I recently had the opportunity to read this amazing mystery and I am honored to have Traci here with us today to talk about her fun character, Franki Amato.  Take it away, Traci.

Ten Things You Should Know about Limoncello Yellow’s Franki Amato

Instead of the usual “how-I-came-up-with-the-idea-for-my-book” post, I thought I’d share some fun facts from my character development sheet for Francesca “Franki” Amato.  Franki is the tough-talking, 29-year-old private investigator protagonist of my debut novel, Limoncello Yellow.

1. Franki looks like the 1960’s Italian movie actress Claudia Cardinale, but she wears the signature cat-eyeliner of Sophia Loren.
2. She is 5’10”, 170 pounds and has an oversized butt. She can’t decide whether Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls” is her least or most favorite song.
3. Her motto is, “When life gives you lemons, make Limoncello.” But in extreme cases, she revises it to, ” When life gives you lemons, skip the ‘making Limoncello’ part and just go straight to drinking it.”
4. Thanks to her meddlesome Sicilian nonna, Franki suffers from Catholic guilt even though she’s not a practicing Catholic and precisely because she’s not a practicing Catholic.
5. She loves Murder She Wrote, trashy reality shows featuring New Jersey, and any and all variations of Say Yes to the Dress.
6. Although she’s OCD about the outward appearance of her apartment, inside her cabinets, closets and drawers total chaos reigns.
7. She has a passion for food, especially Nutella straight from the jar.  She rationalizes that the ridiculously caloric chocolate hazelnut spread is basically just the Italian version of chocolate pudding.
8. When she’s at work at Private Chicks, Inc., Franki often spontaneously worries that she has forgotten to shave the hair that grows on her big toes.
9. She uses profanity–but mostly in Italian–so that it doesn’t seem as offensive to readers.  And because it just plain sounds cool.
10. Her one intense dislike: mimes.  She simply can’t understand why anyone would want to paint himself (or herself) white or monochrome and then pretend to do things like juggle or cry.

Any questions? If so, send them to me at traci@traciandrighetti.com. Franki doesn’t like talking about herself, and she can be kind of confrontational, especially if you ask her about her love life.

About the Author:

Traci Andrighetti is the author of the Franki Amato mystery series. In her previous life, she was an award-winning literary translator and a Lecturer of Italian at the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned a PhD in Applied Linguistics. But then she got wise and ditched that academic stuff for a life of crime–writing, that is.

If she’s not hard at work on her next novel, Traci is probably watching her favorite Italian soap opera, eating Tex Mex or sampling fruity cocktails, and maybe all at the same time. She lives in Austin with her husband, young son (who desperately wants to be in one of her books) and three treat-addicted dogs.

Website/Twitter/Facebook

Francesca “Franki” Amato is a tough-talking rookie cop in Austin, Texas—until an unfortunate 911 call involving her boyfriend, Vince, and a German female wrestler convinces her once and for all that she just isn’t cut out for a life on the police force. So Franki makes the snap decision to move to New Orleans to work at her friend Veronica’s detective agency, Private Chicks, Inc. But Franki’s hopes for a more stable life are soon dashed when Private Chicks is hired by the prime suspect in a murder case to find out what really happened to a beautiful young boutique manager who was found strangled to death with a cheap yellow scarf. When she’s not investigating, Franki is hoping to seduce handsome bank executive Bradley Hartmann, but most of her time is spent dodging date offers from a string of “good Italian boys”—make that not-so-good aging Italian men—that her meddlesome Sicilian grandma has recruited as marriage candidates. As Mardi Gras approaches and the mystery of the murdered shop girl gets more complicated, Franki must decipher the odd ramblings of a Voodoo priestess to solve both the murder and the mystery of her own love life.

Amazon/Goodreads

Jennifer’s Review of Limoncello Yellow

Review (4.5 Stars): I absolutely loved this mystery and I know that you will fall in love with Franki as well.  She was sweet, spunky and fun and I couldn’t get enough of her personality.  I loved that this story takes place in New Orleans and I felt as though I was right there with Franki while she explored her new surroundings. Makes me want to go visit New Orleans immediately to spend time visiting the French Quarter and the fabulous restaurants.  Ms. Andrighetti has created a great character and a delightful new series that will have you laughing out loud.  Can’t wait to read more of these wonderful mysteries in the future.

Giveaway

I’m excited to give away a copy of Limoncello Yellow. This giveaway is for US Residents only. (If you have already won a prize on this tour, a new winner will be chosen) To be entered in the drawing by February 28th, answer me this question in the comments:

What is the best place to visit in New Orleans?

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