Welcome, Marilyn!
What was your inspiration for the story and setting of this book?
I was inspired to write this cozy mystery series because it contains three of my favorite themes: Art history or stolen art, World War II and Italy. I set this book in Florence, Venice and Lake Como, Italy, all locations I’ve visited multiple times. I fell in love with Italy when I lived in Florence for six months, studying Italian and art history in college. On my last trip to Europe, before COVID, I visited all my old haunts in Florence and traveled to Rome, Lake Como, the Amalfi Coast and Capri. I’m currently working on Book 3 of the series.
Here I am relaxing on Lake Como and standing in front of The Birth of Venus:
Excerpt:
Hadley wrote down the phone number and her jaw went slack when she heard and inscribed the rest of the message. “Tell him it’s about a missing Botticelli. It’s urgent.”
A shot of adrenelin coursed through Hadley’s veins. Sandro Botticelli. Her favorite artist in the whole world. Creator of the Italian masterpiece, Nascita di Venere, The Birth of Venus, the ancient Goddess of Love, dated circa 1484. She wasn’t aware a Botticelli painting was missing.
“Is there any additional information you can give me? The name of the painting? The provenance? Capito. I understand the need for utmost secrecy. We can set up a meeting and I’ll make sure Signore Domingo will be there.”
She jotted down some more notes. “Piazzale Michelangelo? At sunset?”
Hadley tilted her head and chewed on her bottom lip. That was a strange destination for a business meeting. Although it offered the most scenic view of the city, perched atop a hillside overlooking Florence, meeting at a park after dark was reminiscent of a murder scene in a film noir. Where the heroine, Hadley, would later be found, dead, her virtue compromised and her throat slit.
Was the female caller from a museum? A high-end gallery? An auction house? Was she an art or antiquities dealer or a wealthy private individual or was she representing a government agency? And, if so, which government? Enemy or ally? She would soon find out.
A Massimo Domingo Mystery – Book 1
In this cozy mystery, American art history major Hadley Evans joins an art detective agency in Florence, Italy, working for Massimo Domingo, once a major player, now the ‘Inspector Clouseau’ of the art world. Determined to save the flailing agency and prove her worth, Hadley and her sexy Carabinieri boyfriend, Luca Ferrari, take on a mysterious client behind her boss’s back. Hot on the trail of a missing masterpiece, they discover a hidden cache of stolen Nazi art in a Venetian villa and encounter an enemy with a link to an evil past.
BUY LINKS: AMAZON ~ BARNES & NOBLE ~ APPLE
Words of advice for fellow writers:
Finish the book.
What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Stracciatella Gelato. You can read my short story, Stracciatella Gelato: Melting Time, about a woman of a certain age who is transported back to her college days in Florence, Italy, as a result of a reverse Roma curse. Will she choose to come back? Amazon.com: Stracciatella Gelato: Melting Time (One Scoop or Two) eBook : Baron, Marilyn: Kindle Store
Marilyn Baron writes in a variety of genres from women’s fiction to historical romantic thrillers and romantic suspense to paranormal/fantasy. She’s received writing awards in Single Title, Suspense Romance, Novel with Strong Romantic Elements and Paranormal/Fantasy Romance. She was also The Finalist in the 2017 Georgia Author of the Year Awards (GAYA) in the Romance Category for her novel, Stumble Stones, and The Finalist for the 2018 GAYA Awards in the Romance category for her novel, The Alibi. Her latest novel, The Case of the Missing Botticelli: A Massimo Domingo Mystery, released January 24, 2022, is her 28th work of fiction. A public relations consultant in Atlanta, Marilyn is past chair of Roswell Reads and serves on the Atlanta Authors Series Committee. To find out more about what Marilyn writes, visit her website at: www.marilynbaron.com/