The Light Beside the Sea
by Connie di Marco
About The Light Beside the Sea
The Light Beside the Sea (A Zodiac Mystery)
Traditional Mystery
5th in Series
Setting – San Francisco, California
Publisher – CMA Literary (May 6, 2024)
Paperback : 341 pages
ISBN-13 : 979-8989009596
Digital Print length : 318 pages
ASIN : B0D393JQ87
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.
GUEST POST
When Is Enough, Enough?
It can be a real joy to write a series. Once the agony of creation of the first book is over, the main characters are set, the location is determined, and secondary characters can be fleshed out as well. The trick with each book is to choose which characters will appear and which ones (other than the main protagonist) might also be part of the plot.
Julia Bonatti, my San Francisco astrologer, lost her fiancé in a hit and run accident. Since then, she has built her astrological practice, but she’s been haunted for years by Michael’s death. Was he killed by a driver who fled the scene? Or is there more to the story?
I always knew that one book in the series would have to resolve this story. There comes a point when a thread like this must come to some sort of resolution. I wasn’t sure exactly when the time would be right, but now that time has come with The Light Beside the Sea.
There are many wonderful series that can continue a thread or a source of tension through many books. One of my favorites is Victoria Thompson’s Gaslight Mysteries consisting of more than 20+ books. But for Julia, the question is when. When is the right time? Will readers be bored by Julia’s tragedy after four books? After eight books? I’m still not sure how many more books I’d like to write in this series, but it just felt organically correct to put Julia’s tragedy to rest. Nothing can bring Michael back but how long can Julia go on this way?
There are characters in fiction and the mystery genre who have a “ghost,” a particular wound or addiction or disease or problem that will always stay with them. Readers know that their detective or sleuth is blind and must struggle with that affliction, another protagonist may have synesthesia and see auras, another is widowed, while another may struggle with addiction.
In Julia’s case, the series begins with the reader’s knowledge that her life has been marked by tragedy and this has haunted her through four full-length novels. Even the prequel novella, Enter a Wizard, Stage Left, is set only a few months after Michael’s death.
I truly admire writers who can carry a character’s passions or burdens through many novels without boring their readers. But I felt that Julia’s path would be limited if she wasn’t allowed to have answers, some resolution of Michael’s death. She believed all along that Michael was accidentally killed by a hit and run driver. She followed every trail that might lead her to the driver who drove away from the scene and left her fiancé dying on the street. But in The Light Beside the Sea, she begins to suspect there is more to the story. That Michael’s death was no accident. That his death might be part of a much larger story and in The Light Beside the Sea, she’ll learn that his death was a murder and he was not the only victim.
Most of all, I hope readers will truly enjoy the mystery and the story in The Light Beside the Sea!
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 –
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