Welcome to another edition of the Mystery Ahead newsletter, delivered fresh to you every other Sunday, with #booknews, an exclusive #excerpt, and a must-read mystery #review. My grandfather, Joseph L Sestito, used to buy red wine by the gallon. At home he’d decant the gallon into a variety of smaller vessels. Thus the Sunday dinner table would be graced with wine in bottles that once held anisette, crème de menthe, Seagram’s 7, or Canadian Club. (Not to
digress, but if my grandfather made you a mixed drink of any variety, he called it a “highball.” Also, when I was little, he called me “Punkin.”) If you asked him what kind of wine was in the recycled bottle, the answer was always the same: “That good kind.” One Christmas my uncle gifted him a bunch of empty bottles with homemade labels reading That Good Kind. I’m not sure my grandfather found it as funny as the rest of us did. Joseph L Sestito makes a cameo as himself in the last Galliano Club book, REVENGE AT THE GALLIANO CLUB. It’s 1926 and
he is in charge of the county jail. In the book as in real life, an unruly inmate kicks him in the leg. My grandfather lived with a big dent in his shinbone from that kick. It’s amazing to think that in just 4 days, the Galliano Club series
will wrap with the publication of REVENGE AT THE GALLIANO CLUB on Thursday, 30 March. After spending two years with these characters, I’m sending them off to you. I
hope they bring “That good kind” into your life, too. P.S. My grandfather had no middle name but adopted L with no period after it instead. My grandparents, Joe and Ann Sestito, in the late 1920's when he was a deputy sheriff of Oneida County, New York. REVENGE AT THE GALLIANO CLUB, coming 30 March, introduces Hanna Gorski. Fashion model and young widow, she’ll go from her husband’s wake to
the Galliano Club in search of her sister’s killer. ~ Hanna had loved Sam Vitello for about five minutes, which was as long as their courtship lasted. He’d
waltzed into Marshall Field’s one day and Hanna sold him a silk tie. Twenty-four hours later, a justice of the peace pronounced them man and wife. That’s what happened when a girl was young and impetuous and determined to learn about life the hard way. The first lesson Sam taught Hanna was that she was married to a torpedo for Capone’s Chicago Outfit. Sam was a gang killer with special pockets in all his coats and jackets to hide an arsenal of weapons. It was the same reason he couldn’t commit to living in one place. For a time, the glamorous lifestyle was worth it. Sam showered her with clothes
and jewelry. They lived in deluxe hotel suites, changing every few weeks, and ate in restaurants or had meals catered in. He was achingly handsome in his custom suits, pearl gray fedora, and bespoke shoes. When they walked arm-in-arm down the street in Chicago, people thought they were seeing royalty. The second lesson was that Sam was royal with lots of other
women, too. The third lesson was his temper. Sam hit her. Hanna hit him back. Husband or not, any dumbbell who grew up on the streets of Chicago’s Loop neighborhood knew how to use her fists. But when Sam broke her arm, Hanna
left. That was three years ago. They were both Catholic, so a divorce was out of the question. She smartened up, forgot romance, and parlayed her height and slim blonde looks into a job modeling clothes at Gossard’s, the most elegant women’s store in Chicago. Earned a little extra posing for artists. Sam came by now and then, slinging money at Hanna to salve his
conscience. ~ Make sure REVENGE AT THE GALLIANO CLUB hits your Kindle on 30 March. Pre-order HERE MERCURY PICTURES PRESENTS by Anthony Marra Shadows of the unknown and the mysterious haunt every page of this wonderful historical fiction magnum opus. From a low-budget Hollywood studio in 1938, to Italy’s contadini prisons as Mussolini takes control, to the immediate aftermath of World War II, this is a brilliant saga. The cast of unique characters are torn apart by war and greed. Yet all are made whole again by a series of fateful interactions. Kismet, Italian style. In 1938, Maria Lagana is the Gal Friday to Artie Feldman, owner of
Mercery Pictures, a low-budget Hollywood movie studio. Artie has issues with his wife, mistress, children, creditors, scheming brother, and senators who decry Hollywood’s moral laxity. Maria keeps all the plates spinning for Artie. Savvy doesn’t begin to describe her. Her compelling backstory incorporates both parents, notably her father Giuseppe, a once prominent lawyer
in Rome. Betrayed by his daughter, he is banished to Mussolini’s version of Siberia; with ripple effects no one could have predicted. Others who swim through Mercury Pictures’ back lot include a photographer living on a forged passport, a German miniaturist, various refugees from Hitler’s march across Europe, and a Chinese American actor who dreams of acting Chekov. They
are all caught up in World War II, wondering if the world will be a better place when the dust settles. The descriptions are robust and quirky, making for uncanny visual pictures and a few laugh-out-loud moments. The timeline is not linear, with lots of flashbacks, but easy to follow. The book is written from a true omniscient point of view, a technique I haven’t encountered lately. The style made me think of Big Novels by Herman Wouk (THE CAINE MUTINY, etc.) and Leon Uris (EXODUS, etc.)) both of whom wrote World War II novels with family themes. MERCURY PICTURES PRESENTS is a beautifully told story of ordinary lives and extraordinary moments. I loved it. That's all for this edition of
Mystery Ahead. Thank you for sharing your time with me. Now go read.😎 All the best, PS: Has this been forwarded to you by a friend? Sign up for Mystery Ahead to get your own twice-monthly mystery news and reviews.
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