This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Victoria Weisfeld will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Travel writer Genie Clarke arrives in Rome seeking inspiration, but her trip turns deadly when she overhears two mafia operatives discussing a secret "Project." Before she can escape, she's attacked and left for dead. Awakening in a hospital-alive but hunted-Genie finds the police unwilling to believe her. Only Detective Leo Angelini takes her seriously, uncovering ties between her assault, a murdered woman, and a powerful criminal network.
With the threat escalating, Leo moves Genie into hiding, where she becomes both key witness and prime target. Cut off from safety and unsure who to trust, Genie must outthink the conspirators determined to silence her.
From Rome's bright piazzas to its shadowed alleys, she faces a terrifying fight for survival-and an unexpected connection with the detective risking everything to protect her. She Knew Too Much is a lean, suspenseful psychological thriller about fear, courage, and the price of knowing too much.
Read an Excerpt
I crossed the one-way traffic to reach the Piazza del Popolo’s spacious central rectangle. People ambled toward one or another of the half-dozen streets that converged on the Piazza or to the steps leading up to the Villa Borghese Gardens, where I’d spent the afternoon. I was aiming for the Via del Babuino, street of the Baboon, which got its name from a particularly hideous sculpture. In a few blocks, that street ended at the Piazza di Spagna and the always-crowded Spanish Steps, a half block from my hotel.
On the far side, I again negotiated the circling rush of traffic and chanced a look behind. What the hell? The spiky-haired blond had crossed the first stream of traffic. Now he jostled through the crowd, coming straight my way. He was tracking me, and he didn’t care if I knew it. I was in trouble. And, if I didn’t want to believe my eyes, the hair on the back of my neck confirmed it. I picked up my pace, walking as fast as I could in my flimsy sandals.
Dozens of times I’d traveled the few blocks connecting the two piazzas. Now this familiar street radiated hostility, and the stones of the Sunday-shuttered buildings reflected no warmth. Surely something, some business, would be open. I sped past my favorite stationery store, the gallery whose owner I’d interviewed. Shut tight as oysters.
Why hadn’t I asked someone near the piazza for help? Could I have made myself understood? Would they have agreed to get involved? I shook my head in frustration.
Guest Post
Things that inspire you and why
Inspiration comes from all around me—a snatch of conversation, a visit to a historical or picturesque place, the relationships I observe, people going about their work. I’m also inspired—though that may not be exactly the right word, “motivated” might be better—by actual events and situations. Tying a story, however loosely, to an understanding of the world readers share with me makes it more relevant.
In She Knew Too Much, a biomedical researcher is working on Alzheimer’s Disease. Every reader will know how important that is, and how keenly he feels his disappointments. The character in the story who is a fence for stolen goods got his start with the infamous robbery of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston (this was written about in a short story featuring this character). Anyone who has visited Rome will recognize some of the settings—the Borghese Gardens, the Spanish Steps. Once readers believe a story is grounded in reality, then the author can take them on a fictional trip. Readers cannot “suspend disbelief” unless they first believe.
Even science fiction and fantasy authors—more power to them!—have to be able to do this. Characters’ worlds and actions may be quite different from ours, but they generally are understandable because of the way we understand our world.
The research that I do for my fiction is a great source of inspiration. I’m a person who doesn’t mind going down research rabbit holes. In fact, I enjoy it! In She Knew Too Much, I spent a fair amount of time finding the right religious artifact for the criminals to try to steal. The nature of that artifact, its significance, how it is displayed—all became important to the story in ways I couldn’t have anticipated. At another point in the story, one of the gangsters hides out in a small town. By researching online maps and photographs and finding the town has a live street camera, I learned that the central square, which is usually a parking lot, becomes a farmers’ market on Saturdays. That market—and the camera!—become important in the novel.
My mind is a sort of filing cabinet of stray information—wastebasket might be a better analogy. A few years ago, I watched a terrific documentary about a theater program at Rebibbia prison in northeast Rome, in which prisoners were auditioned for and rehearsed a production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. These men knew about treachery. They knew violence. They were amazing. That little memory of Rebibbia prison and its inmates led to one character in She Knew Too Much being terrified of ending up there.
I research the plants that grow in the area I’m writing about, the typical weather at that time of year (do characters need a jacket?), are the phases of the moon right—no full moon one day and moonless night the next. These little details not only make the story real to readers, they help make it a real experience for me. If I’m not convinced by what I’m writing, readers won’t be either.
I hope your readers take the opportunity to read She Knew Too Much. I think they will find it a fast-moving story with touches of romance, humor, and a big dose of humanity. I welcome their responses. Thank you for inviting me to share these few words about the many inspirations for this story.
Website: http://www.vweisfeld.com">http://www.vweisfeld.com
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Victoria-Weisfeld/author/B07J1X2B48
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6815763.Victoria_Weisfeld
Purchase: https://www.amazon.com/She-Knew-Much-Victoria-Weisfeld/dp/B0G56LHLLS/
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