Jane Reads: All Signs Point to Murder by Connie di Marco | Blog Tour with Review, Guest Post, and Giveaway

The Blurb

The stars predict a wedding-day disaster, but San Francisco astrologer Julia Bonatti never expected murder.

Julia Bonatti is alarmed by the astrological signs looming over Geneva Leary’s wedding day, but nobody asked Julia’s opinion and being a bridesmaid means supporting the bride no matter what. Even with the foreboding Moon-Mars-Pluto lineup in the heavens, no one’s prepared for the catastrophes that strike: a no-show sister, a passed-out wedding planner, and a lethal shooting in the dead of night.

With anger and grief threatening to tear the Leary family part, Julia is determined to understand how such a terrible tragedy could occur. As she digs deeper into the family’s secrets, her astrological insights will lead her to the truth about a criminal enterprise that stretches far beyond the California coast.

Praise:

"Di Marco crafts an intricate, twisting plot and layers on the astrological details that fans of psychic mysteries so enjoy." — Booklist

All Signs Point to Murder by Connie di Marco
Series: A Zodiac Mystery, #2

Genre: Cozy Mystery, Psychic Mystery

Publication Date: August 8th 2017
Publisher: Midnight Ink
Paperback: 336 pages
ISBN-10: 0738751073
ISBN-13: 978-0738751078
e-Book File Size: 3456 KB
ASIN: B01M14L2YK

Amazon | B & N | Kobo | Google Play | IndieBound | Goodreads

The Review

I just read a really good book, y'all — All Signs Point to Murder by Connie di Marco, the second book in the Zodiac Mystery series. Let me tell you why.

The complex story line captured my attention right away. There's so much going on in All Signs Point to Murder, which made it un-put-down-able. As Julia investigates, on behalf of Geneva, to learn exactly what happened the night of the shooting, she discovers more and more possible reasons and perpetrators. I suspected the correct person sooner than Julia did, but this did not spoil my enjoyment at all, because the motive was still a surprise.

Julia is engaging and easy to like. She has a great support system, between her grandmother Gloria and her BFFs Gale and Cheryl. There's a wonderful dynamic between Julia and Gloria. And, of course, Maxie totally approves of how well-written Julia's cat Wizard is. I like the detailed descriptions of the San Francisco environs. The climax is quite thrilling.

I recommend All Signs Point to Murder to all cozy mystery fans. I think readers who are astrology buffs, residents of San Francisco or wannabe residents, and fans of the Soup Lover’s Mysteries by Connie Archer will especially like it.

I really enjoyed All Signs Point to Murder by Connie di Marco, and hereby bestow upon it Four Kitties!

Four out of five kitties

Note: I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of All Signs Point to Murder.

All opinions shared are 100% my own.

For an excerpt from All Signs Point to Murder, visit my blog post for August 3.

The Guest Post

San Francisco Detectives

I knew when I started writing the Zodiac Mysteries . . . well, let me backtrack . . . I knew even before I started working on this series that I wanted it to be set in San Francisco, a city of bright windy days, dank and foggy nights haunted by the baritone voices of the foghorns. Lots of people think of Los Angeles when they think of noir, but in my opinion, San Francisco is the capital of noir. And the idea of an astrologer as my amateur sleuth seemed very fitting.

I’ve always known that lots of mysteries have been set in the city, and I thought it would be fun to write a post about fictional San Francisco detectives, but the more I researched and surfed the web, the more overwhelmed I became. The list is unbelievably long. The upside of that is that I must be in good company if lots of other authors had the very same idea.

I realized I had bitten off much more than I could chew. Then I thought perhaps I should break it down? Maybe by noir or police procedurals or amateur sleuths or . . . what? Or maybe by time period or books and films or even TV episodics based on books. And I was working on a list that didn’t even include “the Bay Area” or Northern California. I was focused strictly on San Francisco but the more facts I unearthed, the longer the task seemed.

If I only included amateur sleuths, my list wouldn’t be quite that long, but then I’d have to leave out some of my favorite authors and favorite films. Films like The House Across the Bay (http://reelsf.com/the-house-across-the-bay-1940/) where George Raft watches and bides his time through the bars of his prison on Alcatraz.

Or The Golden Gate Murders (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhP5MJgHQYM&t=3002s) with David Janssen as a cop and Susannah York as a nun who team up to catch a silent murderer. Those scenes have stayed in my mind for years and I don’t think I’ve ever driven across the Golden Gate Bridge and not remembered the orange-caped (to match the color of the Bridge) murderer. Perhaps he’s still lurking in the towers of the Bridge. Lots of foggy atmosphere too!

But my all time favorite fictional San Francisco detective is Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K5KOw5f0qw). I loved it in book form and in film (the 1941 version) with Humphrey Bogart of course. I can just imagine Dashiell Hammett, the author, at his apartment at 891 Post Street writing his novel and even using his own place as the setting for Sam Spade’s digs. But the story of the Dingus wasn’t the first crime novel set in the Bay Area. Not by a long shot. There had been scores of other books. The earliest I’ve read of is The Mysteries and Miseries of San Francisco (1853) by an anonymous author. It has the distinction of being the earliest known crime novel with a Bay Area setting.

As for film and television, how could I not mention The Streets of San Francisco? Starring Karl Malden as Detective Mike Stone with Michael Douglas (1972-1977).

Or the Dirty Harry films (1971-1988) — Inspector Harold Francis "Dirty Harry" Callahan, an icon of an antihero who crosses all sorts of ethical boundaries to pursue justice.

Or even Nash Bridges with Don Johnson and Cheech Marin as inspectors with the SFPD.

Or how about Monk? Adrian Monk, a truly unique detective with OCD and multiple phobias?

The list goes on and on — there’s Juliet Blackwell’s witchcraft mysteries with Lily Ivory, and Robin Burcell’s inspector Kate Gillespie and Kate Carlisle’s Brooklyn Wainwright, a rare book expert. There’s Dianne Day’s Fremont Jones series set at the turn of the century and Meg Gardiner’s Jo Beckett and then Marcia Muller, Bill Pronzini, Joe Gores, James Patterson, Laurie R. King’s Kate Martinelli and John Lescroart’s Dismas Hardy. The more I searched, the more I found. This couldn’t possibly be covered in a blog post, there’s enough material for ten volumes at least.

But along the way, I stumbled upon some fabulous mystery sites.

Here’s Don Herron’s website. (http://www.donherron.com/some-essays/collecting-san-francisco-mysteries/) He’s a collector of San Francisco mysteries.

Or this one — A Woman’s Place is on the Case featuring female sleuths of all sorts. (http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/give/bene-legere/bene54/mystery.html)

And then I discovered Golden Gate Mysteries! (http://goldengatemysteries.pbworks.com/w/page/97325754/FrontPage)

And guess what? My San Francisco sleuth is there! Check out the picture.

I breathed a contented sigh of relief. Julia Bonatti isn’t alone. She’s in some great company and proud to join the ranks of fictional San Francisco sleuths. And so am I, thrilled to be able to contribute to a wonderful genre. I hope every reader will enjoy Julia’s world as much as I enjoyed writing about it.

The Author

About Connie di Marco

Connie di Marco is the author of the Zodiac Mysteries from Midnight Ink, featuring San Francisco astrologer, Julia Bonatti. The first in the series, The Madness of Mercury, was released in June 2016 and the second, All Signs Point to Murder, available for pre-order now, will be released on August 8, 2017.

Writing as Connie Archer, she is also the national bestselling author of the Soup Lover’s Mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime. Some of her favorite recipes can be found in The Cozy Cookbook and The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook. Connie is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.

Catch Up With Connie di Marco on the web at

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