She Knew Too Much by Victoria Weisfeld
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She Knew Too Much
Travel writer Genie Clarke is finishing a project in her favorite European city – Rome. But what began as a creative project turns deadly when she overhears mafia operatives discussing a secret “Project.” When they realize Genie overheard them she’s attacked and left unconscious. 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.
To purchase your copy of She Knew Too Much, click any of the following links: Bookshop.org, Amazon.com, and Barnes & Noble.com
She Knew Too Much — Guest Post by Victoria Weisfeld
The Characters in She Knew Too Much
It’s a pleasure to create a guest post for your beautiful blog, Elena! Thank you for inviting me. I’ll start with a capsule summery of my new thriller, She Knew Too Much, published by Audecyn Books. It takes place in Italy, mostly Rome, just before covid. As the story starts, American travel writer Genie Clarke has finished her assignment there and stops near the Piazza del Popolo for a reviving espresso. She overhears a gang of four mafiosi planning what sounds like a crime involving one of Rome’s storied cathedrals.
When they realize she’s heard them, one of them follows her. He chases her into a churchyard, and only the timely arrival of an Anglican priest saves her from being killed. She’s hospitalized, badly injured. The police aren’t interested in her story until she meets chief detective Leo Angelini who realizes the risk to her is real and continuing. He moves her to a safer location and soon connects her attack to the murder of another woman. Real chemistry sparks between them, but the timing couldn’t be worse.
As the story unfolds, Leo is preoccupied with trying to keep her safe and with thwarting the gangsters’ plans. Genie tries to help him, whether he welcomes it or not. But they face powerfully motivated criminals intent on their lucrative scheme and ridding themselves of the “troublesome American.”
Genie and Leo are the story’s two main characters, and readers almost intuitively understand them. They have clear goals, strengths and weaknesses, and the stakes are high. The emotional connection between them and with readers is strong. What was fun (for me) in writing She Knew Too Much, was how much I was captivated by the secondary characters as well. It felt as if skilled character actors took the story stage, even if for only a scene or two.
Admittedly, in early drafts, I overdid my fascination with a few of them. I became so interested in the backstories of two of the priests—including the one who saved Genie—and the Moroccan fence whom the mafia relies on to dispose of stolen goods that a lot had to be cut in later drafts. In the spirit of recycling, I turned these cutting-room floor pieces into three short stories with their own arcs and resolutions that occur outside the fabric of the novel. Happily, all three were published.
Despite the risk of overdoing it, I didn’t want to underdo, either. The four young mafiosi, so important to the story, needed to be more than carbon copies of each other. When I started writing them, I gave them distinctive physical descriptions, partly so I could keep them straight myself! Marco has a ponytail, Nic has white-blond hair and colorless eyes described as being “like dimes,” Lama shaves his tattooed head, and Gianni, well, his physical description is enmeshed in his eager-beaver personality. Perhaps these visual differences helped me develop their underlying personalities differently too.
Gianni is preoccupied with his place in the mafia’s organizational hierarchy and has visions of becoming an important Player, but readers will see he’s full of hot air. Marco, for various reasons, is becoming disillusioned with the criminal life and not sure of his place in it, which reinforces an underlying theme of the novel. Marco became involved with the mafia only through his cousin’s influence. The cousin, Lama, just does whatever he’s told, doesn’t ask questions, and doesn’t think too much about it. It’s the fourth man, Nic, who’s the dangerous one. Nic likes the violence. How these four young men support, antagonize, and play off each other was fun to write.
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. And quite a few interesting characters! I welcome their responses. Thank you again for inviting me to share these few words.
She Knew Too Much Author Victoria Weisfeld
To learn more about Victoria, click any of the following links: Facebook and BlueSky.
Elena Hartwell/Elena Taylor
Header image from Pixabay
