Cash Kills
by Nanci Rathbun
Angie is a believable blend of tough stuff and compassion, and uses both for her clients. But just like organizing all the dishes to a huge Thanksgiving dinner, Nanci Rathbun stirs up tension and keeps us licking our chops for the final sit-down.
~The Editing Pen
~The Editing Pen
Cash Kills: An Angelina Bonaparte Mystery
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Paperback: 258 pages
Publisher: Cozy Cat Press (June 3, 2014)
ISBN-10: 1939816440
ISBN-13: 978-1939816443
Synopsis:
When her office mate, accountant Susan Neh, brings Angelina Bonaparte a client named Adriana Johnson, the PI wonders how she can help this bedraggled young woman. Adriana’s parents, immigrants from the former Yugoslavia, were murdered only a week earlier, in a robbery at their small hardware store. Now she has discovered that, despite living like the working poor, they were actually quite wealthy––with numerous large bank accounts located around the world. Adriana is suspicious about her newfound status and hires Angie to discover the nature of her deceased parents’ wealth. When Angie arrives to interview with the parents’ attorney, Herman Petrovitch, he is missing, but his secretary Dragana is there––lying dead on the office floor, with her head blown off. Homicide detective––and Angie’s own boyfriend––Ted Wukowski, cautions her against getting involved in the murder investigation. Of course, Angie pays little heed to his warning.
S.G. Tell us about yourself.
N.R. I was raised an Army brat, with all the uncertainty which that life brings. As an adult, I wanted a more stable life. Hah! The joke was on me! I married and had two wonderful children, but divorce, single parenting, and working to support my family took me on a life plan detour. When I retired early from a long career at AT&T, I thought things would settle into a very comfortable rhythm, but the road of life jogged again. I felt called to seminary, where I earned an M.Div., and then was ordained and served a Congregationalist church. Then my son and his wife presented me with two precious granddaughters, but I lived in Wisconsin and they lived in Tennessee. Those little girls tugged me into a move, and I loved being close enough to be part of their everyday lives. While in Tennessee, my first mystery, Truth Kills, was accepted for publication. I envisioned writing and enjoying my family there for a long time. But life moves on and so did my granddaughters, who went to California with their parents when my son took a new job. I’m back in Wisconsin for a time, trying to figure out what’s next and enjoying ad hoc ministry and writing. I will admit that the lure of being back with Lydia and Lucy is making me consider yet another move. Luckily, writing is something that can be done anywhere.
S.G. What inspired you to start writing?
N.R. I’ve been an avid reader since I was a little girl. I was the kid who always had her nose in a book and a fantasy running in her head. Reading kept me sane through some tumultuous events in my life – divorce, single parenting and breast cancer being the biggies. I could escape from the demands of reality into the worlds that authors created. There were times I thought, “I could write that better,” and other times I thought, “If only I could write like that!” I finally made a start, through an adult education course on how to write a novel. I’ve been writing ever since.
S.G.Can you tell us what you are working on next?
N.R. In my first Angelina Bonaparte, Truth Kills, Angie mentions a client, Marcy Wagner, whose husband walked out on her and their children after cleaning out their bank accounts. Hank Wagner is a weasel, as far as Angie is concerned, and the only “locate” she’s failed to find. In my work-in-progress, whose working title is Deception Kills, Hank is finally found – via an obituary. Marcy wants to know what Hank’s life was like after he deserted the family. Angie has no idea how that simple request will impact not just the Wagner family, but Angie’s own family.
S.G.What is the craziest thing you have ever done in the name of research?
N.R.There are many Milwaukee restaurants, eateries and bars mentioned in my books. Lots of them are real places - Ma Fisher’s and Blu at the Pfister are two. Some are fictional, but I used the ambiance of real Milwaukee locations. For the sake of authenticity in my writing, I’ve eaten or drunk in each of them. Research can be a tough job! (giggle)
S.G.What do you love most about writing?
N.R. I love the thrill of seeing worlds unfold on the page, of watching my characters grow and
develop in the story and across several books. It amazes me that these products of my own imagination, whom I should control, take literary license with my plot and go their own ways on occasion! That happened with Bobbie Russell. I thought he would be a minor character in the first book, but he jumped up and told me that he was more important to the story than that. He takes an even bigger role in Cash Kills. (I don’t really hear voices, but sometimes an idea just won’t let go of me, and Bobbie was one of those.)
S.G. Who is your favorite author?
N.R. So many have touched me in different ways. JRR Tolkien and Harper Lee both challenged me to consider the reality of good versus evil, not in the abstract, but in the impact it has on each person’s life. Dorothy L. Sayers gave me a new way to view the mystery, not just as a puzzle, but as a literary form. Alexander McCall Smith showed me how to write with simplicity and power. Those writers are at the top of a long list.
S.G.What is something you want your readers to know?
N.R. This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of my breast cancer diagnosis. So many women are affected by this disease. I want readers to be vigilant with mammograms and breast self-examination. Life after BC is sweet – don’t let fear take away the years you might live!
S.G What five books are on your to be read pile?
N.R. (My TBR pile holds more than a hundred books, mostly ebooks. Some of these are print, some are electronic. They are not in any order of precedence.)
Dirty Shirt – A Boundary Waters Memoir by Jim Landwehr
Cold Days – A Novel of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
Answering the Call by James R. Milstead, M.D.
Blind Spot – A Jesse Stone Novel by Reed Farrel Coleman
Die, Judge, Die by Una Tiers
S.G. If you could throw a holiday party for five people living or dead, who would they be and what holiday would it be and what would be on the menu?
N.R. My interests are so eclectic that it’s hard to pick a traditional holiday that would offer any sense of coherence to a party. I think I’ll throw a shindig for some of my favorite people - women whose contributions have largely been overlooked in history. In my imagination, despite differences of language, we can all understand one another. March 8th is International Women’s Day. Let the party begin!Arriving via chariot, is Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt, who ruled as pharaoh from 1508 to 1458 B.C., one of the longest reigns of any pharaoh and a period marked by prosperity and peace. I usher her inside and ask if she would like a beer, a beverage consumed in ancient Egypt in place of often-contaminated water.Ruth is next. She walks to my door, this Biblical woman of the fourteenth century B.C. I admire her loyalty and loving-kindness to her mother-in-law Naomi, called hesed in Hebrew and often ascribed to God. I also admire her willingness to act in the face of obstacles to improve her lot and that of Naomi. Ruth is a woman of strength. She accepts a cup of watered wine.
What’s that sound? A three-wheel mini-car purrs up the drive and Rosalind Franklin emerges from the sporty little Berkeley T60. This brilliant scientist was responsible for the first x-ray image of the DNA double helix, but was overlooked when the Nobel committee awarded the prize for physiology or medicine in 1962 to three men who built upon her work.
The sound of horses’ hooves precedes an open barouche, a carriage that I associate with Queen Elizabeth II. The driver jumps down and assists a small-boned woman, dressed in an Empire-style gown and a bonnet with ruching framing the face. Jane Austen, admired author and observer of the social mores of the early 19th century, is welcomed inside and accepts a small glass of elderberry wine.We settle at a large round table, which eliminates worries about who shall take precedence. The meal is of less importance than the conversation, which ranges from household topics like how to brew one’s own wine – Miss Austen being very knowledgeable on this point – to deep concern that the causes of equality, justice and peace have not been achieved in all the centuries represented in my home. Miss Franklin concedes that women are gaining more recognition for their work, but that we have a very long way to go. Queen Hatshepsut bemoans the need in her time to be portrayed as a man to the people, even going so far as to have a beard in some depictions. Ruth, the perpetual outsider from Moab in her adopted Hebrew community of Bethlehem, observes that we throw up too many divisions and need to see one another as children of the One God.
As the waiter brings dessert – a honey-sweetened baklava – we promise to reunite again on International Women’s Day for conversation, encouragement and recognition of our common concerns across the barriers of time and culture.
My Review:
Mystery , Secrets, Suspense and murder all set the stage for this book! I was captivated and intrigued that I couldn't put it down. This whodunit will keep you guessing till the very end.
About This Author
Nanci Rathbun is a lifelong reader of mysteries – historical, contemporary, futuristic, paranormal, hard-boiled, cozy … you can find them all on her bookshelves. She brings logic and planning to her writing from a background as an IT project manager, and attention to characters and dialog from her second career as a Congregationalist minister. Her first novel, Truth Kills: An Angelina Bonaparte Mystery, is out in both paperback and ebook formats. The first chapter is available free on her web site and on her Goodreads page. Cash Kills is the second book in the series. Number three has a working title of Deception Kills, with plans to publish in 2015.
Nanci is a longtime Wisconsin resident who relocated to Tennessee to be closer to her granddaughters – oh, and their parents – and is planning an upcoming move to the West Coast for the same reason. No matter where she lives, she will always be a Packers fan.
Author Links
Webpage: http://nancirathbun.com
Facebook: Author Nanci Rathbun
Twitter: @nancirathbun
What an interesting lady! I want to go to her dinner party!
ReplyDeleteMary Anne, I'll reserve a seat for you!
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ReplyDeleteThat sounds like quite a dinner party! The conversation would most definitely not be dull. I like the sounds of the book as well. Any mystery involving family secrets grabs me every time!
ReplyDelete