Blog Tour With Victoria Rienzi by Rosie Genova

I’m a nice Italian girl. I kiss all my relatives, I listen to my mother, and I only kill people in print. I’m a mystery writer for the Agatha Press, with a series featuring a detective named Bernardo Vitali. (You may have heard of my books—Molto Murder? How about Ciao, My Darling?) Not long ago, I decided to take a break from the mysteries and write a historical novel based on my Italian family. But to do that I had to go back to our family restaurant, the Casa Lido. It’s in a small beach town at the Jersey shore—the perfect setting to work on my new novel. Or so I thought.

My first challenge was dealing with Nonna, my very formidable grandmother. When I got there, she wasn’t even speaking to me. Apparently I don’t visit enough. Then my mom and dad got me involved in a town protest against a reality show that wanted to film in our town. Unfortunately, the producer of that show ended up dead in our tomato garden, which wasn’t very good for business. That’s when Nonna started speaking to me again, because she insisted I find out how said producer met his end.

That’s also when my sister-in-law Sofia got into the act, appointing herself as my assistant, only she’s a whole lot smarter than Dr. Watson. After that, I got locked in a pantry with my former boyfriend Tim, faced down a drunken suspect, and ran afoul of a preppie thug named Fredo. Just to complicate things further, there’s a very attractive guy named Cal who’s restoring our antique bar; he’s from New Orleans and has an accent like sugar syrup. Or does he? Cal’s one mystery I haven’t solved yet, but I think I’ll probably have fun trying.

All I wanted to do when I came home was to learn how to cook Italian and write my new book, but instead I stumbled into a murder. When it was all over, I warned Sofia that I’d never get involved in anything that crazy again. In fact, right now I’m busy making meatballs for our famous Wedding Soup, specially requested by friends of ours for their daughter’s wedding. So things are nice and quiet now, and once I’m done making a thousand meatballs, I can get back to my writing.

Because I can’t imagine anyone getting murdered at a wedding reception. Can you?

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You can read more about Victoria in Murder and Marinara, the first book in the new “Italian Kitchen” mystery series, published by Obsidian.

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Thanks to Penguin, I have one (1) copy of MURDER AND MARINARA to give away. Leave a comment to be included in the giveaway. Contest ends October 2; US entries only per publisher’s request.

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Meet the author
A Jersey girl born and bred, Rosie Genova left her heart at the shore, which serves as the setting for much of her work. Her new series, the Italian Kitchen Mysteries, is informed by her deep appreciation for good food, her pride in her heritage, and her love of classic mysteries from Nancy Drew to Miss Marple. An English teacher by day and novelist by night, Rosie also writes women’s fiction as Rosemary DiBattista. She lives in central New Jersey with her husband, two of her three Jersey boys, and an ill-behaved fox terrier.

Visit Rosie at her website or on Facebook.

Books are available at retail and online booksellers.