NYPD Detective Chiara Corelli here. I’m a little different from the guys and gals you’ve been reading about on this blog. I don’t have a dog or a cat. I don’t live in a cute town. No muffins or cupcakes are involved. Also I’m a professional not an amateur. And finally, I’m not nice. At least that’s what Detective P.J. Parker says. She thinks I’m crazy. Her exact diagnosis is PTSD. I do seem to have a lot of anger that I dump on her. I also do reckless things. But it’s the flashbacks that make me think she might be right. Maybe I am crazy.

I’m being ostracized and Parker is the only cop in a department of thousands that the Chief of Detectives thinks can be trusted to watch my back. Parker doesn’t want to work with “the most hated detective” in the NYPD and I don’t want to be saddled with someone whose father is the most vicious and vocal critic of the department. But life is hard sometimes, and since we each have something the other wants, we made a deal–I train Parker to be a detective and she guards me.

Why do I need a bodyguard you might ask? Well, right after I got back from Afghanistan I was recruited to go undercover to expose a ring of dirty cops at my old precinct. At that point, for reasons I won’t go into now, I really didn’t care if I lived or died, so I agreed. It was tough working alongside friends and colleagues who betrayed the oath they’d sworn, watching them steal and murder for a drug kingpin, and knowing they’d killed other police to protect themselves. It was even tougher acting as if I was one of them. But three months in Righteous Partners, as they call themselves, ordered me to murder a drug dealer and his wife and three children to prove my loyalty, and I aborted the operation. Unfortunately, I only had the names of some of the bad players and none of the leaders. Now I’m the one exposed and Parker is there to protect me from the kind of accidents that can happen to a cop who’s ratted out other police.

For obvious reasons, Parker goes where I go. So a day in my life is essentially a day in hers. We often start the day by walking the gauntlet to get into the station house. Visualize the two of us pushing our way between two rows of back-to-back police, while they kick, punch and call me names. It’s not much fun. In fact, between the August heat and the cologne and sweat, it’s kind of sickening. But we do it. And, I must say, as hard as I am on Parker she’s right there with me.

After the daily shaming by my brothers and sisters in blue, Parker and I spend our days interviewing potential suspects in the murder of a wealthy Wall Street businesswoman. And then interviewing them again because they lie, all of them, even the innocent ones. It’s frustrating. As are the threats and the attempts to kill me. But I can deal with them. When I went undercover I knew I could be killed. What I didn’t know was how low they would go to protect themselves.

Listening to the mechanized voice on my cell phone my heart stopped and every nerve in my body reacted as if I’d stock my finger in a socket.

“So, Corelli, you know you didn’t get all of us. Did you think you would go unpunished for ruining so many lives? You’ve taken our jobs and our families from us so why shouldn’t we do the same for you? We’ve come up with a plan. Follow orders or we’ll take out your family, one by one, starting with the lovely Simone.”

The very next message was from Simone, my youngest sister. “Chiara, I’m in a car with these two police officers who asked me to give you this message, ‘so you know we can.’” Righteous Partners demonstrating how easy it would be to get to Simone.

I am enraged. I will do whatever is necessary to save my family. I will kill in cold blood. I will die. But I will protect them today and everyday until I take my last breath. I swear I will take down every remaining member of Righteous Partners, especially the leaders. But wait. Who are they?

You can read more about Chiara in A Matter of Blood, the first book in the NEW “NYPD Detective Chiara Corelli” mystery series.

Just back from her second tour in Afghanistan, NYPD Detective Chiara Corelli goes undercover to expose a ring of dirty cops. But when she’s ordered to kill to prove her loyalty, she aborts the operation without having identified the leaders. Now, Corelli is the one exposed. With her brothers and sisters in blue ostracizing her, can she trust Detective P.J. Parker to watch her back?

Parker is the daughter of a vehement critic of the NYPD. But that doesn’t stop her from wanting to work in the homicide division. And wanting to learn from the best. Unfortunately, Chiara Corelli is the best…even if she is the most hated detective in the department.

Without Parker, Corelli will be condemned to desk duty. Corelli is Parker’s only chance to work in homicide. Will the two women put aside their fears and join forces to solve a brutal murder and identify the leaders of the dirty cops before they get to Corelli’s family?

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Meet 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 her apartment.

A Matter of Blood, Catherine’s first full-length mystery, features NYPD Detective Chiara Corelli and her reluctant partner, Detective P.J. Parker. In this book, the first in the series, the two tough women come out fighting—each other—and join forces to solve a brutal murder and protect Corelli’s family.

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.

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.