Chiara Corelli first appeared in A Matter of Blood and one of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions, so let’s get to know Chiara.

What is your name?
Chiara Corelli

How old are you?
40 years old

What is your profession?
I’m an NYPD Detective

Do you have a significant other?
My significant other was killed by an IED when we were both in Afghanistan training Afghani police. It happened a few weeks after we’d arrived. It’s been about a year and a half now but loud noises and flickering lights can cause me to flashback to it and I have nightmares about it every night. It’s not something I like to talk about.

What was their name and profession?
Detective M.L. Brooks.

Any children?
No

Do you have any sibling(s)?
I have three sisters, two older, one younger. And I had an older brother who was murdered when I was fifteen years old.

Do your parents live near you?
Yes, in Bensonhurst Brooklyn where they own an Italian restaurant. Among other things, they don’t approve of me being a cop so we’re not on very good terms.

Who is your best friend?
My sister Gianna who is just eleven months older than me is my best friend.

Cats, dogs or other pets?
I didn’t have any pets until recently when two kittens saved my life. They are living with me while I decide whether to keep them or not. I have to admit I’m finding their little purring bodies comforting and I’m starting to think of them as my service cats. Many veterans have comfort dogs; I guess I have comfort kitties.

What town do you live in?
The Meat Packing district in New York City.

House or building complex? Own or Rent?
Own. I inherited a converted industrial building that occupies an entire city block. My apartment occupies part (thousands of square feet) of the two top floors of the eight-story building and both floors have three walls of industrial-sized windows that provide unobstructed views of the Hudson River and incredible light. Except for the bathroom, the top floor has no internal walls. It includes a great open kitchen that even a chef would love, a dining area, an entertainment area and a number of areas with seating to encourage conversation. I used color to make the place homey and inviting. The downstairs is divided into bedrooms, a gym, a studio and an office.

I love the apartment but I no longer have the desire to entertain. My only guests these days are my sister Gianna and our younger sister Simone who alternate dropping in late at night to check on me and bring me food.

The apartment isn’t wasted though. Since I returned from Afghanistan I can’t sit still and I need to be outside to feel comfortable but with such a large space I can pace to calm myself and having so much light even when it’s not sunny, helps me forget I’m inside. The nights are harder.

What is your favorite spot in your house?
In my upstairs bathroom I have a huge industrial vat that was installed for the manufacturing process when the building was erected many years before my uncle bought it. When he converted the building he found it was so much part of the structure that it couldn’t be removed so he used it as his bathtub. It’s more like a hot tub, large enough for three or four people, and it heats water to hot very quickly. When I get home late at night, I light candles and sit in the tub and relax with a glass of wine or a cup of tea.

Favorite meal?
Not easy. To be honest, I don’t have much of an appetite these days. But when I was eating my favorite meal was:

For the appetizer, a fish salad consisting of shrimp, scungilli, calamari and scallops, red onion, parsley, olive oil, lemon juice and a little crushed red pepper.

My main course would be a large slab of lasagna oozing warm ricotta and mozzarella, layered with parmigiano cheese, a meat sauce and sliced hardboiled eggs, as the Neapolitans make it. The meal would also include my favorite vegetable, broccoli di rape sautéed in garlic and oil. And finally, I would have a mixed green salad with a vinaigrette dressing.

Favorite dessert?
Depending on my mood, either sfogliatella, a flaky Italian pastry filled with ricotta and candied fruit or ice cream – vanilla, chocolate, and coffee.

Favorite hobby?
I like to paint and cook but I rarely have the time or the energy for either when I’m on the job. When I’m on vacation, I indulge in both.

Favorite color?
Blue, though if you could see my apartment, you’d know I love all vibrant colors. I’ve decorated with colorful wall hangings, paintings, rugs, cushions and objects from all over the world.

Favorite author?
I read so many types of books that I don’t really have a favorite author.

Favorite vacation spot?
Southern Italy. The country is beautiful and the people are warm and friendly. The fact that I speak fluent Italian helps. I usually visit cousins in Sicily then rent a villa near the water where I can relax read, cook and paint. I rent a motorcycle and spend time riding through the countryside stopping when something catches my eye, staying a day or so when I find a town I like.

Favorite sports team?
I’m not really into sports though I will watch women’s Olympic events and an occasional woman’s soccer or basketball game. Though I don’t watch tennis I do keep track of the careers of the Williams sisters and upcoming woman players.

Movies or Broadway?
I like both but I rarely have the time to do either. When I have leisure time I usually read. In non-fiction, I enjoy history and biographies. I prefer historical fiction, mysteries and character-driven novels.

Are you a morning or a night person?
I’m both. I love being up to see the sunrise and I hate going to bed. That’s always been true but since I watched my significant other die in Afghanistan then came back to a horrific three-month undercover investigation of dirty cops, I rarely sleep more than a few hours before the nightmares wake me.

Amateur sleuth or professional?
Professional. At least I like to think I’m professional. I’m a proud member of the NYPD, an experienced homicide detective, and, I think, a strong leader. But since the undercover investigation my colleagues have been ostracizing me so it’s been difficult.

Whom do you work with when sleuthing?
Detective P.J. Parker. I’m training her to be a homicide detective while she watches my back, a necessity since many of my colleagues would like to see me dead. I give her a hard time and she insists I have PTSD so it’s a bit of a struggle but we’re making it work.

In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
I start with a pot of strong coffee around four or five in the morning, read the morning papers and when Parker picks me up at six thirty, we head to the office for a seven o’clock meeting with the team. After that we track down and interview witnesses and suspects, deal with department and city politics, cope with threats from colleagues and spend lots of time trying to get away from the media. Unfortunately, no day is typical and each day has its issues. Just in this past week I’ve had to interrupt the investigation to go get blasted by the Chief of Detectives because of complaints, had a confrontation when I claimed a murder victim from another precinct, was ordered to meet with the Speaker of the City Council, and been attacked by a media mob that would have trampled me if a rookie cop hadn’t intervened. Oh, and I’ve been ambushed by a shooter who would have put a bullet in my head at the door of my building if it wasn’t for the kittens.

Giveaway: Leave a comment below for your chance to win a print copy of The Blood Runs Cold. U.S. entries only, please. The giveaway ends February 20, 2019. Good luck everyone!

You can read about Chiara in The Blood Runs Cold, the second book in the “Chiara Corelli” traditional mystery series, coming February 19, 2019.

Still battling each other and the blue wall, NYPD Detectives Chiara Corelli and P.J. Parker catch a new murder case. The victim, a gay man, is posed with a rosary in his hands, the smell of incense in the air and Gregorian chants playing in the background.

While Corelli and Parker search for leads, Kate Burke, the lesbian Speaker of the City Council asks for an update on the investigation. Thinking Burke is playing politics, Corelli ignores the request. In the meantime, two more bodies are found, both laid out in the same way.

Pressured by the chief, Corelli goes to Kate’s office where a photograph of the speaker with a group of friends catches her eye. Corelli recognizes the three victims and, to her horror, three others. Suddenly the case becomes personal.

Fearing a serial killer is picking off the people in the photograph, fearing the next victim will be someone she loves, Corelli races to find the murderer before he kills again.

Purchase Link
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About the author
Catherine Maiorisi lives in New York City and often writes under the watchful eye of Edgar Allan Poe in Edgar’s Café near the apartment.

A Matter of Blood and The Blood Runs Cold are the first two books in Catherine’s series featuring NYPD Detective Chiara Corelli and her reluctant partner, Detective P.J. Parker. While fighting each other, these two tough women confront the blue wall, thwart threats to Corelli and her family, battle the media, and solve high profile murders.

Three of Catherine’s mystery short stories have been published in the Murder New York Style anthologies—“Love, Secrets, and Lies” in Where Crime Never Sleeps, “Murder Italian Style” in Family Matters and “Justice for All” in Fresh Slices.

Catherine has also published two full-length romances with Bella Books – Matters of the Heart and No One But You. Her romance short stories include a standalone ebook, Come as You Want to Be, and stories in two anthologies: “All’s Well that Ends Well” in Conference Call and “You Will See a Stranger” in Happily Ever After. Her third romance, Ready for Love, will be published in the fall of 2019

Catherine is active in the New York Chapters of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. She is also a member of The Golden Crown Literary Society, Romance Writers of America, the New York Chapter of Romance Writers of America and the Authors Guild.
Visit Catherine at catherinemaiorisi.com.

All comments are welcomed.