Crime Novels That You Want To Read and Reread
Discover thoughtfully written crime novels set in Italy with the handsome Commissario Alex Cenni as lead investigator. Cats and food and feminists also play their part.
About the author
Born in New Jersey to Irish parents, Grace, a middle child, is one of five siblings, Margaret, John (deceased), Helen, and Patrick. She studied, lived, and worked in New York City until 2001, when she and her late husband Miguel Peraza, a figurative painter, moved to Italy for work with their two cats, Rachel and LoMein. In 2002, while still in Italy, she began her first work of fiction, a police procedural set in Umbria, featuring Commissario Alessandro Cenni.
Grace was a systems engineer for twenty years for various telecommunication companies, including Bell Labs, AT&T, and Verizon. Before she began work as a systems engineer, she taught writing and literature at the City University of New York, at Queens and Hunter colleges. In 1982 and 1986, Grace studied tapestry design with Carlos Delclaux, in Gerona, Spain.
While teaching at the City University of New York, Grace co-authored Writing Proficiency, a college textbook published by McGraw Hill, and Minimum Competencies, published jointly by CUNY and McGraw Hill. The Last Enemy, Grace's first novel, was published by Soho Crime in May 2007. Her second novel in the series, A Deadly Paradise, was published by Soho in May 2008. Her first and second novels have been republished on Kindle Publishing —The Last Enemy's new title is Vendetta in a Graveyard and A Deadly Paradise's title on Kindle is Vendetta in Paradise.
In the summer of 2024, Grace began and finished two novels, both published on Kindle. The third is Vendetta in the Vatican and her fourth is Vendetta in a Raincoat. She is working on the fifth Cenni novel, Vendetta in a Vineyard, which will be published in 2026.
Grace's mother, Mary Hannah Brophy, believed strongly in human rights and taught her children that life is precious to all, not just those who share our beliefs and cultures. Grace hopes that this philosophy of life is reflected in her writing.
For more information on Miguel Peraza and his paintings see miguelperaza.art.
Grace in San Marco celebrating the joys of arborio rice.
The Brophy Clan, at Fitzpatrick school in County Kilkenny, Ireland, 1927
Champagne in San Marco—and very expensive.
Mary Hannah Brophy
Aussi in Assisi, Oil on Wood 2004 Miguel Peraza 1951-2009
Across from Cimitero di San Michele, where if you're lucky you can join such celebrities as Igor Stravinsky and Ezra Pound in everlasting peace.
Praise for Grace's novels:
BBC Radio 4 – One of the year’s twelve best crime novels to give as a Christmas gift. Refers to Vendetta in a Graveyard, originally published as The Last Enemy.
Baltimore Sun - “Evocative . . . Cenni is well set up to return.”
Booklist - “Cenni is sure to please fans of David Hewson's Nic Costa, and all readers of Italian mysteries will want to add Umbria to their literary itineraries.”
BookPage - Crime book of the month award. Refers to Vendetta in a Graveyard.
Kirkus Reviews - "Charm aplenty.”
Midwest Book Review - "Terrific . . . police procedural.” Refers to Vendetta in a Graveyard.
Publisher's Weekly - "Believable narrative twists combined with excellent characterization, rich dialogue and a finely depicted setting.” Refers to Vendetta in Paradise, originally A Deadly Paradise.
The New York Times Book Review- "The story flourishes in its cloistered setting.” Refers to Vendetta in a Graveyard.
To purchase or learn more, click on a book cover.
Your Questions,
Answered
There's a 16 year hiatus between your first novel and the recent two?
In 2001, my late husband Miguel, a figurative painter, and I moved to Italy. I was working for Verizon at the time, and in 2004 they requested that I return to the States. I loved living in Italy and decided to start my long-thought-of career as a writer of novels, so I quit and began my first novel, The Last Enemy. We returned to New York in 2006 for medical reasons where I discovered that I had breast cancer. I was lucky and came out fine in the end, but in 2008 Miguel was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died early in 2009. I went into depression and my editor and publisher Laura Hruska at Soho Crime also died shortly thereafter. I stopped writing and it wasn't until 2024 that I got the inspiration to write my third and fourth novels. The reason for the inspiration is a long story and will have to wait until another time.
Was it difficult writing the last two as you were no longer living in Italy.
Absolutely. I still have some good friends in Italy who helped out when I ran into problems, but I realized then if I were not planning to return to Italy I should finish the Vendetta series and begin one with New York City, where I now live, as the setting. In addition to finishing the last Cenni novel, Vendetta in a Vineyard, I am working on a new series set in New York in the 34th Street Midtown South Precinct.
What purchasing options are available?
All four of my novels are available on Amazon's Kindle and can be purchased in digital or paper form. The four novel covers are shown above. Just clink on any that you may wish to purchase and you will be linked to the Amazon Kindle site where you can get more information about the novel and if you wish can purchase it or all four.
Coming Soon!
And after that!
Let’s Stay in Touch
Whether you have questions about a particular novel or the Vendetta series in general, or would like to know more about Italy and the differences between its justice system and ours in the United States, I would be happy to answer your questions. If you want to know when the last in the Vendetta series, Vendetta in a Vineyard will be published, I can let you know that as well.
gracebrophy@gmail.com