Tour: All Signs Point to Murder, with guest post by Connie di Marco

July 5, 2017 Blog Tours, Book Reviews, Guest Post 34

Tour: All Signs Point to Murder, with guest post by Connie di Marco

Tour: All Signs Point to Murder, with guest post by Connie di MarcoAll Signs Point to Murder Series: Zodiac Mysteries #2
on Aug. 8, 2017
Pages: 336
Purchase: Amazon
Add to Goodreads

Also in this series: The Madness of Mercury

The stars predict a wedding-day disaster, but San Francisco astrologer Julia Bonatti never expected murder

Julia Bonatti is alarmed by the astrological signs looming over Geneva Leary’s wedding day, but nobody asked Julia’s opinion and being a bridesmaid means supporting the bride no matter what. Even with the foreboding Moon-Mars-Pluto lineup in the heavens, no one’s prepared for the catastrophes that strike: a no-show sister, a passed-out wedding planner, and a lethal shooting in the dead of night.

With anger and grief threatening to tear the Leary family part, Julia is determined to understand how such a terrible tragedy could occur. As she digs deeper into the family’s secrets, her astrological insights will lead her to the truth about a criminal enterprise that stretches far beyond the California coast.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

Don’t miss the giveaway at the bottom of this post!

 

A Remarkable Woman

Guest post by author Connie di Marco

A Remarkable Woman

No, I’m not referring to my protagonist in the Zodiac Mysteries – Julia Bonatti – although she is a remarkable character and a very talented San Francisco astrologer who solves crimes. I’m referring to Gladys Cox Hansen (June 12, 1925 – March 5, 2017). A Gemini! I’m sure Julia, the astrologer, would appreciate that!

Gladys Hansen

If you’ve never heard of Gladys Hansen, it’s well worth learning about her work. Because if it were not for her, we would still be woefully uninformed about the real history and the aftermath of the great earthquake of 1906 that destroyed San Francisco.

On April 18, 1906 at 5:12 a.m., a quake, somewhere between 7.8 to 8.3 magnitude, ripped the northern 296 miles of the San Andreas fault. Geologists now consider it had a Mercalli intensity of XI, i.e., extreme! It lasted approximately sixty seconds, a very long time for an earthquake. And if you’ve ever been in a quake, you can appreciate just how torturingly long that time span is, as you hang on and pray and hope to survive.

After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake

Approximately 28,000 buildings were destroyed, 498 city blocks were leveled and a quarter of the city burned. After the dust settled and the ensuing fires were put out, the powers-that-once-were in the city were determined to rebuild. In order to do that, they had to attract money and investors and there was only one way. They had to lie. A lot! They worked hard to propagate the myth that fire destroyed San Francisco, not earthquake. They even went so far as to alter photographs to show buildings, destroyed in the quake, still standing. So began a conspiracy of disinformation that lasted for many decades.

After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake

Thanks to dedicated researchers like Gladys Hansen we are now closer to the truth. Not all the way there, but at least a lot closer. Gladys was a librarian and City Archivist Emerita of the San Francisco Library system. One day in 1963, well prior to her retirement, she was asked to provide a list of the dead from that fateful day in 1906. She was sure the library could offer accurate records, but when she searched and found no names and only a vague figure of 478 dead, she was positive this number could not be correct. She later discovered the city never reported casualties from either Chinatown or the slums and she came across many victims with Chinese, Irish and Italian surnames. She’s quoted as saying, “The lack of death [in these areas] simply isn’t credible.”

Gladys decided to make it her mission in life to find and name the dead. She searched all available records — birth and death records, tenant rolls of buildings, voter registration lists, military files, church records and coroner’s records. She requested information nationwide, and letters from other parts of the country came pouring in. Her task was monumental and it continued for years.

 

Mrs. Hansen created an online museum, The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco, and in 1989 co-authored a book, Denial of Disaster, with Emmett Condon, retired Chief of the San Francisco Fire Department. It’s a shocking account of the disaster and the ensuing political machinations.

 

Here at the museum site, you can find a partial list of “Who Perished.”

The research she gathered also led to a cookbook: After the Shake, They Baked, containing actual recipes created by people who were living among the rubble or in Army tents in Golden Gate Park. In fact, I have met people who as young kids remembered living in Golden Gate Park in order to survive. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to get a copy of this book from Mrs. Hansen’s heirs, although I would dearly love to have one. With the museum’s permission, here are a few teasers: Shrimp salad, to be served in a dozen eggs “boiled hard.” This specifies the amount of pickles, celery, parsley, radish and onion to be used, but neglects to mention how many shrimp are needed. The recipe suggests to “chop the shrimps a little.” I guess it depends on how many shrimps a housewife can get her hands on. The amount of butter called for in a fricassee of oysters was defined as the size of an egg. Bread puddings were prepared in covered pots and pies were cooked in Dutch ovens set directly over an open fire. Every recipe is a tribute to ingenuity under hardship.

Finally, in 2005, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution, co-authored by Hansen, that set aside the official 1907 death count. At last count, to the best of my knowledge, the number of named dead is well over 6,000 and still counting. But there are undoubtedly many more souls to be found and named.

I wish I could have met Mrs. Hansen at some time during the years I lived in San Francisco. I would have been fascinated by her dedication and persistence. She died just a few months ago on March 5th at the age of 91 from natural causes. Even though she has passed on, we can still read her interviews:

Gladys once said, “Sometimes I think all those who died are right there behind us saying, ‘Keep going. Keep going. Keep going.’”

A remarkable woman indeed. I hope you’ll explore her virtual museum to learn more.

~ Connie di Marco

 

Lark’s Review

I really liked the first book in the series, The Madness of Mercury, so when the opportunity arose to tour and review the second book, I jumped on it. Julie is a likable and believable protagonist: intelligent and observant (but not in the Holmesian mold), empathetic, and and loyal to her friends. She approaches astrology as a science as well as an art, and it seems to work well for her, giving her insights into people and their actions and motivations, but not specific answers. The combination of traits makes her an engaging heroine, an amateur sleuth whose involvement in mysteries has yet to stretch my credibility.

The mystery this time around is quite baffling; clues point toward a variety of suspects, and the plot twists and turns in unexpected directions. That said, I did spot the villain early on — or to be precise, I had a gut feeling about them early on, which proved to be correct. Which isn’t to say that Ms. di Marco didn’t have me questioning my instincts a time or three!

If I have any quibbles about the book, it’s that I had a hard time keeping track of who was who, and the relationships between the characters, in the early chapters, largely because there were so many people introduced in the first chapter. Eventually, I got all the important characters sorted out in my head, but a “cast of characters” page wouldn’t come amiss.

In addition to the mysteries, I’ve  also been enjoying the gradual exploration of Julia’s past and personal life, and I’m curious to see where that leads. It’s been rather refreshing to read about a young protagonist (late twenties or early thirties?) who isn’t in a relationship. Not that I have any objection to a bit of romance with my mysteries, but kudos to Ms. di Marco for realizing that it isn’t necessary to pair up every young heroine, at least not for a while. I’m looking forward to the next book!

 

And don’t miss Connie’s previous guest post about San Francisco’s cable cars, posted with my review of The Madness of Mercury.

 

Giveaway

Sign up for the tour-wide giveaway: three paperback copies of The Madness of Mercury, book one of the Zodiac Mysteries!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And don’t forget to visit the tour page for links to other bloggers’ reviews!

 

About Connie di Marco

Connie di Marco is the author of the Zodiac Mysteries featuring San Francisco astrologer, Julia Bonatti. The Madness of Mercury is the first in the series. Writing as Connie Archer, she is also the author of the Soup Lover’s Mysteries set in Vermont from Berkley Prime Crime. You can find her excerpts and recipes in The Cozy Cookbook and The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook. Connie is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime and International Thriller Writers.

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34 Responses to “Tour: All Signs Point to Murder, with guest post by Connie di Marco”

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      You are most welcome, and thank you for a fascinating guest post! I knew about the earthquake and fire, of course, but not about the attempt to cover up the number of deaths and the extent of the earthquake damage. Ms. Hansen deserves much praise for her efforts to set the historical record right.

      • Connie di Marco

        I agree! The city has honored her, but so many don’t know about her years of hard work. I heard the same ‘urban legend’ when I first lived there – that the city was destroyed by fire, not earthquake. And I heard that from people who were born there and whose families had lived there for generations.
        So glad you enjoyed this post, Lark!
        Connie di Marco recently posted…City LightsMy Profile

  2. Malka Essock

    now i want to know more about Gladys Cox Hansen!

  4. kindlemom1

    I love that the author mentioned this author! I love learning about history (which is why I love historical so much) and this part of our history has always fascinated me.
    kindlemom1 recently posted…Happy 4th of July!!My Profile

  5. Rita @ Paging Through Books

    This book has so much more substance than just the average cozy mystery series. I can’t wait to start it with book 1!

    Thanks Lark, for hosting Ms. di Marco here. What a fascinating story about the lack of accountability in tallying the dead. They all deserve our respect. I’ll check into this topic on my own further to satisfy my curiosity more.
    Rita @ Paging Through Books recently posted…Review: The Truth We BuryMy Profile

    • Connie di Marco

      Hi Rita – Thanks for visiting! Julia takes on an evil religious cult in The Madness of Mercury. I hope you enjoy her first adventure!
      Connie di Marco recently posted…City LightsMy Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      I hope you enjoy the series, Rita! Yes, I would say it has more substance than some of the lighter, fluffier cozies out there. Not that I don’t enjoy some of those, too, but I tend to prefer cozies with a more serious tone, like this series, Loretta Ross’s Auction Block series, and Lea Wait’s Mainely Needlepoint mysteries.

  6. nancy cole silverman

    Connie, we never know where research will lead and this is a fascinating piece of evidence you uncovered. I’m not surprised Ms. Hanson was also a writer, I think it takes that type of curiosity and commitment to do the work she did to name the dead. Thank you for an informative and thought provoking post. I look forward to reading The Madness of Mercury.