MURDER IN MATERA : A TRUE STORY OF PASSION, FAMILY, AND FORGIVENESS IN SOUTHERN ITALY
by Helene Stapinski 

There was a murder in the family. From the time when she was a young child to adulthood Helene Stapinski's mother told endless stories about this wild great-great-grandmother named Vita Gallitelli. That side of the family (the maternal) came from Matera, a province in Southern Italy. (The name actually means mother in Latin.)
Apparently the murder happened over a card game. Vita's husband, Francesco Vena, was also involved. Many years later, Vita decides to come to America without Francesco. It's 1892 and very unusual for a woman to travel without her husband alone with three children. They settled in Jersey City where the two brothers, Leonardo and Valente, worked as barbers. Vita did not live real long. On Mischief Night she was hit in the head with a sock full of rocks.Within a week she was dead at the age of sixty-four. Was this some kind of revenge for what happened in Matera?
Stapinski decides to go to Italy to find out what really occurred. At first she goes for a month with her mother and her two young children leaving her husband behind. It's not a productive trip. The people who are questioned don't know of Vita, never heard of any murder, and nothing gets resolved. It would take ten years and multiple trips before Stapinski discovered the secrets that have been hidden for decades.
Murder in Matera is not your average true crime book. The fact that there's very few clues, no photos of the perpetrators, a couple of street names, and birth and death certificates is not much to go on. But, author Helene Stapinski does some impressive research upon returning to Italy which opens up a whole flood of information. 
Stapinski is a terrific writer and is also very funny. She knows how to tell a good tale (probably inherited this from her mother) and keeps you riveted to the page. There's never a dull moment. I, for one, did not want it to end.
Very highly recommended.