What??!! A new historical mystery series? But, but . . .

Read on.

One of my earliest memories is of my grandfather coming home from Revere Copper and Brass, yelling “Ann!”  When my grandmother replied, he inevitably came back with “Huh?” the first sign of the industrial deafness that would plague his later years.

My grandparents circa 1960

My grandparents making pasta, circa 1960

Related: Ann Amato Sestito: A Tribute

We lived next door to them in Rome, NY. It was a good place to grow up.

In 1825 the Erie Canal connected the Hudson River to the Great Lakes and spurred economic development across upstate New York. Rome became a bustling version of Jimmy Stewart’s Bedford Falls. In the early days of the 20th century, Italian immigrants like my great-grandparents flocked to the area after a stop at Ellis Island. People with names like Lombino, Sestito, Russo, and Ferlo settled in cities with names like Syracuse, Verona, Utica, and Rome.

Central New York voices have a lilt leftover from these immigrants that includes double and triple negatives. For example: “No, I didn’t give Tommy no five dollars.” My grandfather’s friends either worked “down ta mill” or “down ta muck.”

The mill meant the Revere Copper and Brass Rolling Mill, Spargo Wire, or one of the several other metal-based manufacturers along the Mohawk River. Muck referred to the small truck farms along Muck Road; so-called because their produce fit in the back of a truck, or so I was told.

Good recordkeeping

My grandfather retired as a foreman after 40 years at Revere, but before that he was deputy sheriff of Oneida County. He was also City Marshal for years, leaving behind a pile of ledgers filled with entries about court cases and debt collection penned in my grandmother’s neat hand. He generally was paid a percentage of the money that was owed. Entries show debts repaid in installments; no doubt my grandfather didn’t get his fee until the debt was paid in full.

Random ledger page

A random page from his ledgers as City Marshal, showing court cases and his fees

His ledgers are a snapshot in time featuring feuds, rivals, debts, businesses, lawyers, and judges. The Carissimo and Verro family feud resulted in 7 summons in the month of April 1958 alone, netting my grandfather $17.50.

No wonder he went out armed.

My grandfather’s stories

We always went to my grandparents’ house for coffee and doughnuts after Mass on Sunday. If we were lucky, somebody got my grandfather to talk about his deputy sheriff days, Prohibition, and the long arm of the Mafia. The Mafia wife with 22 children. Hiding out in a cemetery with his buddy Hank to catch thugs who’d buried illegal booze with a dead body. The double murder of feuding wedding guests.

He warned me about dating boys from Utica, too. Their fathers were all Mafia.

Announcing the Galliano Club new historical mystery series

All this is the run-up to my big announcement. I’m taking a short break from the Detective Emilia Cruz series (don’t worry, still much ahead for our intrepid Acapulco detective) to focus on a Prohibition-era trilogy inspired by my grandfather’s stories.

The Galliano Club mystery series has been in the back of my mind for some time. Last year I spent a day with Rome’s historian, sifting through old pictures like the ones below. Between those images and the visions conjured by my grandfather’s stories, a new cast of characters has taken shape in 1926 against a backdrop of brick storefronts, rattling Model T Fords, church steeples, and immigrant families.

Risk, power, & corruption in 1926

The Galliano Club is an Italian men’s social club in the fictional town of Lido, NY. Luca Lombardo is the bartender, supported by club owner Vito Bottini, former vaudeville dancer Ruth Cross, plus Mafia thugs, rum runners, a scheming mill accountant, and a crooked cop.

There will be true-to-life rivalries between the Italian, Polish, and Irish populations. The Mafia’s grip tightens as Prohibition-era moonshiners vie for business.

Incidentally, the real Galliano Club building still stands, a reminder of Rome’s heyday. It’s one of a handful of historic buildings that survived the sad wholesale razing of the downtown area to rebuild Fort Stanwix in the 1970’s. For 4 years, I took tap lessons from a dance instructor on the second floor.

I can’t wait to throw open the doors to readers!

Keep scrolling for a gallery of inspiration from the archives of the Rome Historical Society, with special thanks to Arthur L. Simmons III, the Executive Director.

 

Madonia fruit market

Madonia’s fruit market was owned by a friend of my grandfather.

Copper City sign over Mohawk River

For years, most of the copper used in the US came from the Revere mill in Rome, as proclaimed by the lit sign over the Mohawk River.

Rome NY 1927 motorcycle race

An early motorcycle race through downtown Rome, circa 1926

Rome NY 1927

Rome decked out to receive Charles “Lucky Lindy” Lindbergh in July 1927

Rome NY 1926

Multi-storey brick buildings lined downtown while streetcars clanged up and down.

Galliano Club mystery series announcement

10 Comments

  1. Glenis

    This sounds like a great series. Can’t wait!

    • Carmen

      Thank you!

  2. Jackie

    December can’t come soon enough. So we can begin to read an awesome sounding series. Your description and inclusion of the photo gallery from back then is an intrigue to find out more about Ruth Cross.
    Awesome title, I can’t wait for December. Thank you again for what I’m sure is going to be a fantastic series as is the Detective Emilia Cruz series.
    Good luck and tank you for introducing us to another awesome series.

    • Carmen

      Thank you!

  3. Patricia Crane

    I am ready to know more about Ruth Cross!Where is she? Did someone hurt her? What “favors” does she do for Vito? Is it personal or illegal, or does she kill for him? Are they friends or is she threatened by him? Or is he a boss?
    I like Murder in the title!
    Sounds like a good series. Best of luck to you bringing it forth for us. I will be ready in Dec.
    Patricia Crane.

    • Carmen

      Ruth is a woman with a PAST . . . and therefore vulnerable in 1926. VERY vulnerable. Glad the excerpt in the newsletter got you wondering!

  4. Charles

    The Galliano Club … named after the liquor, the city, a person?

    • Carmen

      Named after a building in my hometown, which was probably named after the liquor. Thanks for asking!

  5. Ami Travillian -Vonesh

    I can’t wait for this! It sounds great. When will it be available?

    • Carmen

      It’s too soon to say, but I’m aiming for a Book 1 release in December. Thanks for asking!

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new historical mystery series

CARMEN AMATO

Mystery and thriller author. Retired Central Intelligence Agency intel officer. Dog mom to Hazel and Dutch. Recovering Italian handbag addict.

 

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