MURDER AT THE GALLIANO CLUB was released for Kindle on Thursday, 20 October! The book surged to the Number 2 spot on Amazon’s Italian Literature category yesterday. Thank you to so many early readers! 

Are you a fan of The Godfather, Road to Perdition, The Untouchables, or Boardwalk Empire? If you love historical fiction featuring Prohibition-era stories of Chicago gangsters, Italian mobsters, and bold bootleggers, you’ll love MURDER AT THE GALLIANO CLUB, the first novel in the series.

Many readers have asked why this pivot to historical thrillers after writing so many books set in contemporary Mexico. The short answer is “pandemic.” 

After writing 10 books set in Mexico, the Galliano Club historical thriller series was a real switch for me. But in the midst of the pandemic, writing about cartels and corruption was emotionally tough.

Turning to family stories--my grandfather was a deputy sheriff during Prohibition--was both a challenge and a labor of love. My hometown of Rome, NY became Lido, NY. I incorporated many of my mother’s fading memories of growing up there.

The result is MURDER AT THE GALLIANO CLUB, first in the new thriller series. Seems I traded drug cartels and official corruption for bootleggers, blackmailers, and crooks. Go figure.

#excerpt

Prohibition and mobsters? I drank up dozens of books while researching the Galliano Club thrillers and highly recommend the following five. Universal links take you to your Amazon store.

Cheers, or as they used to say, Bottoms up!

SCARFACE AND THE UNTOCHABLE by Max Allen Collins and A. Brad Schwartz

Far and away the best accounting of the infamous rivalry. The book “draws upon decades of primary source research—including the personal papers of Ness and his associates, newly released federal files, and long-forgotten crime magazines containing interviews with the gangsters and G-men themselves . . . The definitive work on Capone, Ness, and the battle for Chicago.” 

Find on Amazon https://geni.us/colsc

LUCKIEST MAN: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig

A beautifully written and fulsome account of baseball legend Lou Gehrig, from his German roots and domineering mother to his rocky friendship with Babe Ruth to his sad demise of a baffling and uncurable disease that now bears his name. Did you know that he auditioned in Hollywood to play Tarzan? Or that his last words were “All my pals”?

Find on Amazon https://geni.us/elou

ONE SUMMER: America 1927 by Bill Bryson

Written in Bryson’s wry style, the book recounts everything of note that happened in the summer following Charles Lindbergh’s historical flight across the Atlantic. From the adoring crowds that nearly crushed the shy aviator to pole sitters, murder trials, a baseball tour featuring Ruth and Gehrig, and floods along the Mississippi, a patchwork of events is given wonderful context. 

Find on Amazon https://geni.us/1br

LAST CALL by Daniel Okrent

A brilliant, authoritative, and fascinating history of Prohibition during 1920 to 1933, when the U.S. Constitution was amended to restrict alcohol. From the legal challenges to rumrunners, each chapter is full of insights and observations as to how Prohibition impacted the national character.

Find on Amazon https://geni.us/last2022

THE BLACK HAND by Stephan Talty

One of the first books I read in preparation for the Galliano Club, it’s the fantastically well-researched and gripping account of the Italian murder and extortion ring that terrorized Italian immigrants in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, and the determined New York City cop, Joseph Petrosino, who fought them. Petrosino is still a legend in both Italian and law enforcement circles.

Find on Amazon https://geni.us/hand2022

• ​​Suggestions or comments or simply want to say hi? Just reply to this email.
• ​If a friend passed this along and you’d like to subscribe, click here: https://carmenamato.net/mystery-ahead/
• If you no longer wish to receive Mystery Ahead, please use the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of this email. I hate to see you go, but I understand how full inboxes can get.