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Passport to Peril #3
Pasta Imperfect
IT WAS AN OFFER SHE COULDN'T REFUSE....
The discount travel package to Italy seemed like a great Emily Andrew could lead her globe-trotting Iowans on the trip of a lifetime and bring her family to boot. Maybe she should have read the fine print....Sharing their itinerary with a group of hyper-competitive aspiring romance writers is just a prelude to more Machiavellian drama than an Italian opera.
First, their hotel burns to the ground. Then, when Emily's lost luggage turns up found, the disgruntled literary ladies raid her clothing supply like she's a one-woman Gucci outlet. But the real killer is a contest sponsored by a publishing house -- and the depths to which the dime-novel divas will plunge to win a book contract. Amid backstabbing and catcalling, bodies start turning up -- in Emily's favorite outfits! Now, Emily will need more than a phrasebook to say ciao to someone with a hot and spicy passion for murder.
The discount travel package to Italy seemed like a great Emily Andrew could lead her globe-trotting Iowans on the trip of a lifetime and bring her family to boot. Maybe she should have read the fine print....Sharing their itinerary with a group of hyper-competitive aspiring romance writers is just a prelude to more Machiavellian drama than an Italian opera.
First, their hotel burns to the ground. Then, when Emily's lost luggage turns up found, the disgruntled literary ladies raid her clothing supply like she's a one-woman Gucci outlet. But the real killer is a contest sponsored by a publishing house -- and the depths to which the dime-novel divas will plunge to win a book contract. Amid backstabbing and catcalling, bodies start turning up -- in Emily's favorite outfits! Now, Emily will need more than a phrasebook to say ciao to someone with a hot and spicy passion for murder.
320 pages, Paperback
First published July 27, 2004
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404 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
October 14, 2016
Emily Andrew, tour escort extraordinaire, strikes again! Hysterical comedy of errors in Italy when a bunch of elderly seniors meet up with some romance writers & miscellaneous other folk on the tour from hell. There's a hotel fire, tourists dropping like flies, lost luggage and snarky females galore in this one, but Emily handles is all with her wacky sense of humor and good grace. The mystery is so twisty, you'll never guess whodunnit til the very end.
May 23, 2021
This way my first foray into what I hoped would be a new series I can embrace. Yes, I do like stand alone mysteries, but I find myself drawn to well written series, as I love the character development that goes along with the new mystery. Unfortunately, this one does not make my cut.
This novel 3 in the series. Guess I didn't do enough research, as I thought this might be novel 1. Doesn't really matter in the end. This is a humorous mystery and I'm sure many others will find this amusing and a good read; even a very good read. However, I personally found the humor in this book very tedious after awhile. Humor for humor's sake does not catch me any longer. I like a more thoughtful read; a more robust development than just the humor. I appreciate humor, but just not on its own in a mystery. There was some sarcasm in the humor, but I've come to know I like a more seasoned sarcasm in a humorous read than not.
This novel 3 in the series. Guess I didn't do enough research, as I thought this might be novel 1. Doesn't really matter in the end. This is a humorous mystery and I'm sure many others will find this amusing and a good read; even a very good read. However, I personally found the humor in this book very tedious after awhile. Humor for humor's sake does not catch me any longer. I like a more thoughtful read; a more robust development than just the humor. I appreciate humor, but just not on its own in a mystery. There was some sarcasm in the humor, but I've come to know I like a more seasoned sarcasm in a humorous read than not.
September 22, 2022
Pasta Imperfect is book 3 in the Passport to Peril series. Emily leads a tour group of mostly geriatric travelers through Italy. On this trip, they are also combined with a group of romance authors. They visit popular sites like the Duomo and Leaning Tower of Pisa, but continue to find themselves in several disasters along the way. There’s missing luggage, a hotel fire and the authors keep turning up dead.
This is a very light hearted, humorous cozy. I laughed constantly at the dialogue and actions of the quirky characters. Nana is my fav. She is a force to be reckoned with. I enjoyed getting to know Emily’s mom on this trip. To say the two are opposites is an understatement and her oblivious ideas about Nana were entertaining. I love Emily’s ex husband. This book was written in ‘04 so kudos to the author for pushing the envelope back then and including an openly trans character. I wasn’t quite feeling the love interest in this book. Etienne and Emily are in a long distance relationship and the quick phone calls just didn’t spark any true connection. Curios to see where that cliffhanger leads though and if Duncan will reappear in future books.
The mystery was really captivating. I loved the obnoxious romance writers and their spontaneous contest along the way. I couldn’t figure this case out and was very surprised when the culprit was finally revealed.
This is a very light hearted, humorous cozy. I laughed constantly at the dialogue and actions of the quirky characters. Nana is my fav. She is a force to be reckoned with. I enjoyed getting to know Emily’s mom on this trip. To say the two are opposites is an understatement and her oblivious ideas about Nana were entertaining. I love Emily’s ex husband. This book was written in ‘04 so kudos to the author for pushing the envelope back then and including an openly trans character. I wasn’t quite feeling the love interest in this book. Etienne and Emily are in a long distance relationship and the quick phone calls just didn’t spark any true connection. Curios to see where that cliffhanger leads though and if Duncan will reappear in future books.
The mystery was really captivating. I loved the obnoxious romance writers and their spontaneous contest along the way. I couldn’t figure this case out and was very surprised when the culprit was finally revealed.
June 12, 2020
I do like this series. I love Emily and the way trouble goes with her where ever she goes. I am kind of tired of Jackie and Etienne but love Gran and the other old folk on the trips. The story was fun and kept me guessing to the end. I wish we could get Emily with someone who I could get excited about maybe in the next book. Course the book ended on a question what had Etienne said to her on the phone.
May 25, 2022
This is such a fun series. I'm enjoying all the traveling with the seniors and the wacky antics of them all.
August 2, 2016
I'm pretty sure I never want to go on a tour with Emily as dead bodies are commonplace. But the group of senior from Iowa are fun to read about.
This time the group joined a romance writing tour (got a special) of Italy but people keep falling to their death. Emily's mother comes along which is putting a kink in her grandmother's romantic plans and Etienne only shows up in phone calls.
This time the group joined a romance writing tour (got a special) of Italy but people keep falling to their death. Emily's mother comes along which is putting a kink in her grandmother's romantic plans and Etienne only shows up in phone calls.
September 10, 2014
This installment in the Passport of Peril series is another wacky ride with tour guide Emily Andrew. This time, her troupe of senior citizens attacks Italy, joining up with a group of romance writers in competition for a coveted prize. When the contestants start dying off, Emily knows she’s got another case on her hands. Murder and mayhem ensue amid wonderful travelogue descriptions of the scenery and shopping. While I enjoyed these details, the story started out a bit too slapstick comedy for my taste. But once the mystery got going, it caught my attention. The puzzle is intriguing and will keep you guessing until the end.
August 29, 2015
Pasta Imperfect by Maddy Hunter is the 3rd book in A Passport to Peril mystery series. Tour escort, Emily Andrews, is escorting her Iowan travel group to Italy where they have joined a group of romance writers. Unfortunately she needs to deal with several disasters and accidents as well as multiple deaths. A funny and entertaining book. I loved meeting up with all the quirky characters, especially nanna and Emily's ex transgender husband, Jackie. We also meet Emily's mother who has joined the tour. Emily's tours are never dull and I look forward to their next trip.
February 19, 2013
This wasn't the best of the series but it was still interesting. There were too many other people in this one and I felt that there were a lot of underdeveloped/underused characters. AND she really needs to hook up with Etienne!
October 12, 2017
I liked it. Not as much as the previous ones though. It was a bit confused, too many coincidences taking place beside the actual crimes and Emily got it wrong too many times.
There’s a new guy competing for Emily. Despite myself, I like him. He seemed more real than Etienne. I would wish Etienne to be more involved into the story lines, maybe that would make him more real and less such a bag of Klischees and contradictions.
There’s a new guy competing for Emily. Despite myself, I like him. He seemed more real than Etienne. I would wish Etienne to be more involved into the story lines, maybe that would make him more real and less such a bag of Klischees and contradictions.
August 5, 2018
This was an odd little mystery. If you like a story with lots of red herrings and a life lesson about jumping to conclusions, this is the book for you. The whole thing felt a bit too artificial for my taste. It was almost like the author was writing for a movie or a tv show, with rich visual imaging in the
place of content. This is not meant to be a criticism, it's just that the story, the setting and the characters work better when you close your eyes and visualize what is happening.
place of content. This is not meant to be a criticism, it's just that the story, the setting and the characters work better when you close your eyes and visualize what is happening.
May 19, 2022
A cozy mystery. The third book in the passport to peril series. This time Emily and her Iowa tour group visit Italy. It’s another hilarious story with these characters, not as good as the previous two.
September 13, 2017
Kindle
November 30, 2017
Such a great pick-me-up series!
March 9, 2019
A fun read
I enjoyed this book, but not quite as much as book 2 in the series. Jackie is fun, as is Nana, but a lot of the other characters didn't do it for me.
I enjoyed this book, but not quite as much as book 2 in the series. Jackie is fun, as is Nana, but a lot of the other characters didn't do it for me.
July 4, 2019
A little silly, but fun to read. This one was better than #2 in the series. I'll continue with them. I'm going to believe that Emily gets less awkward as the series progresses.
July 24, 2019
These books are so fun!!! I can't wait to go to Hawaii with them next!
July 8, 2020
Another fun adventure with Emily, Nana, and Jackie.
Want to read
July 19, 2020elibrary
June 8, 2021
Typical ridiculous over the top cozy, yet it manages to entertain me, which is all I need from a book.
Read
October 5, 2024Just SO AWFUL.
July 5, 2025
Emily Hunter is in charge of a tour group consisting of seniors, who partners with some authors on a trip to Italy. Some parts were humorous, but overall it was pretty silly.
July 3, 2012
In this, the third book in Maddy Hunter's funny Passport to Peril Series, Emily Andrew escorts her group of senior citizens from Iowa on a trip to Italy. Also on the trip are a bunch of would be romance authors. As usual, calamity strikes early and often starting with Emily's suitcase getting lost and their hotel burning down. But things really heat up when the publishing company sponsoring the trip holds a contest where the prize is a book contract with a cash advance of $10,000. Some people will do anything to win and before long the bodies start piling up. All the people who were killed were judges in the contest and Emily's mother is the last judge still around. Emily wants to solve the murder - fast - before her mother becomes the next victim.
This is a funny cozy mystery. Hunter uses the story line to poke gentle fun at romance authors and readers, critics, agents, awards, publishers, Oprah's book club and even Amazon reviewers. Hunter populates the book with humorous, eccentric characters, including Emily's hot to trot millionaire grandmother; her mother who likes to alphabetize everything, including people; Emily's ex-husband Jack, who is now a gorgeous female named Jackie (who reminds me a lot of Lula in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series); and the assorted Iowans on the trip, including one who wears on readers with her habit of rhyming everything. Etienne, Emily's long-distance, boyfriend appears in a series of phone calls and Hunter intriguingly throws in a handsome tour guide named Duncan, who also is attracted to Emily.
The solutions to the murders is a bit of a let down, but don't let that stop you from reading this very funny mystery.
This is a funny cozy mystery. Hunter uses the story line to poke gentle fun at romance authors and readers, critics, agents, awards, publishers, Oprah's book club and even Amazon reviewers. Hunter populates the book with humorous, eccentric characters, including Emily's hot to trot millionaire grandmother; her mother who likes to alphabetize everything, including people; Emily's ex-husband Jack, who is now a gorgeous female named Jackie (who reminds me a lot of Lula in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series); and the assorted Iowans on the trip, including one who wears on readers with her habit of rhyming everything. Etienne, Emily's long-distance, boyfriend appears in a series of phone calls and Hunter intriguingly throws in a handsome tour guide named Duncan, who also is attracted to Emily.
The solutions to the murders is a bit of a let down, but don't let that stop you from reading this very funny mystery.
April 11, 2016
"I found employment ... as the well-paid coordinator for its Senior Travel Club. I arrange day-trips ... and holidays abroad. Then I get to accompany the group as an official escort. It's a dream job that suffers only one major drawback.
People keep dying on me." (pp. 10-11)
Poor Emily! She and her group of seniors from Iowa travel to Italy as Emily settles into her role as tour escort - but fails to leave the murder and mayhem behind (her penchant for finding dead bodies is becoming a running in-joke). They are joined by a group of would-be romance authors (sorry, prepublished authors), as the author pokes fun at both them and their plots. As usual, Emily decides on who she thinks the murderer is and why - and as usual, she's completely wrong! Due to the continued absence of Etienne (still recovering from his "adventures" in the last book), we have the additional of Duncan Lazarus, who presents as yet another crinkle in Emily's life
People keep dying on me." (pp. 10-11)
Poor Emily! She and her group of seniors from Iowa travel to Italy as Emily settles into her role as tour escort - but fails to leave the murder and mayhem behind (her penchant for finding dead bodies is becoming a running in-joke). They are joined by a group of would-be romance authors (sorry, prepublished authors), as the author pokes fun at both them and their plots. As usual, Emily decides on who she thinks the murderer is and why - and as usual, she's completely wrong! Due to the continued absence of Etienne (still recovering from his "adventures" in the last book), we have the additional of Duncan Lazarus, who presents as yet another crinkle in Emily's life
October 10, 2022
I really thought I’d love this book & series. (It’s the first I’ve read in the series. I don’t like reading them out of order but I needed a book and don’t have the first 2). Anyway, it started out really good. I LOVE Jackie. I like Nana and Emily. Love that it is set in Italy. I hated when Emily started throwing around her accusations as fact, especially since she was completely wrong and I don’t like with the main character accuses almost everyone, which she did. Also don’t like the way the Italian “accents” are written. The crime / resolution was ridiculous and I was really disappointed by who the killer turned out to be. So many deaths being “accidental” was too much to believe and it feels like the book wasn’t finished because of that. Found her constant, always interrupted phone conversations with Etienne annoying. Not sure if I’ll read another book in this series or not. When I started it, I immediately wanted to order the first 2. Glad I didn’t.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 23, 2011
This is book #3 in the Passport to Peril Mystery series. I picked this book because I love books set in Italy and because of the reviews for the previous books in this series. Reviewers of previous books in this series described them as "hilarious and delightful", "light and witty" and even compared the author to Janet Evanovich who is one of my favorite authors. Sadly, I did not find any of this to be true of this cozy. I had to force myself to finish reading it. I did not find it funny or entertaining and I also didn't really like any of the characters in this book. Also, there were far too many murders in this book, making it totally unbelievable. Suffice it to say I won't be reading any further books in this series or by this author. Reading this book was a chore, not entertaining at all. I would not recommend it.
September 11, 2014
As always there's a lot of fun in these books but they also rely a bit too much on stereotypes to become a favorite. Emily and her gang of senior travelers are in Italy this time and the interaction between the seniors traveling always gives me a chuckle. They are joined by a romance writer convention and I have to admit that some of this fell flat for me. The mystery itself kind of confused me truthfully. There were a lot of deaths but it seemed like only one murder? And it was solved out of left field. If Emily and some of the other characters weren't so enjoyable I don't think this series would work for me at all. But they are, and I do enjoy them now and then but I couldn't read them as a steady diet.
April 12, 2010
When Emily escorts a tour for her Nana and those other weird Iowan seniors to Italy they are joined by a group a romance writers. As Emily's luck would have it, her luggage is lost. When the hotel burns down, Emily thinks this was actually lucky, since her luggage arrives after the fire. But NO. Now all the writers are borrowing her new outfits.
The sponsor of the romance writers' tour decides to make up for the fire by having a writing contest with the winner guaranteed to be published. With the race to publish on, writers start turning up dead, in Emily's outfits, of course.
The series continues to offer up tons of laughs. It is best read in series, but each novel can stand alone.
The sponsor of the romance writers' tour decides to make up for the fire by having a writing contest with the winner guaranteed to be published. With the race to publish on, writers start turning up dead, in Emily's outfits, of course.
The series continues to offer up tons of laughs. It is best read in series, but each novel can stand alone.
March 27, 2013
An intense romance writing competition with a group of over-sensitive writers in Italy is what Emily Andrews has to contend with after her luggage goes missing, their hotel burns to the ground and a couple of dead bodies plague them on their tour. The usual mayhem to follow.
I can’t seem to get enough of this series. It really is the perfect set of books to take travelling with you when you want an escapist read that is light, humorous and fun. And it really doesn’t matter how your vacation is going because it probably won’t compare to the one Emily is on! I really do love everything about this series.
I can’t seem to get enough of this series. It really is the perfect set of books to take travelling with you when you want an escapist read that is light, humorous and fun. And it really doesn’t matter how your vacation is going because it probably won’t compare to the one Emily is on! I really do love everything about this series.
April 17, 2014
It’s Emily’s third trip with her Iowan Seniors! This time, Emily’s mom joins the group, much to the dismay of Nana who has her own plans with George on this trip! I can be very short on this review this time. I loved the book due to the characters! The mystery itself was…. rather weak and not really fantastic. However, Emily and her seniors make the book a fun read again! I took some time to read it, because I was busy, busy, busy but all in all it is a very quick read and it just one that you have to read in the series.
Short review this time, but there’s not much more to tell about the book. If you enjoy this series, you should read this book as well!
Short review this time, but there’s not much more to tell about the book. If you enjoy this series, you should read this book as well!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews