Elisabetta sits down for a question-and-answer session with dru’s book musings so that we can learn more about what makes her tick. Let’s see what she has to say.
What is your full name?
Elisabetta Rose Carina
How old are you?
83, as far as I know. No one can make out the smudged date on my birth certificate from Orsogna, Italy. My mama and papa were pretty sure I was born in 1941 but WW2 was going on and people had trouble keeping track of everything.
What is your profession?
I’m a nonna! That’s grandma for anyone who doesn’t speak Italian. And I better be a great-grandma soon, or my daughter Mia’ll hear about it. (My grandson Posi is outta commission right now, finishing a jail sentence for exotic car theft. But when he gets out, I’m not letting him off the hook either.) Oh, and I do a little of what they call “day trading” on the side.
Do you have a significant other?
I did. He passed away young. Almost fifty years ago.
What is their name and profession?
His name was Ravello Carina Senior, and he was a mobster. Bad career choice. It did him in.
Do you have any children?
One – Ravello Carina Junior.
Do you have any siblings?
They’ve all passed.
Are your parents nearby?
They passed too. I’m the toughest of my whole family. Twenty-year-olds who know me say I’m gonna outlive ‘em. And I’m gonna prove ‘em right!
Who is your best friend?
My granddaughter Mia, who lives upstairs from me.
Do you have cats, dogs, or other pets?
I got a cute, chubby mutt named Hero. I named him that because when some nasty burglar tried to break into my home, little Hero got so mad he chased the S.O. you-know-what away.
What town do you live in?
I live in Astoria, which is a neighborhood in the Queens borough of New York City.
What type of dwelling do you own or rent?
I own a two-family house. It’s two apartments on top of each other, with a finished basement. I live downstairs from my granddaughter Mia.
What is your favorite spot in your home?
I’m Italian, so the kitchen, of course!
What is your favorite meal and dessert?
My own homemade lasagna, followed by a cannoli from a local Pasticceria.
Do you have any hobbies?
Like any good pisane, I knit and crochet. Sometimes what I make even fits!
What music do you listen to?
Meh, Tony Bennett, of course. Astoria’s favorite native son. He was Tony Benedetto back then.
What is your favorite color?
Whatever color I can buy for cheap at the knit shop. But I do love purple.
What is your favorite vacation spot?
You ask that like I ever leave Astoria! If I went anywhere, it’d be Italy.
Are you a morning or night person?
Morning. Night is for young people. Less for the young at heart like me. 😊
What is your idea of a really fun time?
A big, fancy function like a wedding at Belle View Banquet Manor, the catering venue my son and granddaughter run. I like ‘em so much, I’ve been known to turn up uninvited to events there sometimes. Who’s gonna kick out an eighty-three-year-old nonna?
If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
Elisabetta Cooks – in the Kitchen and in Life!
Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
Amateur. Usually my family is trying to hide from law enforcement professionals, ha ha. And sometimes not so ha-ha, marone.
What is a typical day in your life like?
I get up early and let Hero out in my little backyard to do his business. Then I make a light breakfast, usually coffee and biscotti. I go for a power walk – okay, a gossipy stroll – with what my granddaughter calls my Army, a group of friends and fellow pisanes from the neighborhood. I spend some time watching my shows while I knit or crochet with what remainder fiber I got from my local yarn shop. Then I make one of my son or granddaughter’s favorite Italian dishes and pack it to go in an old ricotta container – I probably got a hundred of ‘em. That is, if Mia doesn’t need my help catching some stronzo criminal. If she does, I stop cooking, drop the knitting needles, and join Mia on the hunt!
The Witless Protection Program, A Catering Hall Mystery Book #5
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: March 2024
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link
Mia Carina has steered her Italian-American family’s Astoria, Queens, catering hall, Belle View Banquet Manor, into becoming the borough’s premiere party site, and nothing could make her happier—except her boyfriend proposing. There’s just one presumed-dead obstacle in the way…
A strong, independent woman and respected entrepreneur, Mia never imagined she’d pine for a marriage proposal. Yet lately, with her beloved Shane, she’s on tenterhooks. It’s especially surprising, considering Mia’s first husband, Adam, was a philandering grifter, assumed lost-at-sea after a boating disaster. But everyone knows what happens when you assume…
While working a huge wedding expo in Manhattan, Mia is shocked to spot the man who nearly destroyed her life. The one who’s supposed to be sleeping with the fishes. But she loses him in the crowd. And when it happens again the next day, it’s time for an emergency meeting with the family—and the Family. Because if Adam is alive, Mia is still married…
Everyone wants Adam dead. Everyone except Mia. She’s dealt with enough police for a lifetime. Mia needs to be a divorcée, not a widow. But someone out there disagrees, and if Mia doesn’t discover who, she may never be free to marry Shane—or anyone else…
Italian recipes included!
About the author
Ellen’s Cajun Country Mysteries have won multiple Agatha Awards for Best Contemporary Novel and Lefty Awards for Best Humorous Mystery. Bayou Book Thief her first Vintage Cookbook Mystery, won the Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Award and was nominated for Agatha and Anthony awards. She also writes the Catering Hall Mysteries (under the name Maria DiRico) and will soon debut a new series, the Golden Motel Mysteries.
Ellen is an award-winning playwright, and non-award-winning TV writer of comedies like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly Odd Parents. She has written over two hundred articles for national magazines but considers her most impressive credit working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart. She serves on the national board for Mystery Writers of America, and will be the 2023 Left Coast Crime Toastmaster. Visit her at ellenbyron.com.
Thanks for letting me guest with you!
Con amore,
Elisabetta Carina
Sounds so fun I cannot wait to read it.
Yay! Thanks so much, Deborah. I think you’ll enjoy it. 🙂
Elisabetta is such a sweetie! I love her!! A favorite part of why I read this series. I even ordered puttanesca the other night for dinner because I heard Elisabetta’s voice in my cranium as I looked at the menu.
OMG< I love that!! I'm so glad you like her. She's a combo of my late mom and nonna. xo
I can’t wait to read this! Elisabetta is such a fun, feisty character. I wish my grandmothers had lived into my adulthood so I could have had a close relationship like Mia and her nonna.
Sue, that’s touching. Their relationship is inspired by the ones I had with my own mom and nonna. xo
This is such a fun series! I don’t know that I would want Elisabetta to be my noona with having the familial obligation to wear everything she’s knitted for me. But I would absolutely love to have her as a neighbor, especially after she’s spent a day in the kitchen cooking. Congrats Ellen/Maria on the new release!
Ha!! Believe me, you would not want to wear some of what my own nonna knit or crocheted for me. But you’d definitely want to partake in one of her many incredible meals!