Giò Brando is the sleuth in the “Italian Village” mysteries. One of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions. So, let’s get to know Giò.

What is your full name?
Giovanna Brando, but almost everyone calls me Giò.

How old are you?
I’m a bit touchy about this. . . 38. And no, before you ask, I have no husband, no children, not even a partner, a boyfriend or whatever. But, I do have a splendid family in Southern Italy – I returned to live there after 15 years spent in the UK, a country I adore (and that includes the inimitable Brits).

What is your profession?
Currently, I write travel guides, but my ambition is to write real travel books. I don’t mind if they are memoirs or fiction or diaries; they appeal so much more to my creative side than travel guides. But the latter pay my bills, and finance at least part of my travels.

Are you often on the road then?
Yes, I love travelling, and my job takes me away for weekends, and sometimes whole weeks. But since I came back to the South of Italy, I’ve learned to appreciate my little town, its people and the far less chaotic life they lead.

Tell us more about Maratea.
Maratea is a small town of about 5,000 souls, perched on the mountains overlooking 30 kilometres of Mediterranean coast between Calabria and Campania, with impressive walls of rock plunging into the sea. Quite breathtaking – I recommend you Google the name of my hometown and have a look for yourself.

What’s life like in Maratea?
Well, as someone who lived for 10 years in London – the previous five were well spent in bonnie Scotland – I’ve realised Maratea is full of old gossips. . . or, as my grandma says, ‘People who care about you’. So much so that in some ways, they mysteriously seem to know more about you than the CIA. And that includes things you might not even be aware of yourself.

Things like. . . a love interest maybe?
No. . . no love interest. [Giò blushes, despite her protests.] I swore, when I called off my wedding to Londoner Dorian Gravy after I caught him… well, you can guess, I wouldn’t fall in love again. . . at least for 12 months!

Do you really believe you can plan your love life?
I prefer to head on to the next question, if you don’t mind.

In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
I wake up early and rush out to the little terrace of my attic flat, because from there I have a view over the whole Policastro Gulf, and the smell of the Mediterranean is a real balm for the soul. I take my coffee there and plan the things I have to go over during the day. After that, I love to do my writing (books, articles) sitting at a bar in the Piazza Buraglia, Maratea’s Main Square, and consume croissants and cappuccino as I go. I might go back to my flat if I have to make phone calls to magazine editors, publishers and PR, or to organise press trips. It’s great when I’m working with people in the US, as the difference in the time zones gives me the opportunity for a good kayak ride around midday while they are still sleeping.

More writing sessions come in the afternoon (usually blogposts, for either my own or other travel blogs), library research, or – my favourite – local trips for articles on places around where I live. In the evening, I’m often to be found having dinner with my sister and her family, or my grandma, or both. They all seem to be concerned with the fact my culinary skills don’t extend beyond microwaving food, which is not culturally acceptable in Southern Italy. So I let them stuff me to capacity, as they hope I will finally turn into a proper curvy Mediterranean woman. To them, I’m just a ‘skinny thing’.

Of course, this typical routine is turned upside down whenever I’m on a trip, or when a mysterious accident happens in town. I’m not really looking for trouble, but lately, it seems to be looking for me.

What is your idea of a really fun time?
I need physical activity in the open air. Kayaking and hiking are my favourites – my gran says they’re useful for keeping both my temper and my wild spirits under control, but I don’t think I’m that bad. I also enjoy meeting friends in cafés and the great Italian family get together. Last year, after many years away, I finally managed to spend Christmas with my clan and I loved every moment of it.

Travelling is fun, too; I love visiting a new place and developing a feel for it. And recently, I’ve learned that I’m becoming a bit more like my nosey grandmother than I’d thought. When murders. . . um, come to town, I can’t resist a bit of sleuthing.

Giveaway: The author is giving away two (2) Kindle copies of Peril at the Pellicano Hotel. Leave a comment below for your chance to win. Giveaway ends August 19, 2020. Good luck everyone!

Peril at the Pellicano Hotel is the fourth book in the “Italian Village” cozy mystery series, released in Spring 2020.

A group of wordsmiths, a remote hotel. Outside, the winds howl and the seas rage. But the real danger lurks
within.

When travel author and part-time sleuth, Giò Brando, joins a writers’ retreat in Maratea, her quaint sea town, the last thing her companions are expecting is for the spiteful author who ruined their previous meeting to turn up uninvited. And the last thing Giò is expecting is to find that same woman lying dead on the restaurant floor the following morning.

At first, it seems the author’s death was the result of a tragic accident, but Giò suspects there’s more to it than meets the eye. What happened to the manuscript the victim had been working on? What was the mysterious business deal she was in Maratea to close?

With her fellow writers all having reason to lie to the carabinieri, Giò desperately sifts their stories for clues. But could the key actually lie in a tragic tale from long ago?

Fans of cosy mysteries everywhere are invited to help Giò solve her latest delightfully dramatic case, unfolding against the stunning backdrop of the southern Italian coastline. That is, if you dare.

Purchase Link
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Meet the author
Adriana Licio lives not far from Maratea, the Mediterranean setting for her cosy series An Italian Village Mystery.

She loves loads of things: travelling, reading, walking, good food, small villages, and home swapping. She runs her family perfumery, and between a dark patchouli and a musky rose, she reads and writes cosy mysteries.

On 1 August 2020, she has launched the Prequel to a new series The Homeswappers Mysteries about two retired teacher friends who drive their yolk-yellow Fiat 500 from home to home around Europe with Napoleon, their basset hound. Adriana hates to spoil their fun, but the truth is that they might stumble upon murders more often than they would have liked.

On her website, you can sign up for the Maratea Murder Club and get your free copy of And Then There Were Bones the prequel to her Italian Village Mystery series. Visit Adriana at adrianalicio.com.

All comments are welcomed.