Danita Minnis

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Victoria Weisfeld will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Travel writer Genie Clarke arrives in Rome seeking inspiration, but her trip turns deadly when she overhears two mafia operatives discussing a secret “Project.” Before she can escape, she’s attacked and left for dead. Awakening in a hospital-alive but hunted-Genie finds the police unwilling to believe her. Only Detective Leo Angelini takes her seriously, uncovering ties between her assault, a murdered woman, and a powerful criminal network.

With the threat escalating, Leo moves Genie into hiding, where she becomes both key witness and prime target. Cut off from safety and unsure who to trust, Genie must outthink the conspirators determined to silence her.

From Rome’s bright piazzas to its shadowed alleys, she faces a terrifying fight for survival-and an unexpected connection with the detective risking everything to protect her. She Knew Too Much is a lean, suspenseful psychological thriller about fear, courage, and the price of knowing too much.

 

Author Interview: Victoria Weisfeld

1. How did you choose your genre? What made you write this book?

Mysteries and thrillers are what I most like to read. Love of that genre probably goes back to my pre-teen Nancy Drew phase, which I share with so many women mystery writers. For She Knew Too Much, I didn’t set out to write a novel. I’d had several short stories published, and I was inspired by a trip to Rome to create a short crime story around something I’d seen there. As I started writing, I realized there was—or could be—lots more going on than I could squeeze into the 5000 words of a short story.

In fact, my first draft was 130,000 words! I had to really cut that back to reach an acceptable length for publication (and reader patience). As you know, somewhere in the 90,000-word range has long been the sweet spot for mysteries and thrillers. That translates into 325-370 pages, depending on how the text is formatted. At present, slightly shorter books—under 300 pages—are becoming more popular too.

2. Writers write what they know, and must observe the world. Are you a first born, middle or last child and how does this shape your view of the world?

I was all three! An only child. And, yes, that definitely shaped my view of the world. I was born to older parents. Their friends’ kids were all a decade or more older than I was, then I skipped a grade in elementary school (the one where you’re supposed to learn the times tables), so I always felt younger, less experienced, less savvy, less worth listening to than everyone around me. This persisted for a looong time, I’m sorry to say.

3. Where is your favorite place to write?

At my computer. My work environment is set up to my total satisfaction. I don’t have the patience to write longhand any more—nothing longer than a thankyou note!

4. How do you feel about killing your darlings, and what do you do with the remains?

When I had to take She Knew Too Much from 130,000 words down to about 95,000, some material obviously had to go. The backstory about the Moroccan fence, Amit Madoor, the history of Father Nunzio Maratea and the headaches he thinks are messages from God, and the loquacious Anglican priest, Oliver Harmon—all were pared way back. All three of those character studies became published short stories. Turning this material into pieces that could stand on their own turned out to be harder than I anticipated. The characters couldn’t say or do anything that would conflict with what they said and did in the novel itself. They couldn’t develop some new personality trait. It wasn’t just cutting and pasting; the new stories had to develop their own momentum and resolution. They’re available, and if your readers send me a message through my website (vweisfeld.com), I’ll send them copies.

5. You are introduced to your favorite author. Who is it, and what is that one burning question you must ask them?

Charles Dickens. “What goes on inside your head?”

6. Inquiring minds want to know…tell readers something about you that no one knows.

I’m the world’s worst typist, a failing that nurtured my proofreading skills. And then there’s the arithmetic thing.

7. You are stranded on a deserted island with only a backpack for company. What three items are in your survival pack?

Drawing pad and pens, a copy of The Iliad, and a box of seed packets.

8. If you could have one super power in your existence, what would it be?

To live a few specific days over again.

9. Favorite snack?

Nuts!

10. Indy 500 – Do you know how to get where you’re going or do you drive the speed limit?

I’m a Detroit girl. I know how to get where I’m going, but what exactly is a speed limit? I have an excellent sense of direction and can usually find my way back to a place I’ve been, even years later. On the downside, I don’t know right from left.

I hope your readers take the opportunity to read She Knew Too Much. I think they will find it a fast-moving story with touches of romance, humor, and a big dose of humanity. I welcome their responses. Thank you for inviting me to share these few words.

Read an Excerpt

I crossed the one-way traffic to reach the Piazza del Popolo’s spacious central rectangle. People ambled toward one or another of the half-dozen streets that converged on the Piazza or to the steps leading up to the Villa Borghese Gardens, where I’d spent the afternoon. I was aiming for the Via del Babuino, street of the Baboon, which got its name from a particularly hideous sculpture. In a few blocks, that street ended at the Piazza di Spagna and the always-crowded Spanish Steps, a half block from my hotel.

On the far side, I again negotiated the circling rush of traffic and chanced a look behind. What the hell? The spiky-haired blond had crossed the first stream of traffic. Now he jostled through the crowd, coming straight my way. He was tracking me, and he didn’t care if I knew it.
I was in trouble. And, if I didn’t want to believe my eyes, the hair on the back of my neck confirmed it. I picked up my pace, walking as fast as I could in my flimsy sandals.

Dozens of times I’d traveled the few blocks connecting the two piazzas. Now this familiar street radiated hostility, and the stones of the Sunday-shuttered buildings reflected no warmth. Surely something, some business, would be open. I sped past my favorite stationery store, the gallery whose owner I’d interviewed. Shut tight as oysters.

Why hadn’t I asked someone near the piazza for help? Could I have made myself understood? Would they have agreed to get involved? I shook my head in frustration.

About the Author Vicki Weisfeld is a Midwesterner (Go Blue!) transplanted to New Jersey. Her short stories have appeared in leading mystery magazines, including Ellery Queen, Sherlock Holmes, and Black Cat. Find her work also in a variety of anthologies: Busted: Arresting Stories from the Beat, Seascapes: Best New England Crime Stories, Murder Among Friends, Passport to Murder, The Best Laid Plans, Quoth the Raven, and Sherlock Holmes in the Realms of Edgar Allan Poe. She’s a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, the Short Mystery Fiction Society, which awarded “Breadcrumbs” a best short story Derringer in 2017, and the Public Safety Writers Association, which gave a similar award to “Who They Are Now” in 2020. She’s a reviewer of New Jersey theater for TheFrontRowCenter.com and crime/mystery/thriller fiction for the UK website, crimefictionlover.com.

Website: http://www.vweisfeld.com”>http://www.vweisfeld.com
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Victoria-Weisfeld/author/B07J1X2B48
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6815763.Victoria_Weisfeld

Purchase: https://www.amazon.com/She-Knew-Much-Victoria-Weisfeld/dp/B0G56LHLLS/