WTI Magazine #56    2015 March, 20
Author : Kristi Belcamino      Translation by:

I'm proud to be Italian-American so naturally when I sat down to write my first book, Blessed are the Dead, my protagonist had to be, as well. Gabriella Giovanni, the main character in my mystery series, is a second-generation Italian-American newspaper reporter who lives in North Beach, San Francisco, the Italian section of the city. Gabriella is smart, savvy, and sensual. She loves to cook, savors her food, and would rather eat pasta than be a size zero.

Every Sunday, she joins more than thirty relatives who gather at her grandmother's house in the rolling hills of the San Francisco East Bay for Sunday supper.

Each family contributes to the feast, bringing fresh bread or bruschetta made from homegrown tomatoes or cannoli, but Nana makes the Sunday sauce. She always makes the meatballs that simmer in the sauce all morning. Over the years, the uncles have taken over grilling the pork chops and Italian sausages in her big back yard.

After the meal, the older men peel peaches and plop them in their wine glasses to marinate and soak up the flavor while the children run through the backyard garden—orto—zigzagging through the tomato, zucchini, and basil plants.

These Sundays play a big part in Gabriella's life and help keep her grounded.

As a newspaper crime reporter, she sees the worst of humanity. When she is covering a big story, she immerses herself in the dark criminal underworld or the sorrow of a grieving family in order to garner justice for the victims. Her calling, she believes, is to write about tragedies in a way that honors the dead.

At times, the evil she encounters becomes too much. During those times she takes solace in her Catholic faith and her big Italian family. Because, despite their idyllic Sunday gatherings, the Giovanni's have their own tragic past to contend with.
When they were children, Gabriella's sister was kidnapped and killed. Gabriella's efforts to deal with this tragedy led her to the crime-reporting beat.

She is able to reach down and draw on her own tragic past to connect with others who are dealing with the aftermath of horrific crimes and accidents. Her strong family foundation combined with her own dark shadows, makes her somewhat of a chameleon, allowing her to go from having a fancy dinner with the county Sheriff at one moment to interviewing gang bangers on a street corner the next.

Despite her tragic past, Gabriella is filled with hope for the future and has devoted her life's work to seeking justice for the dead.

Here is a bit about the third book in the series, Blessed are Those Who Weep, (HarperCollins April 7, 2015):

San Francisco Bay Area reporter Gabriella Giovanni stumbles onto a horrific crime scene with only one survivor—a baby girl found crawling between the dead bodies of her family members.

Reeling from the slaughter, Gabriella clings to the baby. When social services pry the little girl from her arms, the enormity of the tragedy hits home. Diving deep into a case that brings her buried past to the forefront, Gabriella is determined to hunt down the killer who left this helpless baby an orphan.

But one by one the clues all lead to a dead end and Gabriella's obsession for finding justice pulls her into a dark, tortuous spiral that is set to destroy everything she loves...