Marilyn's Mystery Reads

Owner and guide of SF Killer Crime Tours, Capri Sanzio knows the history of the city’s criminal past better than most.  From San Francisco’s Tenderloin District to its Barbary Coast, there have been murders, robberies, abductions, and more since the first settlement in 1776.  Capri is aware that the people on her tours enjoy the frisson of danger they get from hearing the details of such crimes, but when the danger hits closer to home, it’s a different story.

Lorraine, one of the women on the Barbary Coast tour, has made herself a bit of a nuisance, asking Capri numerous questions, but the tour guide is patient.  Suddenly Lorraine screams and points to a building on a side street.  “Someone’s attacking that woman.”

Capri calls the police on her cell phone, but when they arrive and enter the building they don’t find anyone in the apartment Lorraine has pointed to.  After giving Lorraine a stern warning about wasting police time, the officers leave, but Capri now has several questions she’s turning over in her mind.  Could Lorraine have seen a rehearsal for a play and misinterpreted it?  Was she on medication that had her imagining things?  Could she have created the entire incident to put herself in the spotlight?

Still bothered by the discrepancy between Lorraine’s story and the fact that the police found an empty apartment at the site of the alleged violence, Capri contacts Inspector Dan Petito, a friend and romantic interest, who promises he will look into the situation and let her know what he discovers the following day.  However, when Capri calls Lorraine to update her, the latter is bothered by the time lag.  She tells Capri, “God only knows what could happen to her by then.”

Upset by Lorraine’s response to her phone call, Capri decides to do some investigating on her own.  She starts with the landlady of the building where the alleged crime took place, and although the woman won’t let Capri into the apartment, she does tell Capri that the tenant, Leeya Styles, had a boyfriend.  Then Leeya’s body is found in a dumpster outside her art studio.

In addition to dealing with Leeya’s death, Capri is also facing a major problem revolving around her ex-husband and his finances.  While part of her would like Todd to figure out the solution to his problems on his own, his financial instability directly impacts on their daughter Morgan.  That makes it something Capri is forced to handle.

A Tour to Die For is the second in the Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco Mystery series.  As she did in the first novel, Michelle Chouinard gives readers an attractive, believable heroine with a fascinating backstory.  Capri, her ex-husband Todd, their daughter Morgan, and all the other characters are realistic and credible and make this book well worth reading.

You can read more about the author at this website.

Check out the complete Marilyn’s Mystery Reads at her website.  In addition to book review posts, there are sections featuring Golden Oldies, Past Masters and Mistresses, and an About Marilyn column that features her opinions about everything to do with mystery novels.