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Outwit Nazi soldiers in Italy, find a lost Dutch art collection, befriend an English jewel thief, run from a Russian spy, search for a missing artifact in Bulgaria, lead a double life as a Gestapo Commandant’s mistress, become a fugitive running from a European gang of psychopathic villains, and try to catch an elusive Greek underwear thief.

Or embark on a secret romance in Corsica, create a new life among Van Gogh’s sunflowers in Provence, experience a Finnish-English romance at the height of the Cold War, repair torn loyalties in the ancient Kingdom of Scotland, and discover your guardian angel on a Greek island!

Travel By Book to Europe with mystery, romance and historical fiction authors Jennifer S. Alderson, Pamela Allegretto, Daniella Bernett, Vanessa Couchman, Jane Dunning, Helena Halme, Dora Ilieva, Elizabeth Gates, Kathryn Gauci, Rob Johnson, Laura Libricz, Effrosyni Moschoudi, Katerina Nikolas, Sarah Ridout, Patricia Sands, Suzi Stembridge, and Stephanie Wood!

The complete list of books set in Europe can be found here on Facebook.

All of these authors are members of Travel By Book, a Facebook group dedicated to travel fiction and non-fiction. If you love to read or write books strong in setting, join us!

The Lover’s Portrait: An Art Mystery (Book 2) by Jennifer S. Alderson

Missing masterpieces, Nazi blackmailers and a pesky amateur sleuth.

When a Dutch art dealer hides the stock from his gallery – rather than turn it over to his Nazi blackmailer – he pays with his life, leaving a treasure trove of modern masterpieces buried somewhere in Amsterdam, presumably lost forever. That is, until American art history student Zelda Richardson sticks her nose in.

Her discoveries make her a target of someone willing to steal – and even kill – to find the missing paintings. As the list of suspects grows, Zelda realizes she has to track down the lost collection and unmask a killer if she wants to survive.

Now available as audiobook on Audible and iBooks.

Bridge of Sighs and Dreams by Pamela Allegretto

In Nazi-occupied Rome, the lives of two women collide in an arena of deception, greed, and sacrifice.

While political cartoonist Angelina Rosini zigzags through a labyrinth of compassionate allies and cunning spies, Lidia Corsini quenches her greed by turning in Jews to the Nazis.

Lidia’s spiral into immorality accelerates as swiftly as the Jewish population dwindles and, soon, not even her husband, her son, nor Angelina are immune to her madness.

Lead Me Into Danger (Book 1) by Daniella Bernett

A journalist, a jewel thief, and a Russian spy…when their paths cross, it’s murder.

Journalist Emmeline Kirby hasn’t laid eyes on her former lover Gregory Longdon, a jewel thief, in two years. But she literally tumbles into his arms, after she witnesses two men attempt to murder her friend and fellow journalist, Charles Latimer, in Venice.

When Charles is ultimately killed, Emmeline is determined to bring his murderer to justice. But as she and Gregory delve deeper, they become ensnared in a hunt for a Russian spy in the British Foreign Office, who has his sights set on keeping his identity a secret at all costs—as Charles found out too late.

The House at Zaronza by Vanessa Couchman

The past uncovered.

Rachel Swift travels to Corsica to discover more about her forebears. She comes across a series of passionate love letters and delves into their history.

The story unfolds of a secret romance at the start of the 20th century between a village schoolteacher and Maria, the daughter of a bourgeois family. Maria’s parents have other plans for her future, though, and she sees her dreams crumble.

Her life is played out against the backdrop of Corsica, the ‘island of beauty’, and the turmoil of World War I.

This is a story about love, loss and reconciliation in a strict patriarchal society, whose values are challenged as the world changes.

Love gained and lost.

Thirty-five minutes from St Tropez (Book 1) by Jane Dunning

On a vineyard in sunny Provence, Richard and Helen make plans to celebrate their ruby wedding anniversary. Meanwhile, romance is in the air for Joanna, Helen’s recently widowed sister and for their teenage grandchildren. Grandson, Joseph, is enjoying life as bosun on a huge superyacht while his twin sister, Danielle, continues her language studies at university in Aix-en-Provence.

In Monaco, Richard’s brother and his wife live the high life but are brought down to earth when they dog-sit at the vineyard. As they enjoy the peace and quiet, and the company of the four friendly dogs, they wonder if they should perhaps move to the country.

Richard and Helen travel to Italy to see about buying a classic sports car and spend a few days in vibrant San Remo and stunning St Jean Cap Ferrat before returning home to make final preparations for the family’s arrival and the anniversary party.

As summer approaches, life changing plans are being considered when a potentially tragic accident becomes the catalyst for one of the biggest changes.

The Master (Book 2) by Dora Ilieva

A strange proposal jolts Kossara out of her comfortable, but dull life.

Haunted by the memory of her dead father, she returns to her native Bulgaria to retrieve an artifact that would re-launch her academic career.

She soon discovers that she is getting more than she bargained for. When her life and the lives of those dear to her are threatened, she must decide whether to give up or persevere.

The Wolf of Dalriada by Elizabeth Gates

It is 1793… As Europe watches the French Revolution’s bloody progress, uneasy Scottish landowners struggle to secure their wealth and power. And, in Dalriada – the ancient Kingdom of Scotland – fractured truths, torn loyalties and bloody atrocities are rife. Can anyone ride the maelstrom of these dangerous times? Only, it seems, Malcolm Craig Lowrie – the legendary Wolf of Dalriada.

In remote Argyll, people cry out to the young laird for protection against the evil of the Clearances. And there is also a beautiful Frenchwoman – staked as a child on the turn of a card – now living in thrall to her debauched captor, Sir William Robinson. But can the Wolf of Dalriada safeguard his people? Can the Wolf defeat enemies who, like the spirit of Argyll’s Corryvrecken Whirlpool, threaten to engulf them all?

Conspiracy of Lies by Kathryn Gauci

1940. With the Germans about to enter Paris, Claire Bouchard flees France for England. Two years later she is recruited by the Special Operations Executive and sent back into occupied France to work alongside the Resistance.

Working undercover as a teacher in Brittany, Claire accidentally befriends the wife of the German Commandant of Rennes and the blossoming friendship is about to become a dangerous mission.

Knowing that thousands of lives depended on her actions, Claire begins a double life as a Gestapo Commandant’s mistress in order to retrieve vital information for the Allied invasion of France, but ghosts from her past make the deception more painful than she could have imagined.

Part historical, part romance and part thriller, Conspiracy of Lies takes us on a journey through occupied France, from the picturesque villages of rural Brittany to the glittering dinner parties of the Nazi elite, in a story of courage, heartbreak and secrecy.

Lifting the Lid (Book 1) by Rob Johnson

When Trevor Hawkins hits the open road in his beat-up old camper van with his incorrigible dog, Milly, his quest for adventure soon spirals dangerously out of control. The simple act of flushing a hotel toilet transforms his life from redundant sales assistant to fugitive from a gang of psychopathic villains, the police and MI5.

Then there’s private detective Sandra Gray, who could cheerfully throttle him for turning a well paid, piece-of-cake job into a total nightmare. Or could she?

With more twists and turns than an Escher-designed bobsleigh run, Lifting the Lid is a comic thriller about how a single, split-second decision can change someone’s life forever.

The Master and the Maid (Book 1) by Laura Libricz

The Master and the Maid is a historical novel which places the main character, Katarina, in the dangerous position of being a single woman raising a child at a time when women were routinely burned as witches for offences as seemingly harmless to us today as an extensive knowledge of herbs or dancing.

Her unwise choice in love forces her back to the country estate she was raised in, to care for her aging grandmother, a farm which has been in disrepair since she left, a baby which has been foisted on her by a desperate huntsman, and to deflect the interest of the new master of Sichardtsdorf.

The Master and the Maid is the first book in the trilogy, Heaven’s Pond.

The Amulet by Effrosyni Moschoudi

Katie has a guardian angel . . . she just doesn’t know it.

When Katie loses her Athens office job, a gypsy woman hands her an amulet for good luck.Next, she gets hired as hotel receptionist on the Greek island of Sifnos and everything seems perfect, except for the overbearing hotel owner,Mrs. Matina. One of the guests, heart-stoppingly handsome Aggelos, keeps saving the day whenever Katie needs help. As she falls in love, she grows all the more intrigued by him and his quirky friends, including a little girl who keeps turning up on her own. Add a psychic, half-mad elderly woman into the mix and you’re in for a few laughs.

Things are not what they seem in this small, family hotel and get even more complicated when the gypsy woman shows up again. Will Katie ever workout that Aggelos is a guardian angel that came with the amulet? And if she does, will she be able to keep him? It may take a miracle. But on an island as magical as Sifnos, anything is possible!

Goat In The Meze (Book 1) by Katerina Nikolas

A hapless American couple who are stranded in the bonkers backwater Greek village of Astakos are befuddled and bemused by the antics of the villagers who charm and outrage them with their quirky ways.

The elusive underwear thief is busy plundering the local washing lines hoping his identity will never be revealed, whilst the Pappas is up to his neck in nefarious schemes. Mail order Russian bride Masha is indulged by that old fool Vasilis in her passion for plastic surgery, and Stavroula plots to extricate herself from her marriage to the supposedly dead Toothless Tasos.

Not a day goes by in Astakos without deviousness and humour as part of the scenic backdrop. The humorous antics of life in a fictional Greek village have the feel good factor to make you laugh-out-loud.

Le Chateau by Sarah Ridout

When Charlotte regains consciousness after an accident, she finds herself living a stranger’s life. The previous five years are a blank, and her husband, Henri, and daughter, Ada, are strangers. Arriving at their family chateau in southern France, she hopes to regain her memories. Instead she feels isolated and unsettled. Strange events hint at underlying darkness and menace. Charlotte doesn’t know who to trust.

Did she really have an affair with their charming Irish neighbour, as her enigmatic mother-in-law suggests? And what of Henri? He seems loving and kind, a good parent, but Charlotte is wary. Then there is Ada, a little girl who just wants her mother back.

With the help of her friend and fellow Australian Susannah, Charlotte starts to piece together events, but her newfound confidence is shaken with news that puts a deadline on her quest…

Le Chateau is a suspenseful gothic tale that will appeal to readers of Daphne du Maurier and Kate Morton.

Drawing Lessons by Patricia Sands

The author of the Love in Provence series returns to the South of France with a poignant portrait of a woman who must learn how to create a new life for herself…

Sixty-two-year-old Arianna arrives in the South of France for a two-week artists’ workshop full of anticipation but burdened by guilt. Back home in Toronto, she has been living with the devastating diagnosis of her husband’s dementia and the heartbreak of watching the man she has loved for decades slip away before her eyes. What does her future hold without Ben? Before her is a blank canvas.

Encouraged by her family to take some time for herself, she has traveled to Arles to set up her easel in the same fields of poppies and sunflowers that inspired Van Gogh. Gradually, she rediscovers the inner artist she abandoned long ago. Drawing strength from the warm companionship and gentle wisdom of her fellow artists at the retreat—as well as the vitality of guest lecturer Jacques de Villeneuve, an artist and a cowboy—Arianna searches her heart for permission to embrace the life in front of her and, like the sunflowers, once again face the light.

THE GREEK LETTERS: Volume 1 ‘Before’ by Suzi Stembridge

In 1827 Samuel Carr leaves his home in Didsbury in Cheshire. This mild mannered young man is completely oblivious that his spontaneous decision to travel to Greece, fighting for its independence, will have a huge effect on his descendants. His travels take him to the scene of the Battle of Trafalgar near Cadiz and on to witness the Battle of Navarino in the Peloponnese; scenes he never imagined in his wildest dreams – and the dreams of this sensitive young man are wild.

Struggling with his sexuality he might be considered something of an anti-hero, forming strong bonds with the characterful men and women he meets on his odyssey. These early tourists journey through Portugal, Spain and the Mediterranean and through the wild mountainous and coastal paths of early nineteenth century Greece, with Samuel stumbling on ancient ruins such as Olympia and Vassae, caught up with the history and culture of Greece. But the effort required to reach the slightly more civilised city of Nafplio, the first capital of Greece, challenges them all, proving that plans and wishes may not run true in times of war and austerity.

The Aegean Sun Series (book 1) by Stephanie Wood

This fast paced contemporary story takes place at the Aegean Sun Hotel in Greece over the summer season. Focusing on the various visitors who stay in room 101 on a weekly basis, it interweaves with the stories of the hotel staff and holiday reps based there over a six month period.

The karaoke nights, bar crawls, barbeques and boat cruises are enjoyed by some more than others, but they all have a tale to tell. Several characters are open and honest whilst others keep secrets from their fellow holidaymakers, reps and even their own partners.

This believable account of holiday fun, described by a former holiday rep herself, can be read as an on-going story of a Greek way of life, or as a series of connected short stories describing each character’s individual experiences. Either way, the entertainment is just beginning…

You can find our growing list of Travel By Book fiction and non-fiction titles set in Europe here on Facebook.

Be sure to stop back next month to learn about Travel By Book  titles set in America!

And don’t forget to check out the Travel By Book to Asia, Travel By Non-Fiction Book to Europe, Travel By Book to Latin American & the Caribbean posts to find even more great books to read.