Elizabeth Buchan has proved on many occasions that she is an expert storyteller and Two Women In Rome is another fine example of her expertise. The two women of the title are Lottie Archer and Nina Lawrence. Lottie never knew her parents and was brought up in care never ceasing to speculate on her own parents. However she has been very successful, attending university and gaining a position as an archivist. Her carefully constructed life changes dramatically when she meets, falls in love with and marries Tom. Lottie moves to Rome where Tom lives and works and finds another post as an archivist. One of her first tasks is to document all the papers detailing the deaths of British nationals from 1880 to 1980. Lottie is intrigued when she reads the papers relating to the death of Nina Lawrence at just 38 particularly as the notes state that Nina had no known contacts, no known issue, there were no claimants to her estate and nobody attended her funeral. Lottie is determined to discover the truth about Nina Lawrence's life in Rome and this quest makes for fascinating reading.