The Olympic Winter Games take place in Milano Cortina, Italy, from February 6-22, 2026, with the Paralympic Winter Games taking place March 4-15, 2026. What a great excuse to read books that take place in Italy! As you watch the Games, you may spot the setting of your current read. Below you will find a list of books that take place in Italy, all owned by the Davenport Public Library. Descriptions are provided by the publishers.
The Dogs of Venice by Steven Rowley. After months of planning a romantic holiday getaway in Venice, Paul is blindsided when his five-year marriage suddenly unravels. Fueled by heartbreak, Paul endeavors to take the trip alone. Soon after arriving in Italy, he notices a small, scruffy, self-assured dog trotting alongside a canal with the confidence he so desperately wants for himself. When their paths cross again, Paul feels compelled to learn how his new four-legged friend thrives on his own. Amid the food, sights, and welcoming people of Venice, Paul’s journey culminates in a magical encounter that leads him to feel real connection — to a dog, to a foreign city and, most importantly, to himself.
Murder in Chianti by Camilla Trinchieri. Set in the heart of Tuscan wine country, this mystery introduces Nico Doyle, a former NYPD homicide detective who’s just looking for space to grieve when he finds himself pulled into a local murder investigation. Mourning the loss of his wife, Rita, former NYPD homicide detective Nico Doyle moves to her hometown of Gravigna in the wine-soaked region of Chianti. Half-Italian and half-Irish, Nico finds himself able to get by in the region with the help of Rita’s relatives, but he still feels alone and out of place. Early one morning, he hears a gunshot near his cabin and walks out to discover a dead body in the woods, flashily dressed in gold tennis shoes. Salvatore Perillo, the local maresciallo, enlists Nico’s help with the murder case. It turns out more than one person in this idyllic corner of Italy knew the victim, and with a very small pool of suspects, including his own in-laws, Nico must dig up Gravigna’s every last painful secret to get to the truth.
May the Wolf Die by Elizabeth Heider. Nikki Serafino is enjoying the sunset from her boat in her beloved port city of Naples, Italy, when she discovers the body of a man in the warm waters of the bay. An investigator working as the liaison between local police and American troops, Nikki is certainly no stranger to violence and organized crime, but this case grows complicated when the victim turns out to be a U.S. Navy captain stationed at the nearby military base-and the autopsy reveals foul play. As she delves into the case, another body is found and Nikki must face connections linking the murders to her own complicated history as a daughter of Naples.
Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack. All that bestselling author Eleanor Dash wants is to get through her book tour in Italy and kill off her main character, Connor Smith, in the next in her Vacation Mysteries series — is that too much to ask? Clearly, because when an attempt is made on the real Connor’s life — the handsome but infuriating con man she got mixed up with ten years ago and now can’t get out of her life — Eleanor’s enlisted to help solve the case. Contending with literary rivals, rabid fans, a stalker — and even her ex, Oliver, who turns up unexpectedly — theories are bandied about, and rivalries, rifts, and broken hearts are revealed. But who’s really trying to get away with murder?
Code Word Romance by Carlie Walker. Max happens to look exactly like Sofia Kristiansen, the youngest female prime minister in Europe. Sofia is powerful, beautiful, and unfortunately, someone is trying really hard to assassinate her. Her security service wants to outsmart the bad guys by employing a body double during the prime minister’s annual Italian holiday. Physically speaking, Max is an outrageously convincing doppelgänger; surely no one will spot the difference. No one can know about Max’s new job — no one except Sofia and a few intelligence officers, including Flynn, the handler assigned to Max’s case. Flynn, who’ll instruct her how to act like a prime minister in public. Flynn, who has an unexpected history with Max — from another sun-drenched summer years and years ago. Now he’s instructed to stay in Max’s suite to protect her as old passions and assassins collide.
There are four books in the “Meet me in Italy” series by Jennifer Probst, but each stands alone.
Our Italian Summer features three generations of Ferrari women who need to heal the broken pieces of their lives…and one trip of a lifetime through Italy.
The Secret Love Letters of Olivia Moretti is about a secret romance that sends three estranged sisters to the Amalfi Coast to follow clues about their mother’s past and challenges them to a whole new future.
A destination wedding in Italy’s Lake Como brings three best friends back together to face the secrets of the past in A Wedding in Lake Como.
And in the newest edition to the series, To Sicily with Love, a lonely woman meets the big Italian family she never knew about during a life-changing summer.