The Family Affair
Made in Savannah
Cozy Mystery Series Book Nine
Hope Callaghan
hopecallaghan.com
Copyright © 2018
All rights reserved.
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This book is a work of fiction. Although places mentioned may be real, the characters, names and incidents, and all other details are products of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events or actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.
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CONTENTS
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Cast of Characters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
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Tuscan Chicken Macaroni and Cheese Recipe
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Cast of Characters
Carlita Garlucci. The widow of a mafia “made” man, Carlita promised her husband on his deathbed to get their sons out of the “family” business, so she moves from New York to the historic city of Savannah, Georgia. But escaping the family isn’t as easy as she hoped it would be and trouble follows Carlita to her new home.
Mercedes Garlucci. Carlita’s daughter and the first to move to Savannah with her mother. An aspiring writer, Mercedes has a knack for finding mysteries and adventure.
Vincent Garlucci, Jr. Carlita’s oldest son and a younger version of his father, Vinnie is deeply entrenched in the “family business” and is not interested in leaving New York.
Tony Garlucci. Carlita’s middle son and the first to follow his mother to Savannah. Tony is protective of both his mother and his sister, which is a good thing since the Garlucci women are always in some sort of a predicament.
Paulie Garlucci. Carlita’s youngest son. Mayor of the small town of Clifton Falls, NY, Paulie never joined the “family business,” and is content to live his life with his wife and young children far away from a life of crime. Gina, Paulie’s wife, rules the family household with an iron fist.
Chapter 1
Carlita Garlucci grabbed the pepper grinder and twisted the knob, coating the top of the chicken breasts in a thick layer of black pepper.
“Ma!” Mercedes yanked the pepper grinder from her mother’s hand. “You’re drowning the chicken in pepper. We’re making Tuscan chicken mac and cheese, not pepper-flavored chicken.”
She scraped a layer of pepper off the chicken and reached for the shaker of salt. “You gotta relax. Vinnie should be here any minute now and then you can stop worrying about whatever it is that has you worried.”
“And not a moment too soon,” Carlita groaned. “You know how I hate surprises. I wish he would’ve just told me what his surprise was instead of making me wait.”
She thrust her hand on her hip and watched as her daughter turned the chicken over and began seasoning the other side. “He’s actin’ all suspicious. I know my son and I know when something ain’t right.”
She trudged to the other side of the apartment and to the French doors, leading out onto the balcony. “Ever since he started hinting around about moving up in the ‘family business,’ my gut has been churning.”
“It will all be over soon enough. I’ll finish cooking the chicken if you want to mix some Italian dipping sauce for the bread. I think you’ll like the latest version I’ve been tweaking.” Mercedes reached behind the spice rack and handed her mother a recipe card.
Carlita studied the recipe. “I don’t think Vinnie likes parsley.”
“He won’t even know it’s in there.” Mercedes changed the subject. “I see Bob Lowman and his men have finished ripping out the walls between the front part of the restaurant and the back section.”
“Ravello,” Carlita’s dream restaurant, was well on its way to becoming a reality. After Christmas, Carlita, along with Mercedes and her son, Tony, had traveled to Atlanta to sell several of their larger gems to a big pawnshop in the metro area.
The gems had given Carlita enough cash to fund the entire restaurant renovation project. With cash in hand, Carlita and Lowman met with an architect and engineer to go over her vision for the gourmet Italian restaurant.
After meeting to finalize the plans, the architect had taken them to the city building department and the SAS, or Savannah Architectural Society, for the necessary approvals, because of the building’s historic designation.
Glenda Fox, a member
