by Sharon Marchisello

This week we have a review of Murder in an Italian Village, the first book in a brand new series by Michael Falco, along with a fun interview with Michael. Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book and a link to purchase the book from Amazon.

Murder in an Italian Village by Michael Falco
Review by Sharon Marchisello

Having spent some time in Positano and the beautiful Amalfi Coast, I was excited to read this debut cozy mystery set there. The author did a wonderful job of immersing the reader in the location as well as the Italian lifestyle, focusing on food and family. There are quite a few Italian words sprinkled into the dialogue and narrative, which might annoy some readers. But I’ve studied Italian, and my husband is fluent, so I enjoyed the challenge. Most of the words and phrases are explained well enough in the context, and there’s a glossary in the back of the book (which I didn’t find until I’d finished).

The protagonist, Bria Bartolucci, is a young widow with a precocious eight-year-old son, Marco, and a very smart dog, Bravo. Before her husband died, he and Bria had purchased a bed and breakfast in Positano, which they named Bella Bella, and It was their dream to run it together. Bria is determined to continue those plans. Everything is on track to open in time for the height of tourist season, when she finds a dead body in one of the bedrooms. She’s never seen the dead man before, and she has no idea how he got there.

Bria’s first instinct is to call her best friend, Rosalie, who comes right over and agrees that, yes, the man is deceased, apparently murdered. They then call Rosalie’s brother, Luca, who is the Positano chief of police, and the proper investigation begins. When the police arrest Giovanni, an employee of Bella Bella, Bria decides she must prove Giovanni’s innocence and salvage the reputation of her business.

Through her amateur sleuthing, Bria discovers the name of the victim, his relationships, and some illegal business dealings. As Bria and Rosalie uncover clues, some of which they share with Luca, and some they conceal, their suspicions shift widely among various subjects.

The story is told in a light, somewhat humorous tone, and the well-drawn characters are likable. Bria’s family weighs in on everything: her parents; younger sister, Lorenza; almost brother-in-law, Fabricio; and her wealthy, domineering mother-in-law, Imperia. There’s a hint of romance brewing between Bria and Luca, which I suspect may develop in subsequent books in the series. Luca also has an interesting sidekick, female police officer Nunzi, who adds to the drama.

The plot twists and turns as new evidence and motives come to light, and I didn’t figure out whodunnit until Bria gathers everyone together and points the finger in a Perry Mason moment. If you enjoy arm-chair travel, family drama, and solving puzzles, I recommend this book. Great start to a new series!

Sharon Marchisello is the author of two mysteries published by Sunbury Press: Going Home (2014) and Secrets of the Galapagos (2019) as well as a nonfiction book, travel articles, and several short stories. She earned a Masters in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California and is active in Sisters in Crime. She lives in Peachtree City, GA, working on her next novel and doing volunteer work for the Fayette Humane Society and the Fayette County Master Gardeners.

Interview with Michael Falco:

KRL: How long have you been writing?

Michael: I’ve been writing almost all my life in one way or another. Starting from when I was about ten-years-old I started writing short stories and plays. I wish I had kept everything I wrote back then, but I didn’t. And we didn’t have computers back then so most everything was handwritten or typed on a typewriter. But I do distinctly remember a play I wrote about aliens crashing an eleven-year-old’s birthday party and a story about identical triplets, murder, and mistaken identity.

KRL: When did your first novel come out, what was it called, and would you tell us a little about it?

Michael: My first novel, Unnatural, came out in 2010 and was the first book in a young adult supernatural trilogy called the Archangel Academy Series, which also included the novels Unwelcome and Unafraid. The series follows Michael Howard, a 16-year-old gay teenager who feels ‘unnatural’ as he goes to Archangel Academy in England and meets Ronan Glynn-Rowley, a hybrid-vampire, who also feels ‘unnatural’ because he isn’t considered purebred by the traditional vampire community. I’m very proud of the series because I wanted to write a same sex young adult love story since there were very few when I was growing up.

Michael Falco

KRL: Now I want to go find that series! Other than that trilogy, have you always written mysteries/suspense and if not, what else have you written?

Michael: I’ve always written in several genres and have continued to do so throughout my professional career. I started with young adult supernatural and wrote two trilogies, the Archangel Academy Series, and then The Darkborn Legacy comprised of Moonglow, Sunblind, and Starfall. I loved The Darkborn Series because it was the first time I wrote in first person present tense, which was a challenge, but a fun one.?But even though the stories were supernatural, they’re filled with mystery and a lot of suspense, a different genre but filled with many of the same elements you’d find in a traditional mystery novel.

I then wrote a cozy mystery series, The Ferrara Family Series, starting with Murder On Memory Lake. The series takes place in Tranquility, New Jersey and centers around Alberta Ferrara and her granddaughter, Jinx who, along with Alberta’s sister, Helen, a former nun, and sister-in-law Joyce, a former Wall Street wizard, team up to solve murder mysteries. It’s fun, outrageous, and very suspenseful.

I’ve also written a middle-grade book, Mr. Ortega’s Fifth Grade Class Is Missing, about an entire class that is transported to another planet.?They find out they’re the subject of an alien girl’s school project, but the girl can’t figure out how to send them back to Earth. Hopefully, I’ll find a publisher and that will be available soon.

Beyond that, I’ve written about 25 plays of various lengths, some comedy, some drama, some a little bit of both.

KRL: What brought you to choose the setting and characters in your latest book/series?

Michael: My editor and I discussed different locations and we both really wanted to set the mystery in Italy because it built upon the series I had already written that focused on an Italian American family. Having a series set in Italy with an Italian family seemed like a natural progression.

Once we settled on the country, we needed to get specific. My editor left it up to me and initially, I was thinking about Sicily, which is where my father’s family is from. But Sicily is a bit isolated from mainland Italy and I thought it might limit story potential. I wanted a locale that suggested an island setting, but wasn’t an island, and when I researched the Amalfi Coast it became obvious that Positano was the perfect place to set a murder series. It’s literally like paradise on earth. Geographically unique and breathtaking, Positano is a place where people from all over the world come to vacation, lose their inhibitions, and escape reality. I think readers will thoroughly enjoy learning more about this idyllic village and will probably want to book a trip there just like I did!

As far as the characters go, I knew that I wanted the protagonist to be younger than Alberta, who is 65 years old at the beginning of the series. I created Bria Bartolucci to be a 32-year-old widow with an 8-year-old boy who’s embarking on a new phase of her life as the owner of a bed and breakfast in Positano. She is a typical Italian woman with strong family values and a deep faith, but she’s also a modern, independent woman who is determined to prove to herself that she can survive without her beloved husband, Carlo, by her side.

I peppered the series with her family and friends who play equally important roles in the mysteries as well as Bria’s evolution. Her best friend, Rosalie, is a bit more carefree and outspoken, her mother-in-law, Imperia, is as imperious and formidable as her name sounds. Luca, the chief of police, is Bria’s potential romantic interest, and Giovanni is her hunky handyman who Bria may or may not be interested in. I do know that I want Bria to fall in love again, but I honestly haven’t decided who she’ll give her heart to. It could be someone in the first or second book. . . or someone I haven’t dreamed up yet!

KRL: Do you write to entertain or is there something more you want the readers to experience more?from your work?

Michael: That is a great question. No matter what I write, I always strive to create an entertaining story for the reader, but I also weave in deeper, more emotionally significant elements that will hopefully make the novel that more satisfying. I think this is especially important when writing a series because you’re asking readers to invest in characters over a long haul, not just one book, but multiple books, that might be published for the better part of a decade. An intriguing plot will only hold interest for so long; there has to be character growth, thoughtful observations, perhaps social commentary, things that make the characters on the page three-dimensional and real, people who you want to welcome into your home and build a relationship with.

I did that with The Ferrara Family Series. The center of each novel was a murder mystery, but the centerpiece was how the family worked together to solve the mystery. They argued, fought, disagreed, apologized, and sometimes cried – just like a real family. And the overarching theme of the story was twofold: Alberta’s growth as an independent woman free of the shackles of her patriarchal upbringing and the relationship between Alberta and her granddaughter, Jinx, who were estranged for over a decade and over the course of the books, learned that they not only loved each other, but that they also respected, admired, and liked each other as women.

In my new series, I want to explore the emotional growth of a young widow and take her from right outside her grieving period to the moment she rediscovers love. It will be a bit of a tightrope and messy, and Bria will make lots of mistakes and fail, but she will have some constants in her life that will help her get through any situation, most notably her son, Marco, her mother, Fifita, and her best friend, Rosalie.

KRL: Do you have a schedule for your writing or just work whenever you can?

Michael: Because I’ve always had a full-time job while writing novels, I’ve had to have a schedule and be disciplined in order to meet my deadlines. I’m a morning person, so I will often get up at 6 a.m. on a Saturday to write a chapter or two. Now that I work from home a few days during the week, I can do that on those work-from-home days – write from 6 until 9 and then start my real job. Over the years and mainly out of necessity, I have discovered that I can also write at night and, surprisingly, not hate what I’ve written!?I think, like most writers, it’s difficult to maintain a schedule when you have other things going on in your life. I’ve written longhand on my lunch hour if I didn’t have my laptop with me or at a Starbucks while I’m on vacation. Writing is, for most of us, a passion, so any opportunity we find where we can write, we take.

KRL: What is your ideal time to write?

Michael: My ideal time to write is in the morning. My mind is just waking up and I’m not yet disturbed by other thoughts like, “What should I make for dinner?” or “Did I pay my electric bill yet?” The world outside is also still quiet, which is nice because there aren’t many distractions. I really prefer to write in the morning outside in the country where there are no cars driving by, people talking outside my window, FedEx trucks backing up and beeping incessantly. That’s an ideal writing situation for me.

KRL: Do you outline? If not, do you have some other interesting way that you keep track of what’s going on, or what needs to happen in your book when you are writing it?

Michael: I absolutely create an outline and I’m pro-plotter all the way. I do not understand anyone who is a pantser – or someone who writes by “flying by the seat of their pants.” I actually think it’s a fallacy to claim that you write without an outline and I’m sure many writers will disagree with me, but if you don’t have an outline, you’re just writing a story and just seeing where it takes you. That’s what I do in my outline. I write an extensive fifty to sixty-page outline for each book that I then break down into chapters. When I get up on a Saturday morning to write a chapter, I know exactly what beats of the story I need to hit, which allows me the freedom to explore language, symbolism, and dialogue. That’s essentially my first draft that will then get fleshed out with the first full draft of my novel.

I also create a spreadsheet or table with character traits so I can keep track of hair and eye color, height, weight, as well as psychological traits, police records, and family history. It’s impossible to keep track of character profiles for all the characters in your books without some kind of documentation.

KRL: Did you find it difficult to get published in the beginning?

Michael: I was uncharacteristically lucky and I don’t’ think my story is typical.I sent query letters to a few agents about my first book and from that I got an agent. Then, my first book was sold to Kensington Books based on the outline and pitch.?Fourteen books later and I’m still with them.

KRL: Do you have a great rejection/critique or acceptance story you’d like to share?

Michael: Actually, I do! I’ve written a middle-grade book which is something I’ve never done before, Mr. Ortega’s Fifth Grade Class Is Missing, My agent sent it out to some publishers, and one wrote back that they loved the characters, the premise, the high stakes, and the language.

However, they felt that the pacing was a bit slow. And based on that one negative comment, they passed on it. Other than that, it was a glowing review! It came from a respected editor at a top publisher so I can’t imagine they would sugarcoat their response, but it boggles my mind why they passed on it if it had so many positives. Work with me to quicken the pace of the story.

On the flip side, I wrote a short story for Assemble Media’s online short story anthology because they read an article, I wrote about how soap operas helped me write cozy mysteries. I didn’t think I could write a mystery until I realized a cozy mystery series is simply a soap opera where someone dies in each book. The main characters and the setting remain the same, the plot just changes. Once I realized that it was a no brainer, Assemble asked me to write a story for them blending soap opera, mystery, and Greek mythology, and it was incredibly affirming to have strangers reach out to me because they liked my writing, my point of view, and ultimately, my take on the story they were interested in having written. You can find the anthology here.

KRL: Most interesting book signing story-in a bookstore or other venue?

Michael: One of the best book signings I’ve ever had was back in 2010 when Unnatural was released. Barnes & Noble at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ held a book signing and I believe three people showed up! At first, I was a bit disappointed, although I know that it is very difficult to get a large audience at a signing unless you’re a very well-known author or a celebrity; However, once I got to talking to the three people who were there, we all had a blast.?They had already read the book, loved it, and truly wanted to ask questions about the characters, where I got the ideas from, what was in store for the next books in the series; and we talked for at least two hours, much longer than I was originally scheduled. Two of those people – a mother and daughter who I affectionately dub my Super Fans – became friends. I was the surprise guest at the daughter’s Sweet Sixteen, and they gave away my book to all the guests as their gift. It was lovely, and it’s made me reevaluate how to evaluate the success of a signing. You could pack in a bookstore and sell out all your books and that’s wonderful, but it doesn’t mean that your book resonated with everyone or that you made a connection. Sometimes, you need those smaller moments where you connect with a reader and get to talk about your craft and share your ideas to remind you why you’re a writer.

KRL: What are your future writing goals?

Michael: My hope is that this new series is successful enough for me to continue writing stories about Bria Bartolucci and her friends and family in Positano. Ultimately, my goal is to be able to support myself financially to quit the day job, but my day job is great so that’s okay if I don’t achieve that goal. Mainly, I want to write stories and create characters that resonate with readers and make them want to read more, make them anticipate my next book; that would be very satisfying.

KRL: Who are your writing heroes?

Michael: Shirley Jackson, Stephen King, Jane Austen, and Charlotte Bronte – not necessarily in that order. I love how the first two make the extraordinary ordinary and the latter two make the ordinary extraordinary. Even though they’re all quite different writers, they all put character first. That’s how I write, the character comes first and plot second even in a mystery because if the reader isn’t engaged with the character, they’re not going to care if they solve the mystery or if they die trying.

I love how Jackson allows evil to seep into daily life as innocently as a bored housewife, and how King would take the same housewife and put a hatchet in her hand to solve her daily issues. Austen and Bronte are remarkable in that they created classic heroines and characters who speak with such precision and delicious insight. Their works have survived centuries for a reason.

Another writing hero isn’t a novelist, but a TV anchor, Linda Ellerbee. I remember reading And So It Goes and being blown away by her writing style. It was short, punchy, and very journalistic, but it taught me (and I suspect many young writers) that flowery isn’t always better. Sometimes it pays to be short and (not so) sweet.

KRL: What kind of research do you do?

Michael: The research I do depends on the type of book I’m writing. Before I wrote Murder In An Italian Village, I did a ton of online research to immerse myself in Positano’s geography, culture, history, and people. Since it’s a murder mystery, I also needed to research local laws and the much broader criminal justice system of Italy. What I quickly realized was that Positano is unlike any other place I’ve ever been. The landscape alone is unique, and I knew that I had to visit the village to truly understand how a local would get around and spend their days. I booked a trip and a private tour with Zia Lucy, an incredibly smart and funny tour guide, and it was immeasurably helpful. When you’re actually in the place that you’re going to write about, you learn how the sun hits a building, what the flowers smell like, how the people smile – wonderfully specific details that bring your book to life. I can’t wait to go back to do more research!

KRL: What do you like to read?

Michael: Spoiler alert – I just don’t read mysteries; I really do read across genres. I have just read a bunch of mystery/psychological thrillers – Riley Sager’s The Only One Left, which I think is his best, The Housemaid’s Secret, by Freida McFadden, which is a solid mystery with a not-so-perfect protagonist, and Colleen Hoover’s Verity, which I thoroughly enjoyed, though I haven’t read her more popular books. But I also read a non-fiction book about the musical Carrie (if you ever get a chance to see a production, go! It’s my favorite.) It’s called Out For Blood by Chris Adams. Beyond that, I like to mix up my reading and pick up paperbacks from the 70s and 80s that I find at used bookstores, historical biographies, and classics like Jane Eyre that I reread every few years.

KRL: What are your favorite TV shows or movies?

Michael: One of my favorite TV shows is The Young and the Restless, a daytime soap opera that I’ve been watching for decades. My mother and grandmother watched it, my brother and his wife watched it, so it’s a family thing. But I am kind of obsessed with the show and emotionally attached to many of the characters, especially Sharon, my all-time favorite.?Knots Landing, a nighttime soap, is my absolute favorite show ever. I have all 14 years on bootleg DVD and I’m just starting season five, which is when the show got incredibly good. I use both those shows as references when I write a series that has character development. I learned a lot about how to grow a character from watching those shows.

I also find that I gravitate toward comedy and supernatural shows. I’m loving The Mindy Project right now, which I missed when it was first on. It’s hilarious and irreverent but is like a soap in that it’s serialized and we watch the main characters grow and change over the course of a few seasons. One of my favorite comedies is from the late ’60s, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir with Hope Lange and Edward Mulhare, which I just adore. It’s sweet and funny and also very romantic and heartbreaking because the two leads are so in love with each other, but the audience knows their relationship is doomed from the start.

Recently, I’ve done some more streaming than I normally do and I love The Morning Show. Jennifer Aniston is a revelation. I like that the characters are complicated and sometimes downright unlikable, but the writing is always true to the character no matter what. I also love Outlander because I’m a sucker for a good time travel story, which is something that I’ve never written, but I have several ideas.

As far as movies go, like most people, I have a wide variety of favorites. The Sound of Music, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Wizard of Oz, and Willy Wonka are all classics to me. Then there’s High Anxiety, Foul Play, and For Pete’s Sake, which are comedy classics that I love. Brokeback Mountain, Precious, The Hours are so good, but so emotionally draining that I’ve only watched them once. Orphan and the prequel First Kill are campy horror fun; On Chesil Beach is a beautiful tearjerker, and then there’s every James Bond film ever made – I pretty much love them all.

KRL: Have you any advice for aspiring or beginning writers?

Michael: I distill my writing advice down to the 3 D’s – determination, discipline, and dedication. You must be determined to write, you must be disciplined to carve out the time to write, and you must be dedicated to keep writing. For me, it’s that simple, and that hard.

Beyond that, take classes, write as often as you can, read as much as you can, have a small, trusted group of beta writers who will offer honest feedback, and learn the difference between opinion and critique – it’ll save you a lot of angst.

And don’t pigeonhole yourself, write across genres, write what you want. If you hit it big as a mystery writer then focus on that, but until then, explore. It’ll help you be a better all-around writer.

KRL: What is something that people would be surprised to know about you?

Michael: I’m an adult level 6 figure skater, which simply means I passed all my introductory tests on basic and some intermediary skills. So, I can do a very simple waltz jump, spin, and some other moves like mohawks and a three-pointed turn, which sound difficult, but are pretty easy. I’m not sure if I’ll ever have the time to improve my skills, but I absolutely love being on the ice, so I’ll do it as often as I can.

KRL: Well we have never had that one before. Cool! Is there anything you would like to add?

Michael: Thank you to Kings River Life for including me and introducing me to your readers. And thanks to anyone who has ever read any of my books! You have no idea how happy it makes me to know that there are people out there who actually read my words. Being a writer is a solitary endeavor, so it’s so wonderful and important to know what I create finds an audience.

KRL: Thank you for chatting with us. Website? Twitter? Facebook? Instagram?

Michael: michaelgriffo.com
facebook.com/michael.griffo.33
twitter.com/Michael2264
instagram.com/j.d.griffo

To enter to win a copy of Murder in an Italian Village, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “village” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen October 14, 2023. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

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