It’s a pleasure to be a part of
author Connie di Marco’s Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for her latest
release, THE MADDNESS OF MERCUTY, the first installment in her
new Zodiac Mystery series.
The Madness of Mercury
By Connie di Marco
*Traditional Mystery
**1st in Series: Zodiac Mystery
*Publisher: Suspense Publishing (October 8, 2020)
*Paperback: 268 pages
*ISBN-10: 0578752654
*ISBN-13: 978-0578752655
*Digital ASIN: B08K3JT8P1
San Francisco astrologer Julia
Bonatti never thought murder would be part of her practice. But when a
disastrous Mercury retrograde period hits, her life and practice is turned
upside down, along with that of many of her colleagues who practice in the city.
San Francisco has fallen under the spell of the Prophet’s Tabernacle, a
religious cult that has descended upon the city. Reverend Roy, a Mercury-ruled,
silver-tongued preacher offers a message of love and charity to the less
fortunate, but Julia soon learns that the Reverend’s charity doesn’t extend to
anyone who stands in his way. The Reverend is waging war on sin as he perceives
it, targeting psychics, Wiccans, mediums, astrologers, gays, and anyone else he
considers an abomination unto the Lord.
Driven from her apartment, Julia
seeks shelter with her client and friend, Dorothy. Dorothy has separated from
her spouse and is caring for her two elderly aunts at their home on Telegraph
Hill. Dorothy’s aunt, Evandra, appears stricken with dementia and her other
aunt, Eunice, has fallen under the spell of the Reverend Roy. When Eunice
disappears, Julia’s sure that she is headed for Prophet’s Paradise, a
supposedly idyllic community north of the city. Julia fears that Eunice is
being misled and will be in danger. She determines to rescue Eunice and take on
the Army of the Prophet.
Julia learns once more what she
already knew –that Mercury wasn’t just the messenger of the gods; he was a
trickster and a liar as well.
THE MADDNESS OF MERCUTY is
available at Amazon.
Here’s an excerpt for your
reading pleasure.
There are those among us who
prey, who hunt under the guise of trust.
They kill not just the physical body, but the psyche, the dream of the
soul. They are the clever ones, the
dexterous and silver-tongued. They sway
the weak, the old, the gullible and the infirm.
They are the tricksters of the universe and work through
enchantment.
They are ruled by Mercury, a god
of great cunning, a thief and a prowler.
With no place of his own, the ancients ascribed to him rulership over
borders, secret passageways, and crossroads where suicides are buried. He alone escorted souls to the underworld
because only he could move freely in the world above and the world below. In our time, he leads unwary travelers astray
to meet their own twisted shadow in the dark night.
It was a new client whose
predicament recalled this mythology to me.
My name is Julia Bonatti – Julia Elizabeth Bonatti -- and I’m an
astrologer. For too long, I had worked
with practical daylight interpretations of the natal chart. For too long, I had happily delineated charts
concerned with mundane issues. What’s
the best time to plan our trip? When
should I invest? I’ve thought of
returning to school, can I afford it? It
was Evandra Gamble and her family and the events surrounding them that
indelibly marked me, that caused me to know the dark side of the god.
* * *
Long fingers gripped my wrist
with a surprising strength. “She’s
trying to kill me.” A network of veins
on Evandra’s hand bulged like blue worms burrowing under the dry parchment of
her flesh. Evandra Gamble was the
elderly aunt of my longtime client, Dorothy Sanger, the very she to whom
Evandra referred.
I straightened in my chair. “You can’t mean that.”
“Hah!” Evandra replied. “You think you know her? My charming niece! Believe me, you don’t!” Her face shifted. Her watery blue eyes held my gaze. “I am afraid, Julia.” Her voice quavered. “Please help me. That’s why I needed you to come here today
for my reading.” Her grip on my wrist
tightened.
I sighed inwardly. I’d formed a few rules over the course of my
practice. Number one is that my clients
come to me for readings. For
professional reasons, it’s important that I work on my own turf. If a client is new, or not referred by
someone I know well, I might arrange for a private room at the Mystic Eye, an
occult shop in North Beach owned by my friend Gale.
Today, I was breaking that
rule. Evandra was on the verge of
turning ninety and had suffered a fractured hip. She was on the mend, but mobility was still
difficult. Dorothy had asked me to visit
the rambling house on Telegraph Hill for her aunt’s sake. I complied, imagining my new client’s
questions would fall in the category of health or decisions over her final
wishes. I certainly never expected Evandra
to accuse her own flesh and blood of murder.
“Dorothy’s devoted to you. She’s taken a leave from nursing to stay here
with you. Why do you say that?” I replied with disbelief.
Evandra’s eyes shifted and grew
wary, her expression closed. She sniffed. “I hoped that you of all people would listen
and believe me.” She released my
hand. Her arm was frail, as if muscle
had separated from bone. Her thin
shoulders and collarbone looked as light and hollow as a bird’s. She slumped back against the flowered
cushions on the large armchair and closed her eyes.
Evandra’s natal Sun and Mercury
were under the sway of a Neptune transit.
I knew she’d be physically depleted, her normal energy sapped. For an elderly woman recovering from a fracture,
I was concerned. Neptune’s effect on her
Mercury, the planet related to mental acuity, could cause confusion, perhaps
even delusions. Was the Neptune transit
signaling the start of some form of elder senility? I just wasn’t certain.
“Please believe me, Evandra. Your thinking is affected during this
time.”
“You mean you think I’m losing
it, don’t you?” She glanced at me
sharply.
“No. I don’t think that. But anyone, at any age, would be
affected. Please, please reserve
judgment, especially of Dorothy, until this time period is over?” I watched her carefully, not sure how to put
my fears into words. “There is another
thing I should mention. Illnesses can be
extremely difficult to diagnose under this planet’s transit.” I didn’t want to frighten her, but I had to
be as honest as possible. “One worry is
that you could have an adverse reaction to medication.”
She pursed her lips and continued
to stare at me, an expression I was sure was designed to engender guilt. My answer hadn’t satisfied her. I mentally reviewed my work on her
chart. Had I missed anything? Was it my own insecurity? Or was I just being
guilted?
“I’ll tell you what. I’ll have a further look and check your lunar
returns for the next couple of months.
The lunar return chart describes the current month, based on the Moon’s
return to its natal position, and I’ll see if there’s a period of time during
this transit that’s more threatening.”
“My niece is your client. You have her chart, don’t you?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“Have a look at that too. Please.
Before it’s too late.”
I couldn’t respond. The thought that Dorothy would ever harm her
aunt was outrageous and unthinkable. The
woman I knew was a highly regarded and experienced nurse. She had devoted her life to taking care of
people. And now she had put her work on
hold to care for her aunts -- Evandra and her younger sister, Eunice.
Evandra sat forward in her
seat. “I need Luis. Can you fetch him, dear? Just pull that tassel over there.” She pointed to a length of cord near the
canopy bed that undoubtedly connected to a series of bells below.
I rose and passed by the
window. Luis was below in the garden,
trimming a hedge. He was the sisters’
valet, gardener, chauffeur and all around gofer. A short man, thickly built, with graying
hair, he maintained a gentle and long-suffering demeanor as he was called upon
often for any number of odd jobs.
“Damn and blast this hip.” Evandra fidgeted in her chair. “I hate being so helpless.”
I pushed open the casement window
and waved to Luis. He nodded and wiped
his brow with a red bandanna, holding up a calloused finger to indicate he’d be
upstairs in a moment.
“Old age is not for sissies,
Julia.” She grimaced in pain. “Why, when I was young, I could party, as
they say, with the best of them.”
Luis arrived a few moments later
and knocked. I hurried to the door and
opened it.
“There you are, Luis.” Evandra raised her arms. “Help me to the bed.” He lifted Evandra’s slender form with ease
and deposited her gently on the large bed, then covered her with a crocheted
quilt. Her complexion had grown
pale.
“I’ll be working on the back
lawn, Miss. But you pull the cord if you
need help. Miss Dorothy can call
me.
“Thank you, Luis. Please tell that niece of mine to stop baking
and do something useful around here. For
all we know, she’s slipping arsenic into those blasted cookies she’s always
making.”
“I will tell her, Miss.” Luis smiled and winked at me as he shut the
door behind him.
Evandra leaned her head back and
pulled the quilt up to cover her arms.
“I have to rest now, dear. Will
you come see me again?”
“I’ll stop by again, if you
like. Perhaps tomorrow.”
“Thank you.” She sighed heavily and closed her eyes.
I had been dismissed. I gathered up my notes and charts and stepped
softly across the heavily draped bedroom and pulled the solid oak door shut
behind me.
Meet the Author
Connie di Marco is the author of
the Zodiac Mysteries featuring San Francisco astrologer Julia Bonatti. The
Madness of Mercury, the first book in the series was re-released in October
2020.
Writing as Connie Archer, she is
also the author of the national bestselling Soup Lover’s Mysteries 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, International Thriller Writers and
Sisters in Crime.
For more on Connie and her
writing, you can connect with her on the following sites”
Website: http://www.conniedimarco.com
Blog: http://www.conniedimarco.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zodiacmysteries/
(Connie di Marco Author)
Twitter: https://twitter.com/askzodia
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1r4fl4U
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