Please welcome author Joanne Guidoccio who stopped by to share intimate details of her life and her latest release. Take it away, Joanne!
During my cancer journey, all I wanted to read were cozies, those
delightful murder mysteries that include a bloodless crime and contain little
violence, sex, or coarse language. I read voraciously, often finishing a cozy
in one or two sittings. Toward the end of treatments, I came up with a
storyline for my own cozy, A Season for Killing Blondes, Book 1
in the Gilda Greco Mystery series
(released by The Wild Rose Press in 2015). Too Many Women in the Room is the
second book in the series. Based in Northern Ontario, these books feature a fifty-something Italian
woman, her relatives, deserving and undeserving men, food, and murder.
Blurb
When Gilda Greco invites her closest friends to a
VIP dinner, she plans to share David Korba’s signature dishes and launch their
joint venture— Xenia, an innovative Greek restaurant near Sudbury, Ontario.
Unknown to Gilda, David has also invited Michael Taylor, a lecherous
photographer who has throughout the past three decades managed to annoy all the
women in the room. One woman follows Michael to a deserted field for his
midnight run and stabs him in the jugular.
Gilda’s life is awash with complications as she
wrestles with a certain detective’s commitment issues and growing doubts about
her risky investment in Xenia. Frustrated, Gilda launches her own investigation
and uncovers decades-old secrets and resentments that have festered until they
explode into untimely death. Can Gilda outwit a killer bent on killing again?
Excerpt
“Thanks for coming,” Luke said and turned toward the female
officer. “Detective Irina Banicki will be sitting in.”
Irina Banicki. I racked my brain but couldn’t recall the name.
Was she new to the department? I hadn’t seen her at the Christmas party. I
would have remembered the tall, willowy brunette with razor-sharp cheekbones.
Late thirties. Maybe early forties. Young and on the upward spiral.
She inclined her head. I nodded but said nothing. There was
no need to engage in conversation and allow myself to be distracted. Instead, I
turned and focused on Luke.
Frowning, he rustled through the loose pages filled with
scattered handwriting. After locating the right page, he cleared his throat and
made eye contact. “Sounds like quite a shindig last night. Do you want to tell
me about it?”
Tell him how we planned it or how everything went south? The
question was too open-ended. Was that part of his plan? Get me to tell
everything and later sift through for any incriminating nuggets. “It was our
rehearsal dinner for the opening of—”
“Rehearsal dinner? You mean like for a wedding?” Luke asked
innocently enough, but I could hear the amusement in his tone.
A giggle escaped from Irina.
I forced myself to smile and make eye contact with Luke.
“Not quite. David and Susan had planned to test-drive some of Xenia’s signature
dishes and reveal our new venture to everyone.”
“So, you were a silent partner in this venture.” Luke
alternated between raising and dropping his
Magnum eyebrows while still maintaining eye contact. A
talent he must have perfected in his younger days. “You were until Michael
Taylor spilled the beans. That must have upset your plans…made you angry…”
Angry enough to kill? I’ve been told I wear my emotions and
would make a terrible poker player. With my feelings about Michael, I must have
shown thunderous anger and disapproval all evening. Intuitive Jean would have
been able to read my face and then share her observations with Carlo. “I felt a
surge of anger at both David and Michael, but it passed. We were there to
celebrate the opening, not spar over pettiness.”
Luke’s eyes widened in surprise. “I think it was more than—”
My nostrils picked up a musky smell. Not too unpleasant but
a bit overpowering. A woman’s scent, one I steered away from at the cosmetics
counter. I turned and looked up into intense green eyes.
Irina had decided to become an active participant in the
interrogation. “Why did you keep your
involvement a secret? Were you afraid or embarrassed to tell
your friends?”
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More About the Author
In 2008, Joanne Guidoccio retired from a 31-year
teaching career and launched a second act that tapped into her creative side.
Slowly, a writing practice emerged. Her articles and book reviews were
published in newspapers, magazines, and online. When she tried her hand at
fiction, she made reinvention a recurring theme in her novels and short
stories. A member of Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, and Romance
Writers of America, Joanne writes cozy mysteries, paranormal romance, and
inspirational literature from her home base of Guelph, Ontario. Where to find Joanne...
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