A Season for Killing Blondes
By Joanne Guidoccio
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Release Date: June 12, 2015
Hours before the
opening of her career counseling practice, Gilda Greco discovers the dead body
of golden girl Carrie Ann Godfrey, neatly arranged in the dumpster outside her
office. Gilda’s life and budding career are stalled as Detective Carlo Fantin, her
former high school crush, conducts the investigation.
When three more
dead blondes turn up all brutally strangled and deposited near Gilda’s favorite
haunts, she is pegged as a prime suspect for the murders. Frustrated by Carlo’s
chilly detective persona and the mean girl antics of Carrie Ann’s meddling
relatives, Gilda decides to launch her own investigation. She discovers a
gaggle of suspects, among them a yoga instructor in need of anger management
training, a lecherous photographer, and fourteen ex-boyfriends.
As the puzzle
pieces fall into place, shocking revelations emerge, forcing Gilda to confront
the envy and deceit she has long overlooked.
Carlo had removed
his suit jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his light blue dress shirt. His
tie lay on the desk. The rumpled look suited him to a tee. And his large
black-rimmed glasses accentuated those unforgettable blue eyes. Bluer than
blue. Sky blue. Cornflower blue. Robin’s egg blue. Years ago, Adele Martino and
I had come up with thirty-seven descriptions of Carlo Fantin’s eyes when Mrs.
Gillespie assigned one of her Monday morning English composition exercises. As
I tried to recall the other thirty-three, I realized that Carlo was speaking to
me.
“…he’ll be taking
notes as well.”
Darn! Another
officer in the room, and I had missed his name and more importantly, his title.
Was he a detective or a constable? I’m sure Sofia would know. In the meantime,
I better stop daydreaming and start listening. I nodded in the direction of the
beefy officer. Dark hair. Dark eyes. Expertly trimmed moustache. A big bear of
a man who reminded me of Magnum P.I.
Carlo cleared his
throat. He was ready to get down to business. Police business. “It appears that
Carrie Ann was your first client. You haven’t opened this office for business
yet. How did that happen?”
My heart raced as I
spoke. “After Sofia and my mother left…I’m not certain about the time…um…I…I
heard a knock at the front window. I looked up and saw Carrie Ann. Hadn’t seen
her in ages.” I paused and then added, “Still wearing the same pageboy hair
style and that blonde color—”
Carlo waved his
hand. “Stick to the facts, please.”
I felt myself
reddening as those piercing blue eyes bored right through me. “Oh, sorry. Um, I
let Carrie Ann in.”
“And?” Carlo said
when I hesitated.
I shrugged. “We
just talked for a while, then, uh…” I closed my eyes and tried to recall the
conversation. But nothing concrete came to mind, only Carrie Ann’s infectious
laugh and bubbly compliments about the decorating scheme. When I opened my
eyes, the other officer offered me a water bottle. I thanked him and gulped
down half the contents.
“You scheduled her
for a session tomorrow morning,” Carlo said as he held up my appointment book.
“Carrie Ann is…was considered one of the best interior designers in town. Why
would she need counseling from you?” His dark brows drew together in a
suspicious frown. “Were you planning to tell her to give it up?”
In high school,
Joanne dabbled in poetry, but it would be over three decades before she
entertained the idea of writing as a career. She listened to her practical
Italian side and earned degrees in mathematics and education. She experienced
many fulfilling moments as she watched her students develop an appreciation (and
sometimes, love) of mathematics. Later, she obtained a postgraduate diploma as
a career development practitioner and put that skill set to use in the
co-operative education classroom. She welcomed this opportunity to help her
students experience personal growth and acquire career direction through their
placements.
In 2008, she took
advantage of early retirement and decided to launch a second career that would
tap into her creative side and utilize her well-honed organizational skills.
Slowly, a writing practice emerged. Her articles and book reviews were
published in newspapers, magazines, and online. When she tried her hand at
fiction, she made reinvention a recurring theme in her novels and short
stories. A member of Sisters in Crime, Crime Writers of Canada, and Romance
Writers of America, Joanne writes paranormal romance, cozy mysteries, and
inspirational literature from her home base of Guelph, Ontario.
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