Page 8 - Italian-American Herald - September 2024

8 ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM | SEPTEMBER2024 ITALIAN-AMERICANHERALD BOOKS
Rafferty: Italy ‘feels like home’ to Delaware-born mystery writer
Continued from front page
Kat Kally exploits in “Dying to Go.” The book begins in classic Agatha Christie fashion with a group of friends enjoying a luxurious getaway in an Italian villa – until a sudden rainstorm traps the friends inside with an unknown killer among them. Naturally, everyone is a suspect.
Kelly is equally adept at swirling a glass
of pinot grigio and examining a crime scene. When Rafferty writes her Kelly mysteries, she strikes a balance between detective fiction and tourism, whisking readers along to everyday places in Italian life – the splendid architecture, charming streets, eccentric characters and of course, the restaurants. (Who can sleuth on an empty stomach, really?)
Rafferty has worked as a TV writer for over a decade on popular comedy shows. But every vacation they could, she and her husband – writer/producer Chris McGuire – would escape to Italy. Growing up in an Italian-American family in Wilmington,
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Rafferty comes by her passion for Italy naturally. “The very first time I went I really felt, ‘These are my people.’ There’s something that feels like home for me; it’s very innate.”
All of Rafferty’s maternal great- grandparents immigrated from the country in the early part of the 20th century, including Ciro Poppiti and Lydia Poppiti née Cicatelli, who came from Olevano sul Tusciano in Campania.
Blending her work with her heritage
has become a passion for the writer in
recent years. In 2022 she collaborated
with Italian actress Gabriella Passion, and Academy Award winner Corinne Marrinan, to develop Giancarlo Berardi’s long-running Italian-language graphic novel “Giulia” for Endemol-Shine Italia. The trio is currently working to bring another popular book series to television, which will be set against the backdrop of Rome. IAH
Tess Rafferty’s Kat Kelly books are available at fine booksellers and at amazon.com
“Dying to Go” is the latest of four Tess Rafferty books to feature crime solver Kat Kelly.
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