Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for The Light Beside the Sea by Connie di Marco. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
The Light Beside the Sea
by Connie di Marco
The Light Beside the Sea (A Zodiac Mystery)
Traditional Mystery
5th in Series
Setting – San Francisco, California
Publisher – CMA Literary (May 6, 2024)
San Francisco astrologer Julia Bonatti has been haunted for years by the hit and run death of her fiancé, Michael Sefton. The driver of the vehicle was never apprehended. The lone witness to the accident spoke to no one and now is dead. Even the cold case detective assigned to the case died before any resolution was found. Every time Julia thought she might be getting close to an answer, each clue led only to a dead end.
Michael, a graduate student, had just returned from an archeological dig in Guatemala when he was killed. But why did he mail his journal to Julia for safekeeping before his return home? What was he afraid of? Why did another graduate student fall to his death on that trip? And now, another man connected with that journey has been murdered closer to home. And the murderer hasn’t finished.
When Julia finally finds the courage to delve into the journal Michael sent to her years before, she learns of the undercurrents, jealousies and anger between members of the group. She begins to understand the pressure and fear her fiancé was coping with and his suspicions of their University mentor who was most likely engaged in unethical and illegal behavior.
But events soon take a darker turn when Julia finds a likeness of the Maya god Hunhau, god of death and the underworld, on her doorstep. A strange man covered with markings and tattoos keeps appearing to her but no one else seems to see him. With guidance from another professor she’s introduced to a world she never knew existed.
Is the man she sees human? And is he under the sway of the Maya god of death?
Will he unleash evil or is he here to right a wrong done to his people?
Julia must move quickly or her death will be the next.
Author Guest Post: Murder at the Fortune Cookie Factory
Doesn’t that sound like an intriguing title for a murder mystery? It’s been rattling around in my head for a while, but I haven’t worked out how to plan a murder in San Francisco’s real fortune cookie factory. And not just how to work out a plot, but how not to upset the owners and employees there. I don’t think they’d be very happy.
Hosts often ask if there are recipes a writer would like to share. Well, sadly there are no recipes in the Zodiac Mysteries. Julia Bonatti, my San Francisco astrologer, never cooks or slows down long enough to eat. When she’s hungry she dives into her freezer and looks for a plastic container of delicious food that her grandmother has given her. Gloria, her grandmother, knows very well that Julia would probably starve if she didn’t send her home with several containers for the future.
But hang on, there is a recipe coming. There actually is a real fortune cookie factory in San Francisco’s Chinatown. And believe it or not, I didn’t even know of its existence when I first lived there.
I learned of the place when I worked at a large law firm on California Street many years ago. This law firm shall remain nameless. (I don’t want to be sued.) I was told the firm represented management in litigation and arbitration with employees. I was offered the job and I thought okay, I can figure this out. But when I was actually working there, I found out the firm was known as a notorious union buster, so notorious that law school students picketed their attorneys when they came on campus to recruit!
My first big shock came when I found out that one of my jobs was to color in anti-union posters! I had a crisis of conscience. I believe in unions. My beloved dad, now gone, was a union member of the MTA in Boston. I knew he’d never approve of my working at this place. However, I desperately needed the employment, so I kept my mouth shut about my ideological leanings.
But back to the fortune cookie factory. I was given the task one day of ordering fortune cookies that contained anti-union slogans. You see, in those days, if employees of a company felt they were treated unfairly, and had requested to join a union, the company could not directly (legally) threaten them nor could the company make promises to convince them to vote against a union. I’m not sure if that’s the case today but what the company could do is host parties, give away televisions, cars, etc. And of course, the company would decorate the walls of the party room with anti-union posters and offer fortune cookies to send an additional message.
I asked around . . . Huh? What? There’s a fortune cookie factory in San Francisco? Really? And they’ll put any message you want inside a cookie? Yes, I was told and given the phone number to order all those anti-union slogans. What dirty tricks to play on hard-working people!
The actual factory is the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory and it’s amazing. It’s a tiny place, maybe the size of two normal rooms and believe me, it’s hot in there. Now these aren’t the cookies everyone gets after a meal in a Chinese restaurant — brittle and dry and when you open them, your fortune doesn’t make much sense. These fresh cookies are delicious. This company’s been in business since 1962 and produces about 25,000 hand-made fortune cookies in their tiny space every day. The smells wafting through their alley are fantastic. You can even ask for free samples — chocolate covered, vanilla, strawberry and even green tea cookies!
And here’s the recipe I promised:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line a flat pan with parchment paper.
Ingredients
3 large egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract
3 tbsp. water
1 cup all-purpose flour
Whip the egg whites and sugar until frothy. Blend in the melted butter, vanilla and almond extract, and water. Mix well.
Add the flour and mix until the flour is absorbed.
Using a tablespoon, drop batter onto the parchment paper and spread out into a 3 inch circle. Bake the cookies on one side only for 7 to 8 minutes until the edges are browned slightly.
Then remove the pan and flip each circle over.
Fold the cookie in half, then slip the fortune unto the cookie. Wait a few seconds till the cookie cools, otherwise your fortune will stick to the cookie.
Then fold the ends down and using a fork, crimp the cookie into a fortune cookie shape.
Let the cookies cool so they’ll hold their shape.
Just look at these happy people at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory!How could I murder them, even fictionally?
About Connie di Marco
Connie di Marco is the author of the Zodiac Mysteries featuring San Francisco astrologer Julia Bonatti, a woman who never thought murder would be part of her practice. The fifth book in this series, The Light Beside the Sea, has just been released.
Writing as Connie Archer, she is also the author of the national bestselling Soup Lover’s Mysteries from Berkley Prime Crime. You can find her excerpts and recipes in The Cozy Cookbook and The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook. Connie is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Crime Writers Association, International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime.
Author Links
Blog: http://conniedimarco.com/blog
FB: https://www.facebook.com/connie.di.marco.author
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/askzodia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/connie_di_marco/
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14751339.Connie_di_Marco
Purchase Links – Amazon
Enter the Giveaway
The Light Beside the Sea TOUR PARTICIPANTS
May 6 – Literary Gold – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
May 7 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST
May 8 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
May 9 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT
May 10 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
May 11 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
May 12 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT
May 13 – StoreyBook Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST
May 14 – Socrates’ Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
May 15 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
May 16 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR GUEST POST
May 17 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW
May 18 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
May 19 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – REVIEW
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Hi Christy ~ thanks so much for hosting The Light Beside the Sea today!
You’re welcome, and thanks for stopping!
This looks like a great read. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Michael! I hope you get to read this one soon!
Fascinating cover
Oh thank you, Nancy! The inspiration for this cover is a rock tunnel in San Francisco, at Lands End, where all sorts of strange events are rumored to have happened. I’m glad you like it!
Thanks for sharing!
You’re very welcome, Amelia!
This looks like an intriguing book.
Hi Sandra ~ it was a lot of fun to write. Hope you get to read it soon!