A Mystery by Any Other Name.... by Maria Grazia Swan

Our guest post today is from National Bestselling Author of the Lella York mysteries, Maria Grazia Swan.  Don't miss this one, because there's an awesome giveaway at the end!!

A Mystery by Any Other Name.... 

by Maria Grazia Swan

Growing up I read a lot. Possibly because back then we didn’t have television, telephones or computers. Our small town at the foot of the Alps did have one movie theater, owned by the parish, and I did get to watch the occasional Shirley Temple movie (Italian dubbing), and no, it wasn’t in the thirties or the forties, or…okay, you get the picture. Remember movie night on the TV show “MASH”? Well that’s the way we got to watch movies, the same ones over and over, with frequent interruptions to fix the reel.

I preferred reading. My favorites were I Gialli Mondadori. Sounds fancy but in reality that was the label of Italian Publisher Mondadori’s mystery imprint. Their mystery line was called ‘Gialli’ because of their yellow book covers. That name stuck and today mysteries released in Italy are commonly known as Gialli.  My favorite author was Agatha Christie, the queen of mystery.

When I wrote my first full length novel I sold it as a mystery. And after that, when people asked me what kind of books I wrote, I proudly declared, “Mysteries, Italian style.” And in case there was any doubt, in my best channeling of Freddy Krueger I would add, “You know—I kill people.”

All went well until I sold more manuscripts to more publishers and one of them pointed out my books were more suspense than mystery.

Say what? Where did I go wrong? Huuh, I still kill fictional people. And my goal is the same; to make you sweat trying to guess whodunit.

I decided to check out the official definition of mystery. Here is what I found.

     Something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain.

     Unresolved problem.

     In other words, l-i-f-e.

I would like to thanks Must Read Mysteries (Not Suspense!) for giving me the opportunity to share this with you, and I hope you all rush to your favorite online bookseller and buy one of my books. Regardless of whether you are a mystery or a suspense lover, I hope you sweat profusely trying to guess whodunit. Ciao.

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About the Author

Best selling author Maria Grazia Swan was born in Italy, but this rolling stone has definitely gathered no moss. She lived in Belgium, France, Germany, in beautiful Orange County, California where she raised her family, and is currently at home in Phoenix, Arizona--but stay tuned for weekly updates of Where in the World is Maria Grazia Swan?

As a young girl, her vivid imagination predestined her to be a writer. She won her first literary award at the age of fourteen while living in Belgium. As a young woman Maria returned to Italy to design for--ooh-la-la--haute couture.

Maria loves travel, opera, good books, hiking, and intelligent movies (if she can find one, that is). When asked about her idea of a perfect evening, she favors stimulating conversation, Northern Italian food and perfectly chilled Prosecco--but then, who doesn't? 

You can find out more by visiting her website www.mariagraziaswan.com   or connecting with her on Facebook.

Giveaway!

Maria Grazia Swan is very generously sponsoring a giveaway for Must Read Mysteries readers!  Please comment below for a chance to win your choice of a signed paperback copy of Death Under the Venice Moon or a $10 Amazon card.  Winners will be chosen on Friday, March 20th via random number generator.  Share this post on social media for an additional entry - just comment below and let us know you shared!  Please Note:  If you are commenting as "Anonymous," please leave your Facebook name or some other way to contact you!