Nurse Trudy Genova mixes her movie studio consulting work with her nose for murder!
Death in the Orchard
The Trudy Genova Manhattan Mysteries Book 3
by M.K. Graff
Genre: Mystery, Police Procedural, Amateur Sleuth
The third Trudy Genova mystery from award-winning author M. K. Graff brings Trudy home, leaving her New York City studio consulting job to visit her rural hometown of Schoharie, three hours north. NYPD detective Ned O'Malley accompanies Trudy, primed to meet her family, but with a secret mission to find out what really happened when her father died eleven years ago.
Mario Genova's death was deemed a tragic accident, but Trudy feels there was more to her beloved father acting out of character the day before he died. After years of hard work building a successful apple orchard business with her mother, Mario cleaned out their bank accounts. No reason-and no money-was ever found. As Trudy and Ned try to investigate without informing her family of their actions, a new death occurs on Genova Orchards property, and once again Trudy's family is under scrutiny.
"A welcome and forceful return of MK Graff's Trudy Genova, Death in the Orchard is a well- crafted and thought-provoking story of unexplained death and cold-blooded murder, as Trudy sets out to solve the death of her father with her NYPD boyfriend Ned O'Malley. The couple return to the Genova family orchards to dig into the past as the present threatens to shake the family to their very core.
Graff deals us a cold case of family intrigue, a small-town conspiracy, and a terrifying leap into the unknown, as her heroine comes face to face with a secret she thought would never be told, a case impossible to solve, and a dogged determination to finally get to the truth.
A masterclass in laying the threads bare and
knitting them together in a satisfying conclusion."
Mandy Morton, Author of The No. 2
Feline Detective Agency series
GUEST POST
Dru Ann Love: A DAY IN MY LIFE: TRUDY GENOVA For April 2024
“CUT! That’s a wrap!” With a loud thunk, the Klieg lights dim and I pick my way over heavy cables by the remaining dim light and follow the cast and crew out the studio door., eyes blinking after the darkness inside.
My name is Trudy Genova, RN, and my work as a medical consultant for a New York movie studio is over for this week. I feel like a puppy who’s found the gate left open, freedom beckoning, as I’m cut loose for a week’s vacation with my boyfriend, NYPD detective Ned O’Malley.
This job is any nurse’s dream. I wear jeans to work, no one is puking on my shoes, and best of all, no one is really ill or dying. Of course, there were those murders last spring at the soap opera, but I helped Ned to figure that out, despite his annoyance at me insinuating myself into his investigation. And then there was the case earlier this month at the Dakota building, where we filmed a made-for-TV movie and an actor was killed. By then, Ned was reconsidering my ability to figure out human nature and unravel puzzles as we started our relationship. I guess I do have a nose for murder, but that’s a good thing for someone who has always read and adored crime fiction, and now plans to write her own mystery.
The perks of this job include days when there’s not a medical scene filming, and I can lounge at home in my yoga pants. I may have to correct script pages of medical scenes the studio faxes over, but this schedule gives me plenty of time to work on my NYU course and fledgling writing.
Today is very different, when reality will supplant my fictional world. I run to the production office to pick up my rolling suitcase, backpack, and laptop bag, then rush outside to wait for Ned to pick me up. I have ten days off and we are heading north to my family home in the Catskills on an apple orchard, ostensibly for him to meet my family. My oldest brother and his wife are expecting their first baby, and there will be a shower to attend before Ned and I knuckle down to the bigger reason I’ve asked him to come home with me: I want to finally find out what really happened when my father died eleven years ago.
It was deemed an accident at the time, but there are circumstances around it that have never been explained, including my father draining my parents’ pension fund, with the money never found. I’ve always felt deep down that my father was murdered, but I have no idea if either of my brothers or my mom feel the same way.
All I do know is that it’s time for me to dig deeply into Mario Genova’s death, whether my family is happy about resurrecting the past or not. At least I’ll have Ned and his expertise at my side. What could possibly go wrong?
I relaxed as Ned O’Malley drove us
north to my childhood home. We’d never been alone for an extended period, and
the week stretched ahead of us. I fully intended to cash in on that end of the
situation as we navigated the early days of cementing our relationship.
This was an important trip home for
me. I was excited to be at my sister-in-law’s baby shower, the prompt for the
visit; introducing Ned to my family was part of it, too, as only my mom had met
him the previous spring when I’d been injured during the case where we met at
the movie studio where I worked as a nurse consultant. Those were great reasons
for a visit, but not the ones that worried me. After I’d made a habit of
involving myself in Ned’s last two cases, I needed him to help me solve mine.
Ned changed lanes and when he caught
my eye, he winked. I smiled back, feeling a zing of attraction in the pit of my
stomach. I took a deep breath and tried to relax.
“Anxious about going home?” he
asked.
I gathered my thoughts. “It’s always
bittersweet for me. When I’m away in the Big Apple, I miss my family, but being
home . . .”
“Brings back the pain of your
father’s death,” he finished.
“Even more than that, Ned. Everyone
else seems to have accepted that day as a tragic accident, but to me, the
circumstances stink to high heaven.” I was convinced there was far more to be
unearthed. I’d decided not to tell my mother or my brothers I had enlisted Ned
to figure out what had happened until we’d found something worth telling.
But that decision meant part of me
was terrified. I was opening a can of worms I wouldn’t be able to close if the
outcome of our investigation proved less than favorable toward the father I’d
admired. He wasn’t perfect, but he’d been a great dad to us. I couldn’t
understand why his body had been found at our town’s abandoned railroad depot;
nor why he’d closed out my parents’ retirement and saving accounts, with the
money never found. It had certainly not made sense to me then and still didn’t
now.
I knew I was taking a big risk, but
this had gnawed away at me for the past eleven years, and I needed to find the
truth, no matter where it took me. I would need to walk a fine line with my
family while keeping what we were doing under wraps at first.
But after this baby shower tomorrow,
I’d start working to find the resolution to the questions that had plagued me
for the past years.
And then all bets were off.
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Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Death-Orchard-M-K-Graff/dp/1732163081/
BridlepathPress: http://www.bridlepathpress.com/Store/Books/Death-in-the-Orchard
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/211113573-death-in-the-orchard
Death at the Dakota
The Trudy Genova Manhattan Mysteries 2
Nurse Trudy Genova is making plans to take her relationship with NYPD detective Ned O'Malley to the next level when she lands a gig as medical consultant on a film shoot at the famed Dakota apartment building in Manhattan, which John Lennon once called home. Then star Monica Kiley goes missing, a cast member turns up dead, and it appears Trudy might be next. Meanwhile Ned tackles a mysterious murder case in which the victim is burned beyond recognition. When his investigations lead him back to the Dakota, Trudy finds herself wondering: how can she fall in love if she can't even survive?
Readers of Death Unscripted, the first book in the Trudy Genova Manhattan
Mystery series, will find the same pleasures in this sequel: fast pacing,
engaging characters, twists and turns on the way to a satisfying close. Once
again M.K. Graff reveals her talents in crafting this delightful mix of amateur
sleuth and police procedural.
Part procedural, part cozy, Death at the Dakota is a well-crafted and highly
entertaining mystery.- Bruce Robert Coffin, #1 bestselling author of the
Detective Byron mysteries.
I fell in love -- not only with co-protagonists, Trudy and Ned, the richly
detailed and historic setting of The Dakota, and the unique cast of characters,
but with the unusual plot of Death at the Dakota. Sherry Harris, Agatha Award
nominated author of the Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mysteries
Amazon * BridlePathPress * Bookbub * Goodreads
Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Death-Dakota-Manhattan-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B07SC52LDQ
BridlePathPress: http://www.bridlepathpress.com/Store/Books/Death-at-the-Dakota
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45446892-death-at-the-dakota
Death Unscripted
The Trudy Genova Manhattan Mysteries Book 1
Trudy Genova has the best job any nurse could want, working on set as a medical consultant for a NY movie studio. No more uniforms, bedpans or emergencies, until at the actor whose overtures she's refused dies suddenly while taping a hospital scene--but not before pointing his finger accusingly at Trudy. When detectives view Trudy as a suspect, she sets out on an investigation to clear her name. Then a second death occurs, and Trudy realizes she's put herself in jeopardy.
A new mystery from the award-winning author of the Nora Tierney English Mystery
Series, DEATH UNSCRIPTED is based on the authors' real work experience during
her nursing career and is the mystery series British Queen of Crime P. D. James
insisted she write. A mix of amateur sleuth and police procedural, the story is
told in first person from Trudy's point of view, and in third from NYPD
Detective Ned O'Malley
Marilyn Chris, Obie and Drama Desk Award-winning actor who played Wanda Wolek
on ABC's soap "One Life to Live" notes: "Graff gets behind the
scenes of soaps just right, as well she should--she was there!"
Edith Maxell, national bestselling author of multiple mystery series says:
"Your blood pressure will soar during M. K. Graff's new Manhattan Mystery,
as nurse Trudy Genova takes the pulse of a killer during a soap opera filming
in Death Unscripted. You won't even think about changing the channel during
this smart, suspenseful mystery."
And Triss Stein, author of the Erica Donato Mysteries, has this to say:
"Soap opera drama is as intense on the set as it is on the screen.
Sometimes Trudy Genova, consulting nurse, feels like the only sane person in
the room. Join her as she copes with huge ego, daily melodrama, an attractive
detective, and life in New York . . . plus murder. The city and the studio
provide intriguing backgrounds for this entertaining mystery."
Helen Smith, UK author of the The Emily Castle Mysteries, agrees that Death
Unscripted is "an engaging story featuring a charming amateur sleuth. A
great start to a mystery series."
Amazon
* BridlePathPress
* Bookbub
* Goodreads
Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/DEATH-UNSCRIPTED-Manhattan-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0176Y7EA6
BridlePathPress: http://www.bridlepathpress.com/Store/Books/Death-Unscripted
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27396963-death-unscripted
About the Author
Marni Graff is the award-winning author of The
Nora Tierney English Mysteries and The Trudy Genova Manhattan Mysteries.
Her stories are in several anthologies, including the Anthony Award-winning
Malice Domestic’s Murder Most Edible. She is Managing Editor of Bridle
Path Press, a crime book reviewer, and blogs for Miss Demeanors. Graff is a
member of Sisters in Crime, Mavens of Mayhem SinC, Triangle SinC, Mystery
People UK, and the International Association of Crime Writers. She lives in
eastern NC with her husband and two Aussiedoodles.
Website
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Author
Links
Website: https://marnigraff.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bluevirginmysteries
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluevirgin.graff/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/m-k-graff
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7778102.M_K_Graff
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I enjoyed the guest post. Sounds like a good story.
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