Rita Calabrese Books
Rita Calabrese is the guardian angel of the bucolic Hudson Valley hamlet of Acorn Hollow—and of her lovable but exasperating "famiglia." She’s always fortifying her down-on-their-luck neighbors with secret deliveries of home-grown vegetables and ravioli alla zucca, sneaking cannoli into her gruff husband’s lunch, and meddling in (or, as she would say, “improving”) the lives of her three grown children. But now, on the eve of her sixty-sixth birthday, Rita’s looking for a meaningful second act—and finds as a reporter for the local paper. Her profiles of Acorn Hollow’s eccentric citizens, including the soft-spoken biology teacher with a secret poison garden, soon make her the toast of the town. But when the beloved football coach is murdered and Rita’s investigation uncovers not only a messy love triangle, but also rumors of her ne’er-do-well son Vinnie’s involvement, she finds her newfound journalistic zeal on a collision course with her fierce maternal instinct.Humorous and zesty, "The Secret Poison Garden" includes eight mouth-watering, garden-to-table Italian-American recipes.
Rita Calabrese thought she had mastered her second act. Long acknowledged as Acorn Hollow’s best cook and most lovable (or, as a few ignorant souls might say say, overbearing) Italian-American matriarch, she has more recently become its most celebrated journalist and sleuth too. But on the eve of Rita’s fortieth wedding anniversary—and the town’s tercentenary—the sudden arrival of two very different men threatens Rita’s comfortable existence. First, her husband’s shady cousin shows up on their doorstep. Then, Rita’s old high school beau suddenly returns after a fifty-year absence, and Rita is assigned to interview him. Stefano’s a successful historian now and he’s still bellissimo—but he’s also hiding something.When the town’s time capsule is flung open to reveal a toothless skeleton, Rita hopes that solving this cold case will be just the diversion she needs. But if identifying the victim proves difficult, managing the men in her life becomes nearly impossible. A cagey ex-flame and boorish, cigar-smoking houseguest are enough to deal with, but it's another thing entirely when her husband, normally so skeptical of Rita’s nose for crime, begins insisting his recently deceased grappa-swilling, red-meat-loving septuagenarian friends did not die of heart attacks, but were murdered.Only one thing's certain—if she can survive it, this will be an anniversary to remember. "A Secret in Thyme" features brand-new, mouth-watering Italian-American recipes ripped from the pages of Rita’s garden-to-table cookbook, including the recipe for chocolate-dipped peanut butter biscotti!
Rita's catering a Jazz Age-themed party in an abandoned former speakeasy, and an ex-con is her sous chef. What could go wrong? When her twin sister asks for help drumming up interest in her newest real estate listing—a mothballed old mansion that was once a Prohibition-era speakeasy and FDR hangout—Rita readily agrees. Planning an over-the-top Jazz Age-themed soirée, she dusts off her vintage recipes for lemon cake and oysters Rockefeller, casts her son Vinnie and his best friend Rocco as the G-men who will stage a “raid,” and even enlists the culinary services of Rocco’s mom, the beautiful but troubled Fran, who has just been released from prison. But when Vinnie and Rocco stage their “raid”, what they find in the old dairy barn behind the mansion isn’t moonshine…but a dead body. The citizens of Acorn Hollow are eager to point the finger at Rocco and Fran, but Rita isn’t buying it. Like the multi-tasking mother she is, she’s determined to prove their innocence—all while mentoring a sulky teenaged intern, unmasking the identity of the newspaper’s new male advice columnist, and encouraging her daughter’s fledgling romance with a hunky teacher. Featuring mouth-watering recipes for Italian classics, including bruschetta and tiramisu!
"Superbly developed characters....[with] an Agatha Christie-style reveal. You'll be drooling over the food descriptions." (Cinnamon & Sugar & a Little Bit of Murder blog) In the Italian-American community of Acorn Hollow, it’s Carnevale. The townspeople are reveling in masked balls and lively processions—and overindulging in meaty lasagnas and rich desserts like sanguinaccio and bomboloni. For once, though, the town’s most ardent Italophile, matriarch-turned-reporter Rita Calabrese, is not in the holiday spirit. With no crime to solve, nothing to write about, and the clock ticking down towards her hasty and ill-advised Lenten resolution to stop interfering in (or, as she would say, “improving”) the lives of others, she’s staring down forty days of sheer boredom. But that’s before her twin sister is blackmailed for a scandalous indiscretion and the world’s most uncouth, boorish houseguest shows up and refuses to leave until Rita gives him a crash course in feminism and romance, all to woo back his estranged wife. Rita tries to adhere to her Lenten resolution, but fate has other plans. When a friend’s wine is poisoned at a masquerade ball and a local vintner’s glamorous fiancée is murdered, Rita bows to the inevitable and dives into an investigation rife with suspects and riven by romantic entanglements and family drama. Featuring mouth-watering recipes for Italian classics, including lasagna and Italian Easter pie!
An idyllic retreat in rural Tuscany seems like the least likely place for a murder…. Rita Calabrese is a lover of all things Italian—especially the food. So she is overjoyed when Sal, her normally oh-so-unromantic husband, proposes a second honeymoon at a villa in Tuscany. For two weeks, she’ll get a respite from her hectic life as a reporter, sleuth, and mother and be able to just lounge by the pool, traipse through vineyards and olive groves, and gorge on gelato and tiramisu. Then Rita meets a suave Italian art crimes detective convinced that the villa is the epicenter of an antiquities trafficking ring, and her romantic getaway becomes a working vacation. As she quaffs glorious vino and learns to roll pici pasta by hand, Rita sizes up the other guests. Ostensibly, they have gathered for the nuptials of Alessandro and Giovanna, the Romeo and Juliet of the Italian archaeology world. But is one of them also a criminal mastermind? When the villa’s owner is found dead in an ancient Etruscan tomb, Rita begins to wonder if something even more sinister is afoot. Plunging into an investigation filled with star-crossed lovers, bitter professional rivalries, long-buried secrets, and fabulous food, Rita finds that Italy never loses its ability to amaze. Featuring delectable, authentic Italian recipes for caponata, pear and almond tart, peaches with mascarpone, and more!
The locals insist that Acorn Hollow was the real inspiration for “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” But is that a blessing…or a curse? As the Hudson Valley’s best garden-to-table home cook, fiercest Italian matriarch, and most dogged reporter, Rita Calabrese has many reasons to look forward to fall. Her garden is bursting with the ingredients for chicken cacciatore, apple crisp, and pumpkin cheesecake. Her son is starring in the local community theater production. And Acorn Hollow is at its most festive as it celebrates “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” which the townspeople insist was inspired by their own bucolic hamlet. But as the fall foliage peaks, so does the drama. First, a series of mysterious accidents befall the actor portraying Ichabod Crane. While most of the townspeople are willing to chalk it up to the supernatural antics of the headless horseman, the police have a far more mortal suspect in mind: Rita’s son, Vinnie. Then the notorious “black widow” of Acorn Hollow offers Rita tantalizing new clues about a pair of cold-case Halloween disappearances bearing the hallmarks of the original legend, right down to the smashed pumpkin by the old stone bridge. In exchange, the widow asks Rita to cater her funeral—and she’s already set an exact date. As the clock ticks down to the appointed date, Rita cooks up a fabulous funeral feast. But she begins to suspect that the widow is cooking up something of her own, and it just might be an elaborate trap to catch a killer… Featuring drool-worthy fall and Italian recipes!