We are delighted to welcome back author Joe Cosentino to Omnimystery News today.
Joe's new Jana Lane mystery is Satin Doll (The Wild Rose Press; April 2016 trade paperback and ebook formats) and he has provided us with an introduction to the series by way of an interview with its lead characters.
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Photo provided courtesy of
Joe Cosentino
Looking at you two, the first thing that strikes me is your ying and yang quality. Jana is petite with blonde hair and blue eyes. Chris, you are tall, dark, handsome, and very muscular.
Bove: Call me Bove.
Don't you like your first name?
Jana: I asked him the same thing when we first met.
Bove: My fiancée called me Chris, until she left me at the altar for my brother.
Yikes!
Bove: Yeah. I wish she would have married me, so I could have divorced her.
Jana: But it hasn't left him too bitter.
Jana, you mentioned first meeting Bove. What were the circumstances?
Jana: I was at the Capitol shadowing Senator Cassie Castle as research for my upcoming film, Madam Senator. A Washington news reporter was killed, and I found the body. Bove taped off the area then interrogated me in the nearby conference room.
Bove: I didn't interrogate you. I asked you some questions.
Jana: Is there a difference?
Bove: I wouldn't bring you lunch in an interrogation.
Lunch?
Jana: Bove's parents own a restaurant in DC.
Bove: Which we won't talk about since my brother is the chef.
Jana: Better move on.
You two have something in common. You were famous at an early age. Jana as America's most famous child movie star. And Bove as a professional football player. Bove, as a kid did you see Jana's movies? And Jana were you aware of Bove as a football star?
Bove: Like every kid, I loved Jana Lane movies.
Jana: His favorite was Pink Ballerina.
Bove: Funny.
Jana: My husband and best friends, Jackson and Adam, followed Bove's football career.
Bove: Can I ask you a question?
Sure.
Bove: Are you going to eat that chicken Caesar salad in front of you?
No.
Bove: It smells really good. Can I have it?
Sure.
Bove: Thanks.
Jana: You'll get used to Bove's eating habits.
Probably not. Jana, in Paper Doll you went from your mansion in Hyde Park, New York back to Hollywood and used the skills you learned as a child star to figure out who attacked you on the studio lot when you were eighteen years old. In the process you uncovered a web of secrets about everyone you loved.
Bove: The Girl Detective did good.
And your reviews were amazing. "Paper Doll is a superbly crafted mystery with an eclectic cast of characters that will engage you and elicit some very emotional responses as you are completely caught up in the events that unfold in these pages. Everyone has secrets and the people in Paper Doll have them in spades!" — Fresh Fiction. "Mr. Cosentino has produced a masterpiece of mystery (Paper Doll)" "The story gripped me from the start and there were enough twists and turns, with a bit of romance thrown in for good measure, to keep hold of me until the end of the book." "Great book, can't wait for book 2." — Readers' Favorite
Bove: The Adorable Orphan, Pirate Princess, and Tiny Eskimo always got good reviews.
Jana: Where was all this cleverness when we were trying to solve the case?
Bove: Next book.
Which brings us to Porcelain Doll, where Jana made a comeback film and uncovered who was murdering your co-stars and why. Again you received terrific reviews. "Porcelain Doll is Joe Cosentino at his finest. We are drawn back to the fashions and attitudes of the 1980's in a character-driven story full of intrigue and passion." — Kirsty Vizard, Divine Magazine. "Beautifully written and intensely detailed, Porcelain Doll is one not to be missed. Flirtatiously decadent with a strong moral undertone, set in a decade of extraordinary social change this is a story of its period that is as poignant today as it was then. Joe Cosentino controlled the emotions that the book encouraged with a deft but delicate touch. Suspenseful and mysterious, Porcelain Doll is a masterful creation, one that was impossible not to be affected by." — Carol Fenton, BooksLaidBare Reviews. "Murder, mystery, and suspense are high inside of this brilliant masterpiece by Joe Cosentino." "Every page fills the readers with intrigue." "Edge of your seat mystery that lures readers instantly." "Once you read it, you can't put it down." — Danielle Urban Universal Creativity Inc.
And you were nominated for an Oscar for His Obsession.
Bove: I preferred Little Girl on the Ranch and The Cowgirl and the Bandit.
Jana: Don't make me say your fiancée's name, Bove.
Bove: Next book.
And now in Satin Doll (Wild Rose Press), Jana and family head to Washington, DC, where you play a US senator in a new film, and become embroiled in murder and corruption at the senate chamber. Tell us about some of the people you encounter in Satin Doll.
Jana: There are some familiar faces like my old world, loyal, and hysterically funny agent, Simon Huckby, who produces the AIDS benefit I host at the Ford Theatre. And my best friend and lawyer, Congressman Jackson Mitchell and his partner Adam, who host my family at their rustic home on a lake. And there are some new faces too like Senator Maxmillion, the Republican majority leader of the Senate, and Benjamin Topower, Maxmillion's wealthy super pack contributor. I'm not a top one-percenter, so I found it hard to relate to them. However, I found their drive and sense of entitlement fascinating. And of course there is Senator Cassie Castle, the Democrat senator touted to run for Vice President.
Is she like Hillary Clinton?
Jana: Cassie is a smart, strong woman who is deeply involved in protecting the environment, women's rights, gay rights, education, and creating jobs, like her father before her. She is also quite charismatic. So in some ways she's very much like Hillary. In many ways she is different.
In which ways?
Jana: Cassie is dating the Republican majority leader of the Senate. Cassie seems to wear her heart on her sleeve. Like Bove.
Jana, have you always been interested in politics?
Jana: I've always found politicians like Maxmillion and Cassie fascinating. How they can speak to someone and make him/her feel as if he/she is the only person in the room. I also marvel at Cassie's will to serve others and to make the world a better place. The issues I am concerned with are Cassie's issues, so I am clearly on the liberal bent. However, I believe all the political characters in the story are treated equally in showing their good points and bad.
In the novel you are interviewed on the radio by a Christian host for your upcoming AIDS benefit. Do you think Christians would be offended by that character?
Jana: I sure hope not. I'm a Christian who prays and goes to church on Sundays. I try to love my neighbor as myself, not judge others, and help the downtrodden and outcasts. The radio hosts who interview me use their wealth, power, media chops, and religious affiliations to demean others and try to take away their rights.
As in the first two Jana Lane mysteries, Jana is tempted by a gorgeous man, this time Detective Chris Bove.
Bove: You can't blame her.
And Jana's husband goes through a major personal event.
Jana: I love that part of the story. It still brings tears to my eyes when I read it.
I love your comic banter with Jackson, and with Bove.
Jana: They're both good guys.
Bove: No argument there.
Since the book takes place in 1983, you get to dance to songs like "Flashdance … What A Feeling" and "Maniac." Jana wears layered hair, shoulder pads, and lace gloves. Bove gets to wear colored T-shirts, parachute pants, and white jackets. I loved that period!
Jana: And we also experience a number of historical events like Karen Carpenter's passing, the still new AIDS epidemic and the devastation it caused when ignored by our political representatives, and dangerous proposed legislation by conservatives like the Protect the Children Act, which was a disguise to try to make gay people second class citizens.
There is also a sexy young senator in the book, Senator Sancho Ramirez from New York. How does he play into the story?
Jana: Like everyone in the story, Sancho has secrets that are eventually revealed.
Bove: Thanks to the School Spy.
Jana: Just remember who solved the mystery, Bove.
Can someone read this story before reading your previous two mysteries, Jana?
Jana: Yes, each Jana Lane mystery is it's own story. Readers get a complete mystery with each novel full of revealed secrets, plot twists and turns, and a white knuckle ending leading to a shocking conclusion. Through the course of the books, I not only solve the mysteries, but also reclaim the courage and fortitude I had as a child. This is an important message for all of us. As one reviewer wrote, I start out as a wounded bird, and end as tiger.
But you play fair in your mysteries, meaning the clues are there.
Bove: And she finds them.
Who is your ideal reader of your books?
Jana: My ideal reader is a lover of mystery, romance, and Hollywood (and now Washington, DC). Someone who craves being swept away by a story and becoming part of the novel. My reader loves clues, suspects, and plotlines that zigzag with numerous surprises leading to a shocking yet totally justified conclusion. Finally, my reader relishes in beautiful, lush locations and captivating characters as she/he enters the portal of my book.
What's next for Jana Lane?
Jana: In China Doll (coming soon from The Wild Rose Press), I head to New York City to star in a Broadway play, co-starring the gorgeous Peter Stevens, and I'm faced with murder on stage and off.
Bove: I tell you one thing, murder sure seems to follow you around, lady. If I was an actor, I'd think twice before doing a movie with Jana Lane.
Jana: I don't think you'll have to worry about that, Bove.
And after that?
Jana: Ragdoll, where I'm offered the leading role in a new television mystery series.
Bove: I come back in that one, so don't miss it.
How does Joe Cosentino think up all these terrific storylines?
Jana and Bove: We're in his head helping him.
Does Joe have another mystery series?
Bove: Yes, the Nicky and Noah comedy mysteries published by Lethe Press. Each novel is loaded with wacky humor and romance in a fast-paced whodunit. Since Joe is a college theatre professor/department head, and theatre departments are havens of mystery, secrets, romance, and high humor; the series takes place at an Edwardian style New England college. In Drama Queen (Divine Magazine's Favorite Mystery Novel of 2015) theatre college professors are dropping like stage curtains. With the inept local detectives, it is up to Directing professor, Nicky Abbondanza to use his theatre skills (including playing other people) to solve the murders, while he directs a murder mystery onstage. Complicating matters is Nicky's intense crush on Assistant Professor of Acting, handsome Noah Oliver, the prime suspect in the murder. In Drama Muscle Nicky and Noah have to use their theatre skills to find out why musclemen are dropping like weights in the Physical Education department while Nicky directs the Student Bodybuilding Competition. In Drama Cruise (not released yet), Nicky and Noah go on a cruise to Alaska, and discover why college theatre professors are going overboard like lifeboats while Nicky directs a murder mystery dinner theatre show onboard ship.
Has he written other novels as well?
Jana: His MM romance novellas are published by Dreamspinner Press. They are In My Heart (An Infatuation & A Shooting Star), A Home for the Holidays, The Naked Prince and Other Tales from Fairyland. Joe also has an MM series Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back and Cozzi Cove: Moving Forward taking place on the Jersey Shore and published by NineStar Press.
How can readers contact you both?
Jana: Through Joe. He loves hearing from readers. It gives him a break from us.
Thank you. It's been a pleasure.
Jana: Mine as well.
Bove: Do you have another salad?
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Actor, playwright, and author Joe Cosentino received his MFA from Goddard College in Vermont, and MA from SUNY New Paltz. He is currently Head of the Department/Professor at a college in upstate New York.
For more information about the author, please visit his website at website and his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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Satin Doll by Joe Cosentino
A Jana Lane Mystery
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Murder, corruption, and scandals rock Washington, D.C …
America's most famous ex-child star, Jana Lane, is playing a US Senator in a 1983 film. Just as she and her family arrive in DC, two Washington power players are murdered, and Jana is caught in the web of intrigue and political scandal. Jana falls under the spell of the breathtakingly handsome detective assigned to the case, ex-professional football player and food aficionado, Chris Bove.
Will Jana and Bove uncover the murderer's identity and shocking secrets before Jana and her family become the Capitol's next victims?
— Satin Doll by Joe Cosentino. Click here to take a Look Inside the book.
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