Title: Death of a Serpent (Serafina
Florio Mysteries #1)
Review: For
starters I enjoyed this mystery and found the characters interesting along with
the Madam. I was confused at a few spots
and needed to read some of the book again.
The mystery was enough to keep me guessing but I really missed the boat
on who the killer was. I was surprised
and needed to go back and figure out where we had met this character, the name
was familiar I just couldn't place them.
I read this at night before bed and I hate to say it, but I kept falling
asleep and waking up with my Kindle in my face.
I think that this author is going to get better at her writing and I
look forward to that. Watching an author
grow as a writer is fulfilling for earlier readers.
The mystery centered around the deaths of the working girls at a high end
brothel. Serafina is a widow who owes
the madam for help. She goes around
trying to find the killer with little help from the local police. Her family is sweet and the kids all have a
special talent that they use to help the family make it without a father. I see Serafina as a character that will grow
with the author and become someone we look forward to reading about.
Mysteries are fun and this one isn’t bad…but the next one will be even
better.
Publisher: Published January 7th 2012 by Concad'Oro Publishing
Copyright: 2012
Pages: Kindle Edition
ISBN: B006V3XOKI
Quick Review: 3 Stars out of 5.
Where Did I Get the Book: Sent by the author
for review.
Synopsis: Serafina Florio is a
widowed midwife-turned-sleuth living in nineteenth-century Sicily. After
grappling with the Mafia and other murderers to solve mysteries in her native
town, she moves her family of seven to the Lower East Side where she defies the
Black Hand to uncover the truth.
Born in 1827, Serafina lived the first part of her life in
Oltramari, a fictional city near Palermo. Her father, a visiting professor at
the University of Turin, died in the January 1848 revolution; her mother, a
midwife, in the cholera epidemic of 1865.
In 1847, Serafina married Giorgio Florio, the apothecary’s
oldest son, who, like Serafina, was a member of the merchant class. After
marriage, Serafina remained a midwife, refining her skills, delivering healthy
babies.
In 1866—a horrific year in Sicily’s history—three
prostitutes were knifed to death, their foreheads gouged with a strange,
spiraling mark, their bodies dumped on the madam’s doorstep. When the police
did nothing to solve the murders, Rosa—Serafina’s oldest, dearest friend—asked
for her help. How could she refuse?
After her husband died, Serafina and her children emigrated
to New York where she continued to direct births and solve mysteries until her
death in 1914—which she survives.
Her memory is long, her perspective, grand, her penchant for
quibbling with Rosa, undiminished, her gift for numbers, still meager.
Author Biography: I was born in Evanston, Illinois. After attending Marywood
High School for Girls and St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, I received a B.A. in
English Literature from Marquette University.
I am a writer, a mother, a grandmother,
a widow. I’ve taught language arts and creative writing, worked for a
publisher, an airline, an opera company. Traveled. Grew up on the north side of
Chicago, but lived most of my adult life in the east. So, like Faulkner’s
Dilsey, I’ve seen the best and the worst, the first and the last. I've seen
worlds blow apart and life turn inside out in less time than it takes to type
this sentence. Through it all, and to understand it somewhat, I write.
DEATH OF A SERPENT, the first in the
Serafina Florio series, published January 2012. It began as a painting of the
Lower East Side and wound up as a mystery story. I just published NO MORE
BROTHERS, a novella, the second in the Serafina Florio series and am working on
another novel, DEATH IN BAGHERIA.
In between writing, revising and
editing, I blog and review books. My reviews can be read at Amazon, LLBook
Review, and here.
Other Reviews: The LL Bookreview, Amazon
Hi there - just to let you know I have revamped the way I list blogs on my sidebar and now have a list of featured book blogs. Your blog is on it. I do enjoy following your blog. Have a good day.
ReplyDelete