“CUT! That’s a wrap!” With a loud thunk, the Klieg lights dim and I pick my way over heavy cables by the remaining dim light and follow the cast and crew out the studio door, eyes blinking after the darkness inside.

My name is Trudy Genova, RN, and my work as a medical consultant for a New York movie studio is over for this week. I feel like a puppy who’s found the gate left open, freedom beckoning, as I’m cut loose for a week’s vacation with my boyfriend, NYPD detective Ned O’Malley.

This job is any nurse’s dream. I wear jeans to work, no one is puking on my shoes, and best of all, no one is really ill or dying. Of course, there were those murders last spring at the soap opera, but I helped Ned to figure that out, despite his annoyance at me insinuating myself into his investigation. And then there was the case earlier this month at the Dakota building, where we filmed a made-for-TV movie and an actor was killed. By then, Ned was reconsidering my ability to figure out human nature and unravel puzzles as we started our relationship. I guess I do have a nose for murder, but that’s a good thing for someone who has always read and adored crime fiction, and now plans to write her own mystery.

The perks of this job include days when there’s not a medical scene filming, and I can lounge at home in my yoga pants. I may have to correct script pages of medical scenes the studio faxes over, but this schedule gives me plenty of time to work on my NYU course and fledgling writing.

Today is very different, when reality will supplant my fictional world. I run to the production office to pick up my rolling suitcase, backpack, and laptop bag, then rush outside to wait for Ned to pick me up. I have ten days off and we are heading north to my family home in the Catskills on an apple orchard, ostensibly for him to meet my family. My oldest brother and his wife are expecting their first baby, and there will be a shower to attend before Ned and I knuckle down to the bigger reason I’ve asked him to come home with me: I want to finally find out what really happened when my father died eleven years ago.

It was deemed an accident at the time, but there are circumstances around it that have never been explained, including my father draining my parents’ pension fund, with the money never found. I’ve always felt deep down that my father was murdered, but I have no idea if either of my brothers or my mom feel the same way.

All I do know is that it’s time for me to dig deeply into Mario Genova’s death, whether my family is happy about resurrecting the past or not. At least I’ll have Ned and his expertise at my side. What could possibly go wrong?

Death in the Orchid, A Trudy Genova Mystery Book #3
Genre: Traditional Mystery
Release: April 2024
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

The third Trudy Genova mystery from award-winning author M. K. Graff brings Trudy home.

Nurse Trudy Genova’s vacation finds her traveling from her New York City studio consulting job to her small hometown of Schoharie, three hours north. Accompanying Trudy is her boyfriend, NYPD detective Ned O’Malley, primed to meet her family, but with a secret mission in mind: Trudy has asked him to help her find out what really happened when her father died eleven years ago.

Everyone assumed Mario Genova’s death was a tragic accident, but Trudy has always believed there was something suspicious about her beloved father acting out of character the day before he died. After years of hard work building a successful apple orchard business with her mother, Mario cleaned out their bank accounts. No reason—and no money—was ever found.

As Trudy and Ned try to investigate without informing her family of their actions, a new death occurs on Genova Orchards property, and once again Trudy’s family is under scrutiny.

About the author
Marni Graff is the award-winning author of The Nora Tierney English Mysteries and The Trudy Genova Manhattan Mysteries. Her stories are in several anthologies, including the Anthony Award-winning Malice Domestic’s Murder Most Edible. She is Managing Editor of Bridle Path Press, a crime book reviewer, and blogs for Miss Demeanors. Graff is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mavens of Mayhem SinC, Triangle SinC, Mystery People UK, and the International Association of Crime Writers. She lives in eastern NC with her husband and two Aussiedoodles.