for kissing her while he knows that she is to be married, and yet she continues on. Take part of the blame there chick… It takes two to tango.There are parts in the book where I was genuinely scared for Cass! The buildups to those events were written so well, and I couldn’t help but get caught up in the moments.Fans of murder mysteries will really enjoy Venom, and will find a new favorite author in Fiona Paul.