The Milanese Stars opens just after a spectacular gem theft in a picturesque Milan neighborhood. The theft happened just down the street from a sweet and stylish bakery, where owner Vita cooks up delicious specialties. The cooking and food descriptions are one of the highlights of the book, I was hungry for macarons, espresso and ravioli pretty much the whole time.

But Milan isn’t all tourists, fountains, and coffee. The missing gems belong to Don Giovanni, a powerful boss whose mob ties become more and more clear as the story goes on. Pretty much everyone in the city has something to hide. More gems have disappeared then have been reported missing, and it’s up to Samuel, who represents a jewelry insurance company, to sort out the truth. Samuel wanders into Vita’s cafe almost as soon as he arrives in Milan, of course.

Several times, there was an odd juxaposition in the description that required re-reading and made it hard to picture just what was going on.  Vita’s mood swings between playful and stressed, which is hard to follow at first, but don’t we all have a friend or two whose emotions are always on 11? When you consider the strong family bonds between Vita and her younger sister Tecla, the family tragedy in their background, the joys and struggles of running a cafe, her growing interest in Samuel, and an important secret she’s keeping, well, it’s no wonder that Vita’s moods are intense and changeable.

There’s a blend of charming cafe scenes and family life, with a fast-paced, surprising crime story, but overall, it’s a bit more than another  cozy mystery.