Flirting With Death (Book 1 Zara Romano Msytery Series)

Patricia Grasso

Sep 2018 · Lachesis Publishing Inc

About this ebook

 Zara Romano sees dead people. New England’s best mortician, Zara and two of her older brothers own Romano Funeral Home in Salem, Massachusetts. Zara is a mingling of two nationalities, Irish and Italian. She’s Irish on the outside, complete with red hair, blue eyes and freckles, but she’s Italian on the inside, with a temper to match.

The youngest sibling of seven and the only female, Zara loves her brothers but thinks they’re too bossy. Two of her brothers serve on the Salem Police Force, one is police chief and the other a detective. Zara’s two widowed nanas live next door. She can always rely on a home-cooked meal, unless her nanas are trolling funerals for new boyfriends.

Another bossy man in her life is Zara’s ex-boyfriend, Marcello Ponti. A sinfully gorgeous police detective, Marcello makes a habit of appearing on her doorstep unannounced even though they broke up two years earlier when he wanted to “date” other women. Zara refuses to be a member of the Marcello Dating Club. Good thing she has her beloved dog Smooches to keep her company. Thankfully, Smooches is with her the night she finds the mayor hanging from a tree at a local park. Definitely a homicide, the mayor’s blood was drained via two puncture wounds on his neck. When she discovers two more bodies in the same condition, Zara’s own investigative instincts kick in, and she searches for the link between the three victims.

Does Salem have a vampire in its midst or a serial killer with a fetish for fang marks? More importantly is Zara marked as the murderer’s next victim or is she merely flirting with death?

Ratings and reviews

Zara is an Irish Italian Catholic Gal. She got the red headed Irish looks, and her six brothers got the Italian swarthy looks. She works as a mortician in the family funeral home- on women and children . Her specialty is reconstruction, which she does on any client, from the neck up- her father doesn’t want her to work on naked men. A police chief, a detective, a couple lawyers, and the two brothers she works with at the funeral home make for a brother filled tight knit community Marcello is a police detective and partner to her brother Tony. He is also the man who stole her virginity and decided a few months later they should date other people. She let him know she did not want to be part of a group and walked out. Her neighboring grandmothers share a house and an active social life. They are great in an emergency and very helpful since she doesn’t cook - and needs an occasional dog sitter. As a mortician, Zara has a career that is socially off putting. She also faces working on friends and neighbors, and does her best for her clients. Her closest friends begin more serious romantic entanglements that are complex for all of them. A spate of murders brings very unwelcome attention too close to home. Navigating danger in disturbing places, and romantic gestures and jealousy from her ex keep Zara on her toes. A busy and interesting neighborhood that is fun to visit. I’m looking forward to stopping by in the next book I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.