To the casual observer, there’s nothing remarkable about Sylvia (Fox). An intelligent, confident woman, Sylvia tends to keep quiet about her formidable linguistic abilities, impressive knowledge of weaponry, and skills as a markswoman. Questions about her professional life are met with bland answers about an unspectacular career in the Civil Service. Which is only very slightly true – because until recently, Sylvia was a high-ranking British spy. Though Sylvia has spent years as a top MI6 operative, she’s lost her faith in the Service when she heads off to visit her sister Isabel (Fitzgerald) who lives in the beautiful village of Panicale in Umbria, where Isabel is preparing for the wedding of her daughter Alice. Season 2 finds former British spy
Sylvia Fox, even more deeply in love with Italy, and with life in the picturesque mediaeval town of Panicale. Contrary to her sister Isabel’s expectations, Sylvia appears to have lost her nomadic instincts, and after a year of living in Panicale, is fast becoming part of the local community. Sylvia spends her time reconnecting with her sister and restoring a gorgeous but crumbling old house in the hills. But old habits die hard, and though Sylvia might have left her job at MI6 behind, her unique skillset and appetite for solving mysteries remain undiminished. As Sylvia’s relationship with handsome Carabinieri Captain Giovanni Riva develops, Riva is by turns frustrated and grateful for Sylvia’s idiosyncratic participation in a variety of local investigations.
