A Deadly Habit: A Penelope Santucci Mystery
by Andrea Sisco
Published by Five Star
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Reviewed by Sarah Jensen
A Deadly Habit: A Penelope Santucci Mystery is the debut mystery by Andrea Sisco–and it’s a rollicking good time. Penelope (Pen) Santucci is a 27-year-old Minneapolis probation officer who found the body of her estranged husband, hot-shot attorney Paul Preston, while on a small but illegal recon job (she was stealing back her belongings) from his home.
Pen knows the police will try and pin the murder on her and freedom seems to be slipping through her fingers. There is no way she’s going to prison (she looks hippy in stripes and the food is not all that good, not to mention shared accommodations and strange people who might want to cause her some harm).
Pen enlists the help of an elderly priest, Father Daniel Kopecky and a nun, Sister Germaine in her wild journey to clear her name. Her hunky attorney, Marco Silva, will do his best to keep his uncooperative client out of the clutches of the justice system, but murdering her always lurks in the back of his mind.
Smart-mouthed Pen has an “attitude” and isn’t in the mood to take lip from anyone. But she has a nose for trouble (big trouble), and it finds her like a heat-seeking missile. It’s her job to keep her freedom, find Paul’s murderer and figure out just who those two thugs are that keep trying to knock her off and steal the stash she found.
Sisco is clever and her skillful storytelling is delightful. Her characters are three-dimensional and her prose is laugh-out-loud funny. I was excited that preliminary reviews from Kirkus and Booklist compare Sisco to Janet Evanovich and Penelope Santucci to Stephanie Plum–and I’d say that’s not only true, but good company to be in.
Armchair Interviews says: An amateur sleuth mystery that will make you laugh and want more of Penelope Santucci and company. We can’t wait for the next in this new series.
Author’s Web site: http://www.AndreaSisco.com