Omicidio alla Moda (Italian Easy Reader)

I had a slightly older edition while the students I've been reading it with have the current one. The two editions are quite similar but the newer has added the page numbers (missing in mine!!) and questions at the end of some chapters, a good way to make a summary of what it's happening. There are also a few short English readings for general interest.The characters are quite interesting, it is easy enough to be read by students (with some good knowledge of Italian) on their own, just a dictionary on the side is useful for the less common phrases or words, some of which are translated on top of the Italian.However, these are NOT always properly translated!!NOT ONLY, but the errors in this book!! In both editions a few times the wrong names were used!!! I wonder about everybody else here who positively reviewed this book... whether they noticed this (?).Also, with regards to the questions I mentioned at the end of some chapters ... several are really silly and banal, the word 'patronising' comes to mind... just to fill pages of the book. This is on top of the somehow excessive line-spacing (making the book appearing longer than what it is).POSSIBLY A SPOILERTHE WORST PART is the ending, undefined, there is not an ending because there is not material given even to think about and imagine a possible ending. It felt like the writer could not be bothered any longer!We thought it was a big hit and miss. I wont buy any more or suggest anybody to buy this or any other book from the same writer.

I also read Cinzia Medaglia's other story 'Il segretto di Giulia' and this one, just like that one is quite 'cheesy'. The characters are stereotypes and it's all a bit cliched, but it is a good book to help with improving your Italian. As a language teacher myself, I would set this at A2/B1, but it certainly wouldn't be any higher than that. As it's a 'who dunnit' I shall say no more, but for all Italian learners out there who want to improve their language skills, this is recommended.

Once we have passed the basics of Italian, it's good to find a book that is easy to read, plausible in its plot and thoroughly enjoyable. Because it is designed as an easy reader, it's no good expecting great depth to the characters but each one is sufficiently outlined to give an added reality. The story is set in the Haute Couture district of Milan where a murder takes place in one of the leading fashion houses. There are not too many demands from the language at this level and the use of the Present Tense is more frequent than might be expected at this level. It's also worth having an Italian-English dictionary on your Kindle for the occasional unusual word or phrase. However, quite unusual words are translated in superscript next to the Italian. And, as you can imagine, there is a lot of dialogue in the book which uses colloquial expressions which are easily understood and well-worth remembering for the future in studying current Italian.

A nice simplified book - a bit of a slushy story but excellent for someone starting out in Italian. On occasion the more exotic tenses appear and the vocabulary hints aren't exactly voluminous but it should be accessible to a student at A1 level with a little work, a dictionary and a conjugation of essere (can be found on the web) because the present subjunctive crops up. It's worth having for the idiomatic dialogue.I'd have given it 4 stars because of the stingey vocabulary (the publisher (Amazon) could have explained that subjunctive moment !) but finally decided 5 because it's supplemented with a few cultural "boxes", explaining various cultural points.

I am really enjoying reading my first book in Italian. It is very easy reading, but I find it a little frustrating that many of the verbs are in the present tense. However, I would recommend this to anyone wishing to practise or improve their Italian.

It gave me a lot of pleasure reading this little "whodunnit". My Italian is still at a fairly basic level, so I love these easy readers. They are a good way of gaining familiarity with the language and absorbing new words. This one proved to be a milestone for me, because I found that I was able to read it quite easily. There are several more of Cinzia's books available in easy reader format, so I intend to take advantage of these too.

This one in the series is a good story with some excellent characters, lots of coffee drinking and fashionistas. The plot is good and the end nice and dramatic. It helped with my transition to level B1 as well as giving a good read

A useful text for those who want to practice their Italian at about PLIDA B1 level, that is to say after say three to four years of night classes. The story 'un giallo' concerns a murder in a major Milan fashion house and manages to maintain one's interest even though the language is straight forward. The authoress, Cinzia Medaglia seems to have the knack of writing simply but effectively. As with her other books there are pockets of information about Milan and its culture, and some of the more difficult phrases are translated into English.