The Reluctant Food Columnist Series
with Quincy Lazzaro and Mary Ticarelli
Book One
Diet of Death
Betty Ann Green is a beloved culinary icon…who doesn’t exist. She is the brilliant, beautiful illusion created by two unlikely collaborators. Behind the façade is Quincy Lazzaro, a culinarily challenged writer whose witty, sharp prose is the public face of Betty, while those flawless, genius recipes are all thanks to his octogenarian neighbor, Mary Ticarelli.
When the arrogant diet guru, Dr. Alan Tolzer, inventor of the Westport Diet, demands a face-to-face interview, Quincy reluctantly steps in as Betty’s frontman, only for Tolzer to drop dead. The police call it natural causes, but Quincy knows better. He sees it as the investigative break he’s been waiting for.
Now, caught between a crime-solving grandma, a no-nonsense detective girlfriend, and a killer who may be one step ahead, Quincy must unravel the mystery before the killer strikes again.
Book Two
Simmering Secrets
When celebrity chef Connie Langston announces she's moving her prestigious culinary academy from Connecticut to New York, she ignites a firestorm of controversy. Before the evening is over, she's dead. Everyone assumes it was a tragic heart attack. But food columnist Quincy Lazzaro suspects it was murder.
By day, Quincy secretly writes the wildly popular Cooking with Betty food column with the help of his irrepressible octogenarian neighbor, Mary Ticarelli. With his loyal cocker mix, Dexter, never far from his side, Quincy wants more than recipes and restaurant reviews. Determined to reinvent himself as an investigative journalist, he starts asking questions that make powerful people increasingly uncomfortable.
His girlfriend, Detective Nina Esteves, wishes he'd leave murder investigations to the police. Quincy has no intention of listening. As he digs deeper into Connie's death, Quincy uncovers simmering rivalries, hidden motives, and dangerous secrets surrounding the academy's future. When a second murder proves Connie's death was anything but natural, Quincy and Nina race to catch the killer,
each following a very different path.
In the high stakes world of fine dining, where the rich and privileged guard their reputations as fiercely as their fortunes, some secrets are worth killing for.
The Blue Palmetto Detective Agency Series
with Al DeLuca and Maxine Brophy
Book One
Agatha Award Finalist
When It's Time For Leaving
Al DeLucia is about to have the worst week of his life. After his girlfriend dumps him and a drug dealer sends him flying off a bridge, Al quits the New Haven Police Department with plans to start fresh in LA. But his new beginning is derailed when he learns that his estranged father, Big Al—whom he thought was dead—is not only alive but suffering from dementia and about to enter a nursing home. To top it off, Big Al has left him the Blue Palmetto Detective Agency in Savannah.
Reluctant and resentful, Al is determined to sell the agency and leave as quickly as possible. However, his plans go awry when he stumbles upon a dead body on the agency's dock. Faced with mounting complications, including an attractive but formidable detective named Max who turns out to be his superior, Al finds himself reluctantly entangled in the case.
As he juggles his father’s repeated escapes from the nursing home and his own dwindling finances, Al is forced to confront unresolved issues from his past. When Big Al disappears, Al and Max must join forces to find him and solve the murder. Their journey takes them through the treacherous terrain of Savannah and the Okefenokee Swamp, uncovering old secrets and confronting dangerous truths that illuminate both the case and Al’s complicated relationship with his father.
Book Two
Blood Ties
and
Deadly Lies
Al DeLucia suspects that Abe Cromwell, a childhood bully, is claiming he has DNA proof that they’re brothers to dodge arrest for threatening a lawyer in Connecticut. Al returns to his hometown of Sachem Creek from Savannah, more eager to settle an old score in an upcoming kayak race than to help Abe. However, when Al learns that Abe has been swindled out of his farm, he reluctantly agrees to assist. While training for the race, Al discovers the lifeless body of the lawyer Abe had threatened, plunging him into a homicide investigation. When Maxine Brophy, senior investigator at the Blue Palmetto Detective Agency and Al’s girlfriend, travels north to assist, their already complicated relationship faces new challenges. Together, they unravel a complex web of lies involving gentrification schemes, ancient maps, and shocking truths about the community. In the end, Al and Max confront the true culprit, bringing closure to the murder mystery while uncovering long-held family secrets and highlighting the resilience of Sachem Creek's community.
