Join author Traci Andrighetti on her Virtual Book
Tour for Limoncello Yellow, presented
by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours,
from February 10 – February 23, 2014.
Please leave a comment or question for Traci to let her know you stopped
by, to enter the giveaway for this blog (An autographed copy of Limoncello
Yellow with a Mardi gras boa from New Orleans!), please be sure to leave your email
address with your comment. To enter the tour wide giveaway you can fill
out the Rafflecopter form below. You can
also follow Traci’s tour here. My review
of Traci’s book will be posted tomorrow.
Limoncello YellowBy Traci AndrighettiFranki Amato Mysteries, Book 1Publisher: Gemma Halliday PublishingRelease Date: January 4, 2014Genre: Cozy MysteryLength: 250 PagesISBN: 978-1493690817ASIN: B00GK3LY92About this book:From debut author, Traci Andrighetti, comes a tale of murder, mayhem, and meddling Sicilian grandmas…
Francesca “Franki” Amato is a tough-talking rookie cop in Austin, Texas—until an unfortunate 911 call involving her boyfriend, Vince, and a German female wrestler convinces her once and for all that she just isn’t cut out for a life on the police force. So Franki makes the snap decision to move to New Orleans to work at her friend Veronica’s detective agency, Private Chicks, Inc. But Franki’s hopes for a more stable life are soon dashed when Private Chicks is hired by the prime suspect in a murder case to find out what really happened to a beautiful young boutique manager who was found strangled to death with a cheap yellow scarf.When she’s not investigating, Franki is hoping to seduce handsome bank executive Bradley Hartmann, but most of her time is spent dodging date offers from a string of “good Italian boys”—make that not-so-good aging Italian men—that her meddlesome Sicilian grandma has recruited as marriage candidates. As Mardi Gras approaches and the mystery of the murdered shop girl gets more complicated, Franki must decipher the odd ramblings of a Voodoo priestess to solve both the murder and the mystery of her own love life.“Traci Andrighetti’s Limoncello Yellow had me tickled pink! Her smart, sassy heroine, wacky cast of characters, and vividly original settings had me glued to the page. I can’t wait to read more from this author!”
- Gemma Halliday, New York Times bestselling author“Traci’s writing is sharp and funny; the world she paints leaps off the page and makes the reader laugh out loud…. A thoroughly enjoyable new voice in fiction!”
- Kristin Harmel, Internationally bestselling novelist (The Sweetness of Forgetting)
Excerpt
As I surveyed the scene at
what looked eerily like the Bates Motel, I was shaking so badly from the cold
and fear that I was afraid the gun in my holster would fire on its own. I
longed for the cozy fire and protective embrace of my boyfriend that I'd felt
as we'd exchanged Christmas presents just hours before.
"Folks, you need to go
back to your rooms immediately," Officer Stan Stubbs announced to the
crowd of curious motel guests that had gathered.
When the onlookers began to
disperse, the woman in room six began moaning again. According to 911 dispatch,
she had been in distress for at least half an hour.
I gave an involuntary shiver
and wondered what kind of animal would want to cause a woman pain that produced
that sort of moaning.
"Something about this doesn't feel like a
regular domestic abuse situation," Stan said, drawing his gun. "We
need urgent backup, Franki."
I nodded and grabbed the
radio from my belt. "I have a 10-39 at the Twilight Motel on Manor Road.
Request backup."
Stan began his approach to
room six.
I put the device away and
drew my gun. Then I hurried over and took my place on the opposite side of the
door from Stan.
"I'm goin' in on the
count of three," he said in a low voice. "I need to get to the john,
and quick like."
I gasped. "Now,
Stan?"
Stan was my partner on the
Austin PD. As a rookie on the force, I'd been paired with a seasoned veteran of
the department. Even though we'd spent the past six months together, I'd
learned little from Stan except that he had a "wifey" named Juanita
who worshipped the ground he walked on, he valued his handgun collection more
than he did his now adult children, and he suffered from chronic
gastrointestinal distress. And despite his self-proclaimed "legendary instinct"
for cracking cases, he was perpetually baffled by his stomach issues even
though the culprit was clear: a steady diet of jelly donuts and chorizo, bean
and cheese breakfast tacos that he washed down with a gallon or so of coffee
and Gatorade (Did I mention that he was also chronically dehydrated because of
the diarrhea?). Needless to say, he spent the better part of every shift
visiting the nearest men's room.
Ignoring my concern, Stan
grasped his gun with both hands and slammed his right shoulder into the door.
It flew open instantly, and he stormed into the room. "Police! Hands in
the air!"
As I rushed in behind him, my
gun drawn, the woman let out a hair-raising scream.
"What in the hell?"
Stan shouted.
I followed his gaze to the
bed, and a chill went through my body.
"Why, it's just a couple
goin' at it," Stan scoffed.
I blinked hard. Was it my
imagination playing tricks on me at 4:30 a.m., or was one member of that couple
horribly familiar? As in, exchanging-gifts-by-a-cozy-fire familiar.
"Vince?" I said, my
voice barely above a whisper as I stared at my boyfriend of over two years.
He looked at me like a deer
caught in the headlights. "Franki?"
Make that, like a cheating
rat caught in the act.
About
This Author
Traci Andrighetti is the author
of the Franki Amato mystery series. In her previous life, she was an
award-winning literary translator and a Lecturer of Italian at the University
of Texas at Austin, where she earned a PhD in Applied Linguistics. But then she
got wise and ditched that academic stuff for a life of crime–writing, that is.
If she’s not hard at work on
her next novel, Traci is probably watching her favorite Italian soap opera,
eating Tex Mex or sampling fruity cocktails, and maybe all at the same time.
She lives in Austin with her husband, young son (who desperately wants to be in
one of her books) and three treat-addicted dogs.
Webpage: http://traciandrighetti.com
Twitter: @TAndrighetti
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Traci-Andrighetti/e/B00GL3SN3G/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
This book intrigued me just by seeing the cover. I know it is going to be a must read for me!
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