Revenge of the Gypsy Queen

by Kris Neri

Overview

Book 1 in the "Tracy Eaton Mystery Series" -- Meet Tracy Eaton, mystery writer, detective wannabe, and the offspring of reality-challenged Hollywood stars. Trouble always knows how to find Tracy, but she never expects it to pop up at her sister-in-law's wedding - until the bride is kidnapped. When her snooty in-laws would rather meet the bizarre ransom demand than call the police, Tracy knows if justice is to prevail, it will definitely need her help. But the whole Eaton clan begins behaving suspiciously. The groom takes to riding around in a gangster's bulletproof limo...the bride's loveable con man uncle disappears under mysterious circumstances...there are also strange doings at the engaged couple's trendy restaurant, The Gypsy Princess, which the world's richest man is obsessed to own. Even the family legend of the evil Gypsy queen comes under Tracy's scrutiny - is it the childhood fable her sister-in-law claimed it to be, or a dark prediction of things to come? It will take all of Tracy's innate noisiness and wacky crime-fighting approach to get to the truth. But not even she could have predicted the curious path her debut case would take, or that she'd become the keeper of the Eaton family's most closely guarded secret.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780979969430
Publisher:	Cherokee McGhee
Publication date:	06/10/2009
Series:	Tracy Eaton Mysteries (Paperback) , #1
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	244
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.55(d)

What People are Saying About This

Sue Henry

Revenge of the Gypsy Queen is a rollicking delight that rebounds through the streets of New York with the predictability of a lottery ping-pong ball. In a fresh new voice, Kris Neri introduces whirlwind amateur detective, Tracy Eaton, whose perception of the world around her is decidedly unconventional and a chuckle per page. Be ready for a cast of characters as colorful as a three-ring circus in a fast-paced plot with as many unexpected drops and corners as a roller coaster. — (Sue Henry, author of Deadfall and Murder on the Yukon Quest)

Taylor Smith

Revenge of the Gypsy Queen is a wonderful debut novel, with an irreverent heroine sure to become a much-loved fixture on the mystery scene. Author Kris Neri has created a vibrant and unforgettable cast of characters, from incorrigible sleuth Tracy Eaton to the artists, mobsters, cops, and cons who populate her slightly off-kilter world. An accomplished short story writer, Neri has made a seemingly effortless leap to novel-length, with polished, fast-moving prose that offers just the right mixture of mystery, suspense, and humor. Brava!
— (Taylor Smith, author of The Best of Enemies and Random Acts)

Earlene Fowler

Revenge of the Gypsy Queen is a wonderfully zany book full of charm and humor. Tracy Eaton, mystery writer and child of Hollywood stars, is smart, snappy and likeable and a welcome addition to the ranks of amateur detectives.
— (Earlene Fowler, author of Mariner's Compass)

Jan Burke

`I Love Lucy' meets `Murder She Wrote'! Kris Neri's Revenge of the Gypsy Queen is a zany romp that will undoubtedly win her a following of loyal fans.
— (Jan Burke, author of Liar)

Geraldine Galentree

I find Revenge of the Gypsy Queen a light romp, reminiscent of the books by Donna Andrews and G. M. Ford. Like Donna Andrews' Murder With Peacocks, this one concerns a wedding gone wrong. How else to describe a kidnapped bride and the in-laws from Hell? Like G. M. Ford, Neri shows a great deal of humor as the story unfolds. She also has a good grasp of her locale, New York City, and the ins and outs of getting all the pre-wedding planning underway. This was a delightful read, one I can heartily recommend. Tracy Eaton is our amateur sleuth, a wannabe detective and mystery writer, following in the footsteps of her own fictional creation. In addition to Tracy, the reader meets eccentric kinfolk, including a disappearing con-man uncle and a romantic Italian groom whose accomplishments may extend far beyond the tidy restaurant kitchen he presides over. This was a book I kept trying to cast as a movie. What potential this would have on the big screen! Imagine Marisa Tomei as the errant bride who's actually named Marisa and Alec Baldwin as Tracy Eaton's rock solid, blue-blood husband, Drew. What fun! Rush to your local bookstore and demand they order Revenge of the Gypsy Queen by Kris Neri. And tell them to get a few extra copies in for the other readers, too. Try it, you'll like it! I sure did.
— (Geraldine Galentree, THE MYSTERY BOOK STORE, Dallas, TX)

Carolyn Hart

Mystery writer-sleuth Tracy Eaton stars in Revenge of the Gypsy Queen, a hilarious debut mystery by Kris Neri. Neri's sleuth offers a sharp eye, a smart mouth, and an irrepressible sense of humor as she discovers that families can be both funny and deadly in an intricately plotted, surprise-in-your-face, don't-put-it-down mystery.
— (Carolyn Hart, author of the Death on Demand and Henrie O mysteries)

Dale Furutani

Kris Neri's Revenge of the Gypsy Queen is a delightful clash of East and West — coasts, that is. Tracy Eaton, the daughter of the quintessential Hollywood couple, travels to New York to visit her ! in-laws and participate in what rapidly becomes the wedding from hell. Sniping relatives, mysterious strangers, a New York cop with a Southern drawl, a Mafia Don and one of the richest men in the world combine into a fun melange of quirky characters. When the family realizes that someone is kidnapped, the fun really begins! A great read.
— (Dale Furutani, Anthony- and Macavity-winning author of the Ken Tanaka and Samurai Mystery Trilogy series of books)

Barbara Burnett Smith

With a family like Tracy Eaton's there is no reason for her to go elsewhere for fun or excitement. All she has to do is attend a simple wedding — and hope to come back alive. The best part is that we get to attend as well in Revenge of the Gypsy Queen. Come along.
— (Barbara Burnett Smith, author of the Agatha-nominated Purple Sage mystery series)

Editorial Reviews

Well-known for her intricately plotted short stories, Kris Neri has now turned her hand to the mystery novel with fabulous results. Heroine Tracy Eaton first appeared in a Neri short story which won a Derringer Award. Likable but unpredictable Tracy is — what else? — a successful mystery writer with numerous hardcovers on bookstore shelves. When her sister-in-law is kidnapped, Tracy draws on her fictional experience to solve the crime and unravel several knotty secrets in her husband's family. With a healthy dose of nosiness and an equal amount of nerve, Tracy surmounts every obstacle with elan and a sense of humor that will tickle the reader's fancy. . . . in this delightful series debut.

Mystery Time