David Downie Discusses “Red Riviera” with Don George
A discussion about Italy, globetrotting, and crime from two of travel writing's greatest minds.
Its jaws open wide, a firefighting seaplane skims the glittering Gulf of Portofino on Italy’s jagged Ligurian coast, scooping up seawater, unlucky anchovies and a lone swimmer named Joe Gary. The superrich, retired Italian-American spook has mob connections and a dirty political past. Has he been snatched by accident or murdered?
Red Riviera is Commissioner Daria Vinci’s first investigation, a wild roller-coaster ride from the tangled trails of the Cinque Terre to glamorous Portofino and roughneck, roistering Genoa. It’s a Riviera made red by riotous bougainvillea—and the blood spilling from bags stuffed with butchered bodies.
Half-American, Daria Vinci is an outsider, the unlikely rising star of Genoa’s secretive Special Operations Directorate DIGOS. In Red Riviera, she must face down a Fascist police chief and fanatical coup-plotter, the CIA’s creepy local mastermind, a former World War Two Spitfire fighter pilot, and a plucky hundred-year-old marquise whose memory is as long as it is vengeful. If you like Aurelio Zen, Aimee Leduc, and Inspector Brunetti, you won’t be able to put down this captivating first adventure of Commissioner Daria Vinci.
Grace Cavalieri Featured in New Article, “Making Sense of the World through Poetry”
Grace Cavalieri launches a new podcast in deeply uncertain times. The Bay Weekly covers her story in this short article.
Rose Solari Tackles Frost, Coste Lewis, and Imaginary Landscapes in New Rose Reads
Rose Solari’s style continues to evolve as she tackles more difficult poetic concepts. Hear her speak to poetry and song as “gifts,” detail Coleridge’s writing from a sick bed, remark on Frost’s famous “Directive”, and reminisce on Smokey Robinson in this new episode of Rose Reads.
Grace Cavalieri’s “The Poet and The Poem” Receives Grant From MD Humanities
MD Poet Laureate Grace Cavalieri recieves a grant from Maryland Humanities for her long-running radio program and podcast, The Poet and The Poem.