Summer of Fire by Kitty Pilgrim

Beautiful Capri, Italy, and southern Italy's volcanoes are the settings for many of the events in Summer of Fire, an International Romantic Thriller.  The reader gets to jet-set along with the characters through Italy, with stops in England, Norway, Iceland and France.  Good guys, bad guys, lovers, adventurers all come together for an exciting finish.

It all begins in Capri, which the author describes thus:

There was a magical timelessness to Capri  A special atmosphere, and a sense of history. ...  Nowhere on earth was more romantic.

And Capri turns out to be a retreat for many of the book's characters, a place to escape the world, a romantic retreat.

This is the book's exciting trailer:

We get lots of threads as the book builds its plot:  a forbidden love affair, a death that is possibly a gangster hit, a policeman determined to keep Capri mobster-free, a Camorra boss and his killer/burglar, teen boys seeking adventure, priceless jewels, and a loving couple who might make a deeper commitment if given a moment's peace.

The author weaves all the stories together creating dangerous situations galore.  There is some in-scene violence, and a handful of vulgarities.  The writing is smooth (I always like more past-perfects than many writers use), and the story flows well.  The voice is third-person limited, allowing us into the heads of various characters over the course of the book, but only one per section.

This is a European crime story with lots of romance and some thrills and chills. I liked that the author had our heroes feel horrible when they had to take a life to save themselves or others, showing the difference between them and the sociopathic bad guys.

I know there was no real choice.  But it's still hard to kill a man.

The author adds into the mix information on the active volcanoes in Europe, even putting us over one as it erupts, and on another as the lava starts to flow.  This International Romantic Thriller is a fun read for a holiday, or when you just want to feel like you're on holiday, perhaps just to enjoy the fantasy of being in the Capri villa along with the book's characters.  Magari!

There are actually three books to feature the main protagonists in Summer of Fire, an archeologist and an oceanographer:

1. Explorer's Code
2. The Stolen Chalice
3. Summer of Fire

Award-winning CNN journalist Kitty Pilgrim turns her talents to print in The Explorer’s Code, an exciting international thriller that revolves around the quest for a land deed valuable enough to kill for.

When the renowned young oceanographer Cordelia Stapleton receives an invitation to accept an award on behalf of her great-great-grandfather, a famous Victorian polar explorer, she has no idea her life is about to change dramatically. John Sinclair—a dashing, wealthy archaeologist and philanthropist—presents Cordelia with the award at the glamorous Oceanographic Institute Ball in Monaco.

He also gives her a journal that her great-great-grandfather wrote in 1908. An orphan with very few family belongings, Cordelia is amazingly touched to have this precious heirloom. Once the journal is in her possession, Cordelia learns that she is heir to the land on which the Global Seed Vault in Norway sits. The valuable deed for this land, or at least a clue to its whereabouts, may be hidden in the journal.

The Explorer’s Code is a satisfying blend of historical detail, fast-paced action, scientific discovery, and the thrill of exploration that informs as well as entertains. The breathtaking ending in the high Arctic is as chilling as a polar breeze.

CNN veteran Kitty Pilgrim returns with her second novel featuring the beautiful young oceanographer Cordelia Stapleton and the dashing, urbane archaeologist John Sinclair. Set in the international art world, The Stolen Chalice takes readers across the globe. Bombings, kidnappings, and Sinclair’s old love conspire against the couple as they search for valuable Egyptian art.

The black-tie gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art promises to be a star-studded evening. Cordelia Stapleton and John Sinclair have flown in from Alexandria, Egypt, to help celebrate ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian culture with New York’s elite. The influential crowd of artists, collectors, scientists, and New York society dine and dance at the museum’s historic Temple of Dendur, unaware that terrorists are planning to attack. Fortunately, museum security and police stop the terrorists, but the evening is a disaster.

The next morning, Cordelia and Sinclair learn that an art theft ring struck New York while they were at the museum. All over the city, pieces of Egyptian art have been stolen. Ted VerPlanck—a pillar of New York society whom Cordelia met the night before—discovers that his penthouse apartment was robbed and the legendary Sardonyx Cup, an ancient Egyptian chalice, is missing. Ted asks John Sinclair to help him recover his precious artifact.

When nature takes charge, sparks fly.

 On the beautiful island of Capri, a royal princess begins a secret love affair, oblivious to the dangers that surround her. Internationally renowned novelist Kitty Pilgrim chronicles a modern thriller based in the historic volcanic region of Southern Italy. Her characters, archaeologist John Sinclair and oceanographer Cordelia Stapleton, team up once again for a tale of glamour and romance that spans every level of society—from the dangerous criminal underworld of Naples to the jet set of Europe.

  

Here are direct links to all three books at Amazon.com:

Please visit the author's website where she has many videos showing the research she does for her books.

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, the author of the crime-romance novel THE HAGUE, a traditional murder mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.

What Happens in Tuscany by T.A. Williams

Looking for a book to gift to a young woman going out into the world on her own for the first time?  What Happens in Tuscany is a New Adult novel that attempts to teach young women useful life lessons in the guise of a contemporary romance novel. 

Katie has to teach Victoria about modern life.  That is the premise that allows the author to include all sorts of lessons for young women today.  Katie herself is an example of how to behave, as she tries to recover from a bad romantic breakup, and to set her sights on her future.

The story is set in England (the first third) and in Tuscany, Italy.  The major characters are English, which may have contributed to the one problem I noticed with the life lessons.  The lessons did not warn against excessive alcohol consumption, a major social problem in Britain for the young people, possibly because it is accepted as socially normal.  Be aware that social and cultural references are English, which might confuse some U.S. readers.

So, what life lessons might your young woman receive from this book?  Here goes:

• Managing personal finances
• Personal and social responsibilities
• Moral decisions
• Sexual mores
• Social situations including flirting, dating, physical love, relationships
• Dealing with pain, anger, jealousy, envy, and life's setbacks
• Maintaining a healthy weight
• Educational choices and job prospects
• Acceptance of our parents as flawed
• Dealing with loss, and the death of parents
• Compassion and kindness and tolerance of differences

There is a very thin plot to encompass all those lessons.  To be honest, the plot would not likely be enough to entertain a grown woman; it would be too dull.  But a young woman might find the book engrossing, especially since a new hunky guy enters the picture every few chapters. 

While sometimes promoted as a romantic-comedy, I think that is misleading, and there is very slight humor in the book.  It reads more like a British soap, with the happenings of the young women progressing like episodes.   

Victoria is super-wealthy, so we are treated to the fantasy of what it might be like to have so much money, and to the truth that expensive Italy is so much nicer if you are rich.

It was a magnificent Florentine Villa...huge...ancient grove of trees...balustraded terrace...

You get the idea.  There is also lots of shopping with unlimited debit cards. 

I'm not sure young adults or new adults would buy the book for themselves, but it might make a wonderful gift for a loved one.  If you are worried about the book pushing morality you don't approve of onto your impressionable young reader, you should know that the author goes out of the way to stress that everyone has to choose their own moral road in life. 

With that said, it is true that Katie and Victoria are modern women with money, freedom, and that they are seemingly magnets for hunky men.  The young women have access to reliable birth control but that is something that is skirted around and hinted at, and left to the reader to decide what is right for herself. 

I can't help but think the book is lacking in lessons concerning sexually transmitted diseases, since that is the most valuable lesson a new adult should have, but perhaps the publisher thought that was one lesson too far for this new adult novel disguised as a contemporary romance.

From the book's description:

From rainy England…

Katie never imagined her life was perfect. But when she finds herself on a rainy street, soaked to the bone and with only a cheating boyfriend and a dead-end job keeping her in town, she knows something has to change.  Which is what leads her to Iddlescombe Manor, to be companion to Lady Victoria Chalker-Pyne – the only 25 year old Katie’s ever met who hasn’t heard of Twitter, thinks camisoles are de rigueur, and desperately needs an education in the 21st century!

…to the Tuscan sun!

But it wouldn’t be an education without a summer holiday – and where better than Tuscany? Decamping to Victoria’s family villa, it’s soon clear that the valley really does have it all: sun, sea…and some seriously gorgeous neighbours. The only question is: when the weather’s this hot, the wine is this smooth and the local men are this irresistible…will Katie ever want to make the journey home?

Don’t miss deliciously funny romance What Happens in Tuscany… the perfect escape for fans of Fern Britton and Veronica Henry.

Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com:

When Alice Met Danny is a fun book by the same author.

  

Here's the book's description:

What's in a name?

Devastated after losing her job, eternal pragmatist Alice leaves London for a new start in Devon. It’s there that she meets Danny.

Then she meets another Danny.

And then she meets Daniel – Danny to his friends…

In fact, there seems to be a Danny at every turn! Her neighbour’s a Danny; there’s little baby Danny; there’s a vicar, a windsurfer, even a dog called Danny! And whether it’s laughter, comfort, a flutter of romance or a walk along the beach, they each bring something special to Alice’s new life.

You might say it’s a coincidence. Alice certainly would… at first! But when she suddenly risks losing not just one Danny, but all of them, she begins to wonder: might there be more in a name than she ever guessed?

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, and the author of the cozy-murder-mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.

Botticelli's Bastard by Stephen Maitland-Lewis

The novel Botticelli's Bastard is hard to categorize.  It is part farce, historical novel, paranormal novel, love story, mystery, and drama.  All the parts somehow come together to create a satisfying whole.  The whole is the story of Giovanni Fabrizzi, an Anglo-Italian art restorer living in London, who inherits a talking Italian Renaissance portrait painting.  What the man in the painting has to tell Giovanni is often disturbing.

Giovanni's behavior had changed dramatically since he had opened that crate.  He felt haunted.

The changes that the painting makes in Giovanni's life are, at first, mainly comic, with a fun jaunt through history.  But halfway through the book, the story takes a decidedly darker turn, leading to a bittersweet but satisfying ending.

On this page, I show many portraits by Sandro Botticelli.

The second half of the book deals with event that happened in Europe during the Second World War in relation to the robbing and killing of Jews.  Giovanni follows up on what the man painting tells him, and discovers upsetting things about the previous owners of the painting.

It was one thing to see the worn, black and white footage on a television program...But touching the paper, confirming the Meyerstein's transfer to Auschwitz, and knowing the gruesome manner in which the good people had perished...it put an echo of that terror into his heart and mind that would not leave him, ever, from that day forward.

Botticelli's favorite muse, Simonetta Vespucci

Wealthy Giovanni is not the most sympathetic of characters, and I found his troubles with his thirty-year-younger second-wife more icky than interesting, with a very unrealistic, or delusional, ending, in my opinion.  But the life of a first generation Anglo-Italian in London was enough to keep me reading (it was enough for me to request a review-copy).  True to his cultural upbringing, Giovanni seeks out human contact and a sense of community, as well as treats from Italy, like good food, coffee and gossipy news.

The title of the book, Botticelli's Bastard, is a description the man in the painting gives to himself.  He is a vain and arrogant minor de' Medici (annoyingly, the book spells de' Medici without the necessary contraction comma).  The man claims his portrait was painted by Sandro Botticelli during the Italian Renaissance in Florence, Italy. 

Giuliano de' Medici

Most of the humor in the story comes from the interaction between Giovanni and the man in the painting, a painting Giovanni inherited from his father.  The family connection is key to the story, and if you want to really enjoy the story, I would suggest you avoid reading the official book description, since it contains many spoilers.

The author's prose is straight-forward, clear and a pleasure to read.  The book is well-edited (except for the de' Medici error!).  The narration is third-person limited, letting us into Giovanni's head.  Botticelli's Bastard is an enjoyable mystery about a amateur detective who, with the help of the supernatural, discovers some dark secrets about his own family.  

The following book description, which comes from Amazon.com, oddly omits to mention the paranormal aspect in the novel:  the speaking portrait painting (is it just me, or does the portrait made for the book cover look like the author in Renaissance costume?). 

From the book's description (many spoilers):

Art restorer Giovanni Fabrizzi is haunted by an unsigned renaissance portrait.  Obsessed to learn the truth of its origin, he becomes increasingly convinced the painting could be the work of one of history's greatest artists, which if true, would catapult its value to the stratosphere.  

But in learning of the painting's past, he is faced with a dilemma.  He believes the portrait was stolen during the greatest art heist in history -- the Nazi plunder of European artwork.  If true and a surviving relative of the painting's rightful owner were still alive, Giovanni, in all good conscience, would have to give up the potential masterpiece.

His obsession with the portrait puts a strain on his new marriage, and his son thinks his father has lost his mind for believing an unremarkable, unsigned painting could be worth anyone's attention.  Regardless, Giovanni persists in his quest of discovery and exposes far more truth than he ever wanted to know.

A portrait of Botticelli's brother, a goldsmith, the man who probably made the medallion of Cosino de' Medici that he is holding.  Notice the cleft in the chin?  It is a Botticelli family trait (and a Lippi one which has caused some to suggest Sandro and perhaps his brother were illegitimate children of the randy priest, Fra Filippo Lippi).

Botticelli's Bastard is published by Glyd-Evans Press.

Direct link to the book at GEP

Here are direct links to the book at Amazon.com:

 

Please visit the book's Twitter and Facebook pages.

Here are some links to books about the Italian Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli at Amazon.com:

Here is an interview with the author about Botticelli's Bastard at YouTube:

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, and the author of the cozy-murder-mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.

Model Murder (Alicia Allen Investigates) by Celia Conrad

A Model Murder is the first in a trio of books about Alicia Allen, an Anglo-Italian lawyer based in London, England.  The books are British from the first word, "Strewth" (an exclamation), through to the end of the third book.  Anglo/Italophiles will enjoy these books the most, and if you happen to be a lawyer (or solicitor or barrister), you should enjoy them even more. 

The author calls the books "cosy-legals" or "legal-novels".  These are not the "cute-cozies" that have taken the U.S. by storm lately.  These are old-fashioned, British cosies that ask you to sit back, relax, and live vicariously through the protagonist, as she lets you into her life, in the first-person, and introduces you to her friends, family, colleagues, and all her adventures.

The London location is strong in the books, with street names, districts, restaurants, cafes and clubs mentioned.  This may appeal to Londoners, and Anglophiles.

Alicia Allen's mother is Italian, so the text is sprinkled with Italian words when the bilingual Alicia speaks with her sister, her Italian mother, and some Italian friends.  Alicia's character is shaped by her dual heritage.  That is why I am reviewing the book(s) here, on this blog. 

Hyphenated Alicia is closer to her family than hyphenated Italians might be if they live in the U.S., Canada, or Australia, since England is not so far from Italy, allowing for regular visits to her Italian relations.  Alicia also behaves much like an Italian, dedicating lots of time to her social life, and in staying close to her wide group of friends.

Alicia's mother may ring a few bells for hyphenated Italian readers everywhere.  Here is her mother's first words after not seeing her daughter for while:

My goodness carina mia, you are so thin.  You do not eat enough.  Mangia, mangia, mangia!

The characters in A Model Murder are diverse.  Right away, we start to meet the various suspect characters who may end up victim or killer, and certainly suspects.  If you are like me, and you like your books to be a surprise, then avoid the book descriptions, since they include many spoilers, plot elements, that are more fun to discover on your own.

This British cosy is rougher than an American cozy would be.  The nature of the murder, and the misogyny of many of the men in the book, is harsh and revolting.  There are also probably more details than American readers are used to in their cozies, which have been pared down over the years to the bare essentials.

This book is full of details that are not there in relation to the mystery, but are there purely to create a scene or an atmosphere.  Americans may find the pace slow, and the abundance of phone conversations unusual, and the lack of commas jolting.  The story itself is not artificially condensed, as many American books like to do.  The story in A Model Murder takes place, realistically, over quite a few months. 

These are not criticisms.  I am just pointing these things out so American readers understand that this is a British novel, written to different standards than mass-market American novels.

We see inside the life of a young lawyer, through Alicia's story. The author is also a lawyer, when she is not writing, so I'm assuming the legal details are accurate.  Through Alicia, a very good listener, we get inside the lives of some of her clients, too, and inside the lives of many of the people she deals with every day. 

I had to smile when I read in  A Model Murder Alicia mentioning Garibaldi Biscuits (cookies).  The cookies were named in honor of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italian General who united Italy through his military campaigns in the 1680s.  Britain's "Garibaldis" are a continual reminder of his once worldwide fame.

This wouldn't be a cozy without a potential love interest.  In Alicia's case, her matter-of-fact legal style of narration makes a fun contrast to her budding relationship.

We stood there for a moment and I thought he was going to kiss me but the moment passed and we carried on walking.  I admit to feeling disappointed.  Despite my protestations to Kim that he was not my type I was very much attracted to him.

The romantic story arcs over the three books, with a conclusion in the third book.

In America, Giuseppe Garibaldi was a brand of Macaroni

There are three books in the Alicia Allen Investigates series (trilogy).  Here are the book descriptions.  Beware of spoilers!  And I'll start with the book's trailer.

A Model Murder

This first book in the Alicia Allen Investigates Trilogy introduces Alicia Allen, a 29-year-old London Anglo-Italian lawyer whose desire for Pringles is matched only by her desire to solve crime. When her neighbor—a beautiful aspiring Australian model—is found raped and murdered before she can pick up her first paycheck at a sleazy “hostess” club, Alicia ignites with such passion to bring the wrongdoer to justice, it would make even Portia envious.

As her dangerous quest draws her into the dark world of exploitative “hostess clubs,” Alicia finds herself facing similar circumstances in a new law firm where alpha males roam the halls in solicitor suits intimidating or stalking undervalued female coworkers. Worse luck, the deeper she delves into the investigation, the more her comfortable world falls apart. Friends are viciously attacked...potential lovers may not be what they seem...clues pop up in Italian opera, Shakespeare, and a cat.

Alicia finds her willingness to risk her own life for the sake of justice is sorely put to the test in a world where Fate plays no small role.

Wilful Murder

The second mystery in the Alicia Allen Investigates trilogy lures the justice-loving solicitor out of London and into the shadowy depths of the Land Down Under where nothing is what it seems and a risky Trust could lead to murder.

Alicia's quest takes her to Australia - coinciding with an Australian friend's wedding in Brisbane where Alicia's old flame Alex Waterford has also been invited. Alex, a London lawyer now working in Singapore for a British firm, confesses his love for Alicia, but events conspire to make the pursuit of justice more important than personal desires, and the duo join forces to solve the crimes. Putting questions of love on the back burner, they put their own lives on the line as they search for the answer to the murderous mystery that lies just beneath the misleadingly placid surfaces of Probate, Wills and a Trust.

Murder in Hand

Alicia Allen - the London solicitor with such a passion for justice, it would make even Portia envious - returns to star in this novel set in London and Italy. Also on board is Alicia's love interest and fellow solicitor, Alex Waterford, who is as willing as she is to take on the Mafia in this tangled mystery of corruption on both sides of the law.

The case brings to the surface our heroine's Italian heritage and willingness to take on dark forces to bring about justice; but in her bid to entrap the perpetrators, has Alicia taken on malevolent forces too great, and will this be her last investigation?

(Reviewed on this site.)

Alicia's favorite food, called by the brand name Pringles in the books, called "Crisps" in Britain, and Potato Chips in America

Here are direct links to the books at Amazon.com:

Please visit the author's website, her Facebook page, and join her on Twitter.

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, and the author of the cozy-murder-mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.

Murder in Hand by Celia Conrad

This suspense novel, Murder in Hand, is for cozy enthusiasts!  I love cozy-murder-mysteries, but I have found that those who don't like them tend to actually loath them.  So, only true fans should take up this book.  It is a classic murder mystery with suspense elements, with the added element of legal expertise from the English solicitor amateur detective, Alicia Allen.

The Alicia Allen Investigations series is up to three books.  This is the third book in the series that features Anglo-Italian, London-based Alicia Allen, and it is the first book that brings Alicia to Italy, in and around Lucca, for the last fifth of the novel.

1. A Model Murder (reviewed on this site)
2. Wilful Murder
3. Murder in Hand

I requested a review-copy of this novel because I like the idea of a hyphenated Italian amateur detective, especially because she is not Italian-American but Anglo-Italian, making the series unique.  The series gives Italophile cozy-fans a look into the world of a young English woman whose life is enriched by her Italian mother's culture. 

London, England, is not physically far from Italy, but it is culturally light-years away.  Alicia has grown up spending her summers in Italy, and speaking Italian with her mother and sister at home.  She loves Italian food, great coffee, red wine, her close family, and the community she creates around her with neighbors and co-workers.  She also loves Pringles potato chips!  That must be the English side of her.  ;-)

Alicia, the first-person narrator of the novel, says:

I spent most summers in Italy as a child either in Tuscany or at the Amalfi coast.  Although Nonna lives in the Cilento region at the southern end of the Gulf of Salerno, and further down from the Neopolitan Riviera, the Amalfi coast was my father's favourite destination.

If you have read the first two books in the series, you will enjoy catching up with Alicia's friends and family.  If you are new to the series, as I was, you will still be able to understand and enjoy Alicia's relationships, especially with her boyfriend, Alex.  The boyfriend is Alicia's sounding board, a necessity in a cozy novel.  We get to hear Alicia and Alex discuss the case's possibilities, while enjoying their interplay and affection.

Curious about the area that Alicia's client visits, and Alicia knows from her childhood?  Here is a lovely 2 minute video postcard about Positano on the Amalfi coast.

 

The narrative style is heavy on dialog and succinct with description.  This is typical of cozies.  It reminds me of the writing style of Dick Francis, with the inside legal details taking the place of the inside horse-racing details.

Cozies take their time, so if you are fan, you know to savor the setting details, and the meanderings, and the theories, and the relationships.  They are all here, true to the genre, along with multiple murders, investigative trails galore, an exciting ending, and a romantic Epilog.  This is a book I can recommend for Italophiles, Anglophiles, fans of Traditional British Mysteries, and fans of Cozy-Murder-Mysteries.

Here is the trailer for the first book in this series, A Model Murder.

 

From the book's description, which I must warn you, gives quite a bit of the plot away:

If you've read Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, you're going to love crime fiction's latest detective, Alicia Allen; London's delightful Anglo-Italian sleuth with a passion for Pringles... and solving crime.

Through her Uncle Vico, a New York attorney, Alicia Allen, a young London solicitor, is introduced to Fabio Angelino to deal with the Probate of his mother's English estate. Fabio's father once worked with Vico at the New York firm of Scarpetti, Steiglitz & Co., but sixteen years earlier disappeared in Sicily, the Italian police concluding that he was murdered by the Mafia.

After a trip to the Amalfi Coast, Fabio tells Alicia someone has tried to kill him.

[STOP READING HERE TO AVOID SPOILERS!]

When Fabio's sister, Giulia, is found callously murdered, Alicia investigates their father's disappearance, and is convinced that Giulia's research on the Angelino family background in Lucca holds the key to the mystery.

Finding evidence of massive corruption in both London and Italy, Alicia determines to expose the criminals. But in her bid to entrap them, has Alicia taken on malevolent forces too great, and will this be her last investigation?

Murder in Hand is available in paperback and Kindle e-book editions from Amazon.com:

Here are the links to all the books in the series, in both paperback and Kindle editions, at Amazon.com:

You can find a wider selection of e-book formats from the on-line Smashwords site:  epub, pdf, doc, mobi-Kindle...  If you are located outside the U.S., I recommend you purchase you Kindle book via Smashwords to avoid the foreign surcharge Amazon.com tacks on e-books sold to customers outside the U.S.

Direct link to Murder in Hand e-book page

Direct link to Wilful Murder e-book page

Direct link to A Model Murder e-book page

Visit the Alicia Allen Investigations website, and the Alicia Allen Pinterest board, and the author on Facebook.


This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, and the author of the cozy-murder-mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.