Fiction & Non-Fiction

Written under the pseudonym Agnes Lester Brown, this is a cozy murder mystery series I wrote some years ago. It features the irrepressable witch Lori Whitewood and her boisterous witch family. Lori just wants to lead a normal, uncomplicated life but somehow there's always a body showing up in her hometown of Pleasantside. The series consists of five novels and an anthology. Every time I re-read one in the series, I'm itching to write another. Who knows, one day I will. Lots of fun.

I only completed one book in this series. I have a second in advanced stages of planning, but whether I'll get to completing it, is an open question. Here's the synpopsis of the first book:

Brie Cullen's well-organized life in New York is thrown into disarray when her mother suddenly dies, leaving Brie destitute. With nothing left to lose, she travels to Venice, Italy on a whim, in the vain hope of meeting her long-lost Venetian relatives. It all turns into a nightmare when Brie becomes the victim of mistaken identity, and ends up in the cross-hairs of a shadowy hitman with a predilection for poison darts. Facing certain death and with no one left to turn to, Brie is forced to team up with a flamboyant ghost from Venice's turbulent past in order to get to the bottom of a bewildering web of intrigue. Who is Laura, the girl who tragically drowned in the lagoon? What is Mr. Fantastic's true intentions? And what secrets are hidden away in the dilapidated boat houses in Chioggia?

In 2013 I undertook a maverick project: Walk across 100 bridges over the canals of bridges in one single day, photograph them, and publish a book about the experience. Filled with bridge anecdotes, maps, walkabouts and lots of other information about the legendary bridges of Venice. The 2022 version also includes a section on the bridges of Chioggia, also known as Little Venice.