## Book Card | Key | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Title (IT)** | Dieci Cose che Ho imparato da Jessica Fletcher | | **Title (EN)** | Ten Things I Learned from Jessica Fletcher | | **Author** | Guerra, Alice | | **Year** | 2024 | | **Series** | Alice Guerra (1) | | **Type** | novel | | **Genre** | Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Chick Lit | | **Genre (Save the Cat)** | Whydunit | | **Tropes** | Amateur Sleuth, Police Are Useless, Red Herring, The Watson, The Summation, The Klutz, Belligerent Sexual Tension, Meddling Old People, Nice Job Breaking It, Hero, Accidental Truth, Mistaken for Gay, Granola Girl | --- ## Review: Ten Things I Learned from Jessica Fletcher In "Ten Things I Learned from Jessica Fletcher," Alice Guerra transports us to a sweltering, gossip-filled Mestre, where the protagonist of the same name—an anxious thirty-year-old influencer—moonlights as an amateur detective. When her elderly neighbor Luigino disappears, Alice applies the maxims of her TV idol, _Murder, She Wrote_, to reality, clashing with the grumpy Sicilian Commissioner Lo Cascio. The result is a **Cozy Mystery** blending clumsy investigations with neighborhood dynamics. Structurally, the work adheres to the Hero's Journey model, albeit parodically. The inciting incident and the "Call to Adventure" are handled effectively, rooted in the protagonist's obsession. However, as noted in the analysis, the **Ordeal** phase seems underdeveloped: narrative tension is often diffused too quickly by comedy, lacking the sense of real danger that would make the final "reward" more satisfying. The use of narrative tropes is mixed but self-aware. The novel shines in its use of **The Klutz** trope: Alice's clumsiness isn't just a comic device but the engine of the plot itself. Equally effective is the portrayal of **Meddling Old People**, serving as a hilarious Greek chorus. Conversely, the **Villain** trope (the Shadow) is virtually non-existent, weakening the stakes of the central mystery. Recommended for readers of **Chick-lit** and **Cozy Mysteries** looking for a self-deprecating narrative voice akin to Sophie Kinsella, or fans of lighthearted crime series like _Only Murders in the Building_. It is a perfect read for those who want to laugh at modern neuroses, somewhere between an Instagram notification and an unauthorized police investigation. --- ## Structural Analysis (Hero's Journey & Archetypes) > [!INFO]- (click to expand) > # Structural Analysis: Ten Things I Learned from Jessica Fletcher > ## Logline > An anxious, clumsy thirty-year-old influencer from Mestre moonlights as an amateur detective, guided by the principles of her TV hero Jessica Fletcher, to investigate the disappearance of an elderly neighbor, clashing with a cynical Sicilian police commissioner and uncovering unexpected truths about herself and her community. > ## Brief Summary > Alice Guerra, a thirty-year-old content creator suffering from generalized anxiety disorder, gets pulled by her Aunt Rosanna into the mystery of Luigino, a ninety-year-old neighbor who has vanished. Convinced by lessons learned watching _Murder, She Wrote_, Alice begins an amateur investigation parallel to the official one led by the grumpy Commissioner Salvatore Lo Cascio, a Sicilian who hates the Veneto region and dreams of a transfer. Between failed stakeouts, clumsy break-ins, and wild theories about a serial killer, Alice drags the commissioner into a series of misunderstandings culminating in a neighborhood dinner. Here, Luigino reappears, revealing he was simply on vacation, while a chance intuition leads to the resolution of a real crime (a stolen bicycle ring), allowing Alice to face her fears and find an unexpected connection with the commissioner. > ## Archetypes and Characters > | **Archetype** | **Corresponding Character(s)** | **Brief Description** | > | ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | > | **Hero** | Alice Guerra | Reluctant protagonist, anxious but driven to action by the desire to protect her aunt and emulate her idol. | > | **Mentor** | Jessica Fletcher (Spirit Guide) | Imaginary spiritual guide. Alice applies the TV show's "rules" to reality, often with comic results. | > | **Threshold Guardian** | Luigino's Gate / Anxiety / Lo Cascio | Physical obstacles (the gate to climb) and psychological ones (fear of arrest, panic attacks) Alice must overcome. | > | **Herald** | Aunt Rosanna | Brings news of Luigino's disappearance and instills the (unfounded) fear of a serial killer in Alice, triggering the adventure. | > | **Shapeshifter** | Commissioner Salvatore Lo Cascio | Starts as a hostile antagonist who despises Alice, then reveals a human side and becomes a romantic interest/ally. | > | **Shadow** | Fear / The "Serial Killer" | The main antagonist is internal (Alice's insecurities) and projected externally onto the phantom killer imagined by the old ladies. | > | **Ally** | Aunt Rosanna, Teresina, Ornella, Antonio Volpaton | The chorus of "old ladies" provides crucial info (gossip); Antonio is the good cop who mediates with the commissioner. | > | **Trickster** | Luigino Boscolo / Alice herself | Luigino, with his absence and eccentric behavior, subverts order; Alice, with her clumsiness, creates chaos. | > ## The Hero's Journey Stages > | **Journey Stage** | **Event(s) in the Story** | > | ----------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | > | **1. The Ordinary World** | Alice on the sofa watching _Murder, She Wrote_, managing her anxiety and her life as an influencer in Mestre. | > | **2. The Call to Adventure** | Aunt Rosanna's phone call: Luigino is missing, and murder/a serial killer is suspected. | > | **3. Refusal of the Call** | Alice initially dismisses her aunt's fears as old ladies' fantasies and just wants to return to her chores and sofa. | > | **4. Meeting the Mentor** | A dream of Jessica Fletcher urging her to get up; application of Jessica's maxims to reality. | > | **5. Crossing the First Threshold** | Alice goes to the site where the bike was found and then to the police station, officially entering the investigation. | > | **6. Tests, Allies, and Enemies** | Clashes with Lo Cascio; clumsy interrogations of Luigino's friends at the bar; attempting to get info from ex-wife Beatrice. | > | **7. Approach to the Inmost Cave** | Alice decides to illegally break into Luigino's house (climbing the gate, stealing keys). | > | **8. The Ordeal** | Alice is nearly caught by Lo Cascio in Luigino's garden; the confrontation with the commissioner and discovery of the affair between Piercoglione and Chiaretta. | > | **9. The Reward** | Alice finds clues (the recent passport) suggesting Luigino is alive and ran away, not dead. | > | **10. The Road Back** | Alice forges a suicide note to close the case and protect Luigino from the false drug accusations she herself fueled. | > | **11. The Resurrection** | The Redentore dinner. Lo Cascio discovers the forged letter deception and threatens arrest. Luigino reappears alive and well. The emotional climax and resolution of the legal conflict. | > | **12. Return with the Elixir** | Alice doesn't go to prison but to the beach with the commissioner. She has learned to manage her life better and not judge by appearances (Jessica's lesson). | ## Structural Analysis (Save the Cat!) > [!INFO]- (click to expand) > # Structural Analysis: Ten Things I Learned from Jessica Fletcher > ## Logline > An anxious influencer (Protagonist) must solve the mystery of a neighbor's disappearance (Goal) to soothe her aunt's paranoia, clashing with a hostile police commissioner (Antagonist) who threatens to arrest her for her clumsy investigation (Irony). > ## The Blake Snyder Beat Sheet (BS2) > | **Beat** | **Story Event** | **Critical Notes** | > | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | > | **1. Opening Image** | Alice on the sofa watching _Murder, She Wrote_ while it's hot outside and smells of manure. | Establishes the comic/ironic tone, Alice's ordinary world, and her obsession with Jessica Fletcher. | > | **2. Theme Stated** | "Those who need to prove their worth aren't worth much" (quote from Jessica Fletcher). | The theme of self-acceptance and not needing to prove anything to others (also applies to Chiaretta and the Commissioner). | > | **3. Set-Up** | Introduction of Alice's life in Mestre, her anxiety, Aunt Rosanna, and Commissioner Lo Cascio who hates the North. | Effectively introduces the cast and context (Mestre) as a character in itself. | > | **4. Catalyst** | Aunt Rosanna's phone call: Luigino is missing and the worst is feared. | The inciting incident breaking Alice's routine. | > | **5. Debate** | Alice is torn: stay on the sofa or investigate? A dream of Jessica Fletcher pushes her to act. | Brief but effective in showing the anxious hero's reluctance. | > | **6. Break into Two** | Alice decides to check the abandoned bike and go to the police station, bringing the chicken feed (evidence). | Alice leaves her safe world to enter the world of investigation (and legal trouble). | > | **7. B Story** | The interaction with Commissioner Lo Cascio. | The relationship line leading to character change (and the romantic turn). | > | **8. Fun and Games** | Alice investigates clumsily: interrogating old men at the bar, visiting the ex-wife, stealing keys from the nursing home, climbing gates. | This is the core of the book ("The promise of the premise"), full of comic sketches and subverted investigative tropes. | > | **9. Midpoint** | Alice breaks into Luigino's house and is nearly caught by Lo Cascio. She discovers Luigino got a passport (false victory/discovery). | The stakes rise: now Alice knows Luigino ran away, but she has convinced the commissioner he's a drug lord. | > | **10. Bad Guys Close In** | Lo Cascio starts investigating the drug lead (created by Alice) seriously. The aunt goes on TV talking about a serial killer. | Alice's lies are creating a disaster; external pressure mounts. | > | **11. All Is Lost** | Alice forges a suicide note to close the case but does it clumsily. Lo Cascio catches her. | Alice has committed a crime, and the commissioner concretely threatens prison. | > | **12. Dark Night of the Soul** | Alice at the dinner, terrified of the commissioner's arrival and imminent arrest. She feels trapped. | Moment of despair before the climax. | > | **13. Break into Three** | During dinner, Alice decides to confess/announce Luigino's "suicide" to end matters, but Luigino appears alive. | The resolution comes not from Alice's plan, but from the external event (Luigino's return) forcing her to face the truth. | > | **14. Finale** | The Deputy Commissioner arrives, clears up the drug misunderstanding (bike theft ring), and promotes Lo Cascio. Lo Cascio "arrests" Alice. | The comic and romantic climax. The arrest turns out to be a pretext to take her away with him. | > | **15. Final Image** | Alice and the Commissioner on the beach at dawn. | Mirrors the opening: she is no longer alone on the sofa watching others' lives but living her own "adventure." | ## Narrative Trope Analysis > [!NOTE]- (click to expand) > # Narrative Trope Analysis: Ten Things I Learned from Jessica Fletcher > ### Amateur Sleuth > 🔗 Card: [Amateur Sleuth](THE%20HERO'S%20ATLAS/TROPES/Amateur%20Sleuth.md) > - **Definition:** A character with no law enforcement ties who solves crimes or mysteries, often better than the police. > - **Description and Context:** Alice is the definition of this trope. An influencer by trade, she uses her knowledge of _Murder, She Wrote_ (her ideal "Mentor") to conduct investigations. Driven by concern for her aunt, she conducts a parallel, unauthorized investigation: she questions witnesses, illegally enters homes, and even fabricates evidence, often hindering or (accidentally) anticipating the police. > ### Police Are Useless > 🔗 Card: [Police Are Useless](THE%20HERO'S%20ATLAS/TROPES/Police%20Are%20Useless.md) > - **Definition:** A common mystery trope where official police are portrayed as incompetent, slow, skeptical, or focused on the wrong track, thus forcing the amateur protagonist to solve the case. > - **Description and Context:** Commissioner Lo Cascio embodies this. He initially dismisses the case ("a senile old man who forgot his bike"), is distracted by his own drug case and gastritis, and actively obstructs Alice, forcing her to "do it herself". > ### The Klutz > 🔗 Card: [The Klutz](THE%20HERO'S%20ATLAS/TROPES/The%20Klutz.md) > - **Definition:** A character who is exceptionally clumsy, prone to physical and social accidents. > - **Description and Context:** Alice trips, falls off gates, gets covered in mud and chicken feces, burns food, and constantly creates embarrassing situations. Her clumsiness is a primary source of comedy. > ### Belligerent Sexual Tension > 🔗 Card: [Belligerent Sexual Tension](THE%20HERO'S%20ATLAS/TROPES/Belligerent%20Sexual%20Tension.md) > - **Definition:** Two characters who constantly argue or pretend to hate each other but hide a strong mutual attraction. > - **Description and Context:** Alice and Lo Cascio spend the entire book insulting and criticizing each other (she for his grumpy ways, he for her being an influencer), but end up kissing and spending the night together. > ### Meddling Old People > 🔗 Card: [Meddling Old People](THE%20HERO'S%20ATLAS/TROPES/Meddling%20Old%20People.md) > - **Definition:** Elderly characters who interfere in others' business, often gossiping or conducting their own investigations. > - **Description and Context:** Aunt Rosanna, Teresina, and Ornella form a neighborhood surveillance network, spreading rumors about serial killers and heavily influencing Alice's actions. > ### The Watson > 🔗 Card: [The Watson](THE%20HERO'S%20ATLAS/TROPES/The%20Watson.md) > - **Definition:** A character who serves as the main investigator's assistant, often less brilliant, whose function is to ask the questions the audience would ask and act as a sounding board for the detective's theories. > - **Description and Context:** Aunt Rosanna acts as Alice's "Watson." Although unreliable and a source of red herrings, she is her primary confidante. Alice explains her theories to her and uses her to gather information from her network of elderly friends. > ### Nice Job Breaking It, Hero > 🔗 Card: [Nice Job Breaking It, Hero](THE%20HERO'S%20ATLAS/TROPES/Nice%20Job%20Breaking%20It,%20Hero.md) > - **Definition:** The hero tries to fix a problem but ends up making the situation drastically worse. > - **Description and Context:** To cover Luigino's escape, Alice convinces Lo Cascio that the old man is a drug lord. This leads to an escalation of the investigation that nearly gets her arrested for fabricating evidence. > ### Red Herring > 🔗 Card: [Red Herring](THE%20HERO'S%20ATLAS/TROPES/Red%20Herring.md) > - **Definition:** A clue, event, or suspect placed in the plot with the intention of misleading the investigators (and the reader) away from the truth. > - **Description and Context:** The novel uses several. The most prominent is Aunt Rosanna's "Sera Triglie" (Serial Killer) psychosis, which turns out to be Alice's ex, Piercoglione. Another is Lo Cascio's (wrongful) connection of Luigino to the drug trafficking case, based on the coincidence of a red bike. > ### Accidental Truth > 🔗 Card: [Accidental Truth](THE%20HERO'S%20ATLAS/TROPES/Accidental%20Truth.md) > - **Definition:** A character tells a lie or makes an absurd hypothesis that turns out to be true, or leads to the discovery of the truth in roundabout ways. > - **Description and Context:** Alice's lies and Antonio's clumsy actions (analyzing the bike paint) accidentally lead the police to discover a real crime (the stolen bike ring), solving the case "by mistake." > ### The Summation > 🔗 Card: [The Summation](THE%20HERO'S%20ATLAS/TROPES/The%20Summation.md) > - **Definition:** The climactic moment of the mystery where the investigator gathers the suspects and explains, step-by-step, how the crime was committed, revealing the culprit. > - **Description and Context:** The novel subverts this trope. "The Summation" occurs at the Redentore party, but Alice doesn't give it; the supposed victim, Luigino, returns and reveals there was never a crime at all. His explanation ("I was in Bari!" "Not Bali") comically resolves all the mysteries (the bike, the empty fridge, the passport). > ### Mistaken for Gay > 🔗 Card: [Mistaken for Gay](THE%20HERO'S%20ATLAS/TROPES/Mistaken%20for%20Gay.md) > - **Definition:** A heterosexual character is mistaken for homosexual due to misunderstandings or stereotypes. > - **Description and Context:** An elderly lady in church and at the police station sees Lo Cascio and Antonio in compromising positions (searching in the trash or under the desk) and labels them "inverts." > ### Granola Girl / The Vegetarian > 🔗 Card: [Granola Girl](THE%20HERO'S%20ATLAS/TROPES/Granola%20Girl.md) > - **Definition:** A character characterized by a natural lifestyle, vegetarian/vegan diet, and love for animals. > - **Description and Context:** Alice defines herself as a "vegetarian sympathizer," loves animals more than people, and obsessively worries about Luigino's chickens (risking cannibalism). Luigino also becomes a vegetarian by the end ("rice, potatoes, and tofu").