Quick Glimpses: Fear on the Ferris Wheel

In another scene from Murder and Marinara, the main character and amateur sleuth, Victoria, is on a date with a man who may be a suspect in the murder she’s investigating. Despite her fear of heights—and boardwalk rides—Vic agrees to join the mysterious Calvin Lockheart on the Ferris Wheel. . .

To my chagrin, there wasn’t much of a line for the Ferris wheel, and before I knew it, I was stepping shakily into an open seat. Cal slid in next to me, and the operator locked the bar into place. I gripped it with both hands. He flashed me a sideways grin. “You okay there?”

I tightened my hands on the bar. “Uh, I’m good, thanks.” I looked over at him with a frozen smile. “It’s not—” I’d been about to say ‘as bad as I thought it would be,’ but then it was. We were lifted up and backward, and I had that familiar dropping sensation that I got on airplanes. The one that made me feel I’d left my stomach somewhere on the ground and that I was flying away without it. My eyes darted for an escape, but Cal put an arm around my shoulders.

“They’re just raising the car to bring the next one up on the platform.” He assumed the slow, gentle tone one might use with a skittish horse, and I frowned at him.

“I said I’m fine, okay?” The car jerked upward, and I squeezed my eyes shut. “Oh my God, what the hell are they doing?”

“Victoria, open your eyes. They’re just filling up the cars, is all. Once they do that, we’ll make a couple of nice, slow circles and be back down on the ground before you know it.”

I opened one eye and glared at him with it. “This ride is interminable.” My grip on the bar was so tight I was losing feeling in my hands. I shifted in the seat, which set the car rocking and me wondering whether sausage and onions had been such a good idea. At that moment we began our slow ascent, and my whole body stiffened. Cal tightened his arm around me, but I was too terrified to tell whether or not I enjoyed the feeling. “Uhh, you said you’d distract me. So let’s talk.”

“You got it. But would you mind opening your other eye?” I could hear the amusement in his voice.

“Right. Both eyes open.” Ha, both eyes open—that could be the theme of my investigation.

[Photo by Alina Grubnyak on Unsplash]

Nifty Ninety-Nine Cent Promo. . .

Starts today! From now through August 7, get the e-book of Murder and Marinara, Book One of the Italian Kitchen Mysteries, for only $0.99. A bargain for new readers of the series (as well as for current readers who may have recycled their old paperbacks.) Check it out here, or use the buy button below.

Goodreads Giveaway!

From today through August 1, you can enter for the chance to win one of 100 ebook copies of Murder and Marinara!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Murder and Marinara

by Rosie Genova

Giveaway ends August 01, 2021.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Quick Glimpses: A Peek into the Pages of Murder and Marinara

The world of the Italian Kitchen Mysteries is grounded in my childhood days at the Jersey shore; it’s also influenced by my love of rustic Italian food and my own experience of working in restaurants. In this peek at the setting, the main character, Victoria Rienzi, is coming back to her family-owned restaurant, the Casa Lido. She meets her brother Danny outside, who holds open the door for her:

“I ducked under his arm through the open door and took a step back into the past. Not just my past, but the past of this place, originating with World War II. As my eyes adjusted to the cool darkness, I saw the dark-paneled walls, the ornately carved bar, the tables with their classic, red-checked tablecloths. My great-grandparents had started with a wooden boardwalk stand that sold sandwiches and ended up building a business that’s been flourishing for seventy-five years. I inhaled the mingled smells of simmering sauce and fresh basil and the licorice scent of the anise flavoring of Nonna’s ricotta cookies. It was a Monday, the only day of the week we were closed, so I knew that sauce was meant for me. From the time I was old enough to set a table, the Casa Lido had been my second home.”

Photo by Kama Tulkibayeva on Unsplash

Release Day is Here!

Just in time for summer reading, the new edition of Murder and Marinara is available today on Amazon. I’m so pleased to be able to offer the eBook through Amazon, with a new paperback version to follow shortly. I’d like to say a big thank-you to all the readers who have asked about the series, and I’m thrilled to be giving it new life. Happy Summer, all!

Coming Soon!

I’m so pleased to announce that I am re-releasing Book One of my Italian Kitchen Mysteries, Murder and Marinara on June 21—the first day of summer and just in time for beach reading! For new readers, it’s a cozy mystery set in an Italian restaurant at the Jersey shore. Though the book is a slightly updated new edition of Murder and Marinara, the story, setting, and characters remain the same as the original, but with a fresh new look.

The book will be available for pre-order on Amazon later in the week, so stay tuned!

Role Models and Influences: Agatha Christie

My pleasure reading often involves re-reading favorite works that help me clear my head for my own writing. In the case of Agatha Christie, I get the added benefit of learning from a master of the genre while I read.

I just loaded a bunch of Christie on my Kindle, and discovered to my delight that there was a Miss Marple I'd somehow missed: 4:50 to Paddington. The "4:50" of the title is a time, and refers to a train on which a murder occurs, witnessed by an elderly lady from a passing train on the opposite tracks. The authorities, of course, chalk it up to her age and an overactive imagination, but her friend Miss Jane Marple believes her, and sets out to solve the case.

Jane Marple, like Christie's other famous detective, Hercule Poirot, is an amateur sleuth. Both tend to be one step ahead of the police, and both have a way of getting witnesses to talk to them. But here's what Christie understood so well about her two characters: they were outsiders, and as outsiders occupied a unique position--that of observer.

Among the English upper crust, Poirot is a foreigner. His slicked-back hair and waxed mustache are a joke, as is his accent. Those around him--including the various murderers he foils--don't perceive him as a threat. He's not one of them, so they ignore him. They don't reckon on the fact that nothing escapes his notice.

I'm a Miss Marple fan, but I wasn't always. As a young reader of Christie, I had no interest in an elderly lady who sits in a corner knitting, and therein lies her power. Then, as now, elderly ladies are all but invisible in society; they usually hold little power, and they are easily dismissed by others (as is the case of the woman in the book I'm reading now). But they sure as hell pay attention, something I appreciate much more as I get older. Miss Marple, with little to do except watch people, has an understanding of human behavior beyond that of the various Scotland Yard inspectors she foils.

When I set out to create an amateur sleuth of my own, I made her a mystery writer. (In fact, Victoria's main character, Bernardo Vitali, might be considered the Italian version of Poirot.) As a writer, Vic is also an observer. She takes in the small details of physical appearance and personality that others might miss. And as a writer of mysteries, she's conversant with the why and how of murder. But unlike Poirot and Miss Marple, she makes her share of mistakes.

As does her creator. . .

Hats Off to Mary

She was the reason I got interested in journalism. She was the reason I lived alone in a fourth floor walk-up as a single professional. She taught me that there's strength in kindness and that you can be a feminist and still retain your femininity. Mary Richards, immortalized by the lovely Mary Tyler Moore, was a beacon for all of us. I will always be grateful to her and to the talented woman who brought her to life.

Role Models and Influences: Shirley Jackson

Is there any one of us who hasn't read Shirley Jackson's iconic story, "The Lottery"? I don't think there's any better depiction of the dark undercurrents that usually remain hidden in small communities. My favorite of Jackson's works is The Haunting of Hill House, with its much-better-than-average Hollywood adaptation, The Haunting. 

I think Jackson has been a subconscious influence on my work as a mystery writer, particularly in the way that she skillfully evokes atmosphere. (And like her, I adore creaky old houses with plenty of secrets.) So I was thrilled to find that there's a new biography of Jackson, with the compelling subtitle, "A rather haunted life." Perfect reading for this time of year.

Publishers Weekly gave a small taste of the book is this article. 

I Confess. . .

That I stole my tagline, “Cozy mysteries with romantic interruptions,” from Dorothy L. Sayers. Sayers was the author of the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries; published primarily in the 30s, the Wimsey mysteries are prime examples of the “Golden Age” of British detective fiction.

Wimsey is an aristocratic sleuth who takes up detecting as a hobby after he returns to England after World War I. While I love all the books, in the early ones Wimsey is a bit of a flat character. It isn’t until the series introduces Harriet Vane, a mystery writer wrongfully accused of murder, that he becomes fully dimensional. Though Sayers swore she’d never have her sleuth involved in a romance, she spins out a wonderful one over several books that culminate in the marriage of Harriet and Peter. In fact, Sayers got so enthusiastic about the love story that she was accused of having a crush on her own character, which given Wimsey's charms, seems perfectly natural.

The last book in Sayers’ series, Busman’s Honeymoon, carries this subtitle: “A Love Story with Detective Interruptions.” So with a little tweaking, it became a way for me to define my stories. But let’s call it an homage, shall we?

I don’t know about you, but I really need some romance in my mysteries. (I need some mystery in my romance, too, but that’s a post for another day.) Providing your detective a love interest humanizes him or her, and it gives readers something else to wonder about—will they get together or not?—besides the murder. And it keeps us turning pages. As much as I respect Sayers’ formidable skills with a mystery, it was the love story that kept me coming back to the books.