A murder mystery a model of investigative reporting a celebration of the fierce bonds that
hold families together through tragedies...Murder in Matera is a gem.” — San Francisco
Chronicle Tantalizing — NPR A thrilling detective story... Stapinski pursues the study of her
family's criminal genealogy with unexpected emotional results.” — Library Journal A writer goes
deep into the heart of Italy to unravel a century-old family mystery in this spellbinding
memoir that blends the suspenseful twists of Making a Murderer and the emotional insight of
Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels.Since childhood Helene Stapinski heard lurid tales about
her great-great-grandmother Vita. In Southern Italy she was a loose woman who had murdered
someone. Immigrating to America with three children she lost one along the way. Helene's
youthful obsession with Vita deepened as she grew up eventually propelling the journalist to
Italy where with her own children in tow she pursued the story determined to set the record
straight.Finding answers would take Helene ten years and numerous trips to Basilicata the
rural instep of Italy's boot—a mountainous land rife with criminals superstitions old-world
customs and desperate poverty. Though false leads sent her down blind alleys Helene's dogged
search aided by a few lucky—even miraculous—breaks and a group of colorful local characters
led her to the truth. Yes the family tales she'd heard were true: There had been a murder in
Helene's family a killing that roiled 1870s Italy. But the identities of the killer and victim
weren't who she thought they were. In revisiting events that happened more than a century
before Helene came to another stunning realization—she wasn't who she thought she was
either.Weaving Helene's own story of discovery with the tragic tale of Vita's life Murder in
Matera is a literary whodunit and a moving tale of self-discovery that brings into focus a long
ago tragedy in a little-known region remarkable for its stunning sunny beauty and dark buried
secrets.
