I am so delighted today to provide a review for you at my blog stop for Murder in Tranquility Park (A Ferrara Family Mystery-Book 2) by J D Griffo on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour. Scroll down to enter your chance to win the Giveaway!
Murder in Tranquility Park (A Ferrara Family Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Kensington (March 26, 2019)
Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
ISBN-10: 1496713966
ISBN-13: 978-1496713964
Digital ASIN: B07F5XG3CQ
Alberta Scaglione and her twentysomething granddaughter, Jinx, love to spend time—and solve crime—together . . .
Ever since Alberta Scaglione inherited her spinster aunt’s Cape Cod cottage, she’s been enjoying the good life in Tranquility, New Jersey, with her black cat, Lola. But since things are mostly quiet in this town, she finds other things to do—like joining Jinx for morning jogs in Tranquility Park. She has to do something to stay healthy, as long as it doesn’t involve Jinx’s healthful tofu sausages and gluten-free pasta. But when they stumble across a treehouse hidden in the trees, and a dead body underneath it, they take a detour into solving a murder. Now the Ferrara ladies will have to exercise extreme caution to avoid a permanent decline in their health . . .
Includes Italian recipes from Alberta’s kitchen!
Cozy mystery with a slightly different premise in that it is not one female protagonist but a family combining skills from the 65-year-old grandmother, Alberta, to 25-year-old granddaughter Jinx. In between are a sister (ex-nun Helen) and sister-in-law (Joyce). Vinny, now police chief for whom Alberta babysat and Nola, Zinx’s roomy are also featured a second time. Yes, she is a recent transplant, which delightfully has put her in close proximity to family members in Tranquility, New Jersey. Jinx is working on becoming an investigative reporter for the local newspaper and has a boyfriend, Freddy.
Jinx has convinced Alberta that she needs some exercise to keep those old bones running smoothly and she and Gram begin by jogging very early in the morning only to discover a huge tree house neither had previously noticed in the small town park. On their way back they run to the tree house to further check it out and discover the body of well-known life-long occupant, Jonas.
The characters are very well developed (could function as a standalone) and each exhibit a whole host of personalities, from sweet and naive to biting but all work to create a well-paced narrative. Alberta is hardcore Sicilian Catholic and each chapter heading is infused with hints of the new chapter in beautiful Italian. Alberta is brought up old-school Victorian and is somewhat shocked from time to time with her sister’s and granddaughter’s view of sexuality invoking a smattering of easy religious thought. Dialogue often bordering on humorous with some innuendo is enough to be fun and keep things light, sometimes peppered with “Holy Marcello Mastroianni”–or enter your own Italian movie star…).
Lots of twists, turns, red herrings, but really you have your suspicions early on and it’s a matter of just enjoying how the author lays out the investigation, the role the sisters play, and mastering the shouting match when they all get together which brings to mind “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”
It’s a fun, fast character-driven cozy mystery where the mystery is not forgotten and the family value theme recurs often. I had a small problem with the conclusion when Alberta and Jinx went off to confront their number one perp without back-up who at this point is a double murderer. A couple of last twists into the climax you didn’t see coming, so you can’t guess it all (and pushing disbelief with a gas pipe in a furnace room–uh, no…just, no).
I was given this ebook download by the publisher and NetGalley for this blog tour and greatly appreciated the opportunity to read and review. Easy to push right through this one and look for another. Recommended for cozy mystery fans looking for a slightly different, but very pleasant character.
Sign up for your chance to win one of (3) Sets – Print Copies – Murder on Memory Lake and Murder in Tranquility Park (U.S. Only) Rafflecopter giveaway
Italian by birth, Jersey by upbringing, J. D. Griffo is an award-winning playwright and author who has written ten novels, over twenty plays, and a handful of screenplays that have yet to see the light of day.
Griffo studied Journalism and Marketing at New York University, graduating magna cum laude many, many years ago, as well as Creative Writing at the New School and Gotham Writer’s Workshop.
And the J. D. stands for the author’s mother – Jean Dolores – who absolutely loved to read and tell stories.
Author Links
Website – https://michaelgriffo.com/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/Michael2264
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/j.d.griffo/
Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Google Play – IndieBound
Thank you for visiting my stop on the tour and please visit the other stops listed below!
Tour Participants:
April 1 – Cozy Up With Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 1 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
April 2 – Here’s How It Happened – SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE
April 2 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT
April 3 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW, RECIPE
April 3 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT
April 4 – I’m all About Books – SPOTLIGHT
April 4 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
April 5 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW
April 5 – StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
April 6 – Readeropolis – SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE
April 7 – Rosepoint Publishing – REVIEW
April 7 – 4covert2overt ☼ A Place In The Spotlight ☼ – GUEST POST
April 8 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE
April 8 – Sneaky the Library Cat’s Blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
April 8 – Books Direct – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 9 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 9 – Reading Is My SuperPower – CHARACTER GUEST POST
April 10 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
April 10 – A Blue Million Books – GUEST POST
April 10 – Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT
Thanks to Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this cozy mystery!
©2019 V Williams
Nice review Virginia. I agree with you, I do not like it when the protagonist confronts the main suspect alone, there is always something bad to come. I did enjoy the first in this series and love the family. I hope to enjoy this one when I get to it.
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Thank you. You know you are being set up. But seems that’s always what happens with these amateur sleuths.
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Absolutely.
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☺
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Thank you for hosting the giveaway and thanks to the publisher and Mr. Griffo as well! Always love your articles!
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Thank you so much! Really appreciate your comments.
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This was a fun book. I like books in a series which can be read as a standalone too. Often, I find myself struggling to understand. Great review 😍
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Thank you Shalini. Yes I thought it was fun.
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