Dorset in the Dark: A Fina Fitzgibbons Brooklyn Mystery

  That was an enigma buried deep in Brook’s pride. I understood it because I understood Brook, as much as I am capable of understanding another person. Brook, the middle child, a young teen relegated to babysitting for the sister she never wanted, her mother’s attention lavished on her infant daughter. I was secretly rooting for Brook, the same way Cookie was rooting for Shirley. I wanted her to be free, perhaps after a slap on the wrist, say, some kind of public service. But I knew that only happened in make-believe. What made us forgive the women caught up in Dorset’s abduction? Maybe that was the real mystery at the heart of the case.

  “You mean the two men who lived upstairs were Shirley’s sons?” Willoughby reached for his fourth piece of strudel.

  “Where have you been?” Jane asked.

  Where had he been? Where had any of us been? Where were we going? Not like me to be so philosophical. That last question made me give Denny a hug. No time like the present to give him the news: he was going to be a father for the third time.

  Characters

  Fina Fitzgibbons, twenty-something private investigator (protagonist)

  Carmela Fitzgibbons, Fina’s mother, deceased

  Padric Fitzgibbons, aka Paddy, Fina’s father

  Fina’s gran, unnamed and deceased

  Denny McDuffy, her husband, NYPD patrolman

  Carmela and Robbie McDuffy, the twins

  Lorraine McDuffy, Denny’s mother

  Robert McDuffy, Denny’s father, deceased

  Frank Rizzo, a retired butcher and Lorraine’s lover

  Jane Templeton, NYPD detective

  Willoughby, Jane’s partner, an NYPD detective

  Cookie, Fina’s lifelong friend and sidekick

  Mrs. Scarpanella, Cookie’s mother

  Clancy Donahue, Cookie’s husband, NYPD patrolman

  Mr. Baggins, Fina’s cat

  Minnie, office manager at Lucy’s

  Tig Able, FBI agent and Fina’s friend

  Trisha Liam, a lawyer

  Zizi Carmalucci, reporter; Denny’s erstwhile girlfriend

  Cassandra Thatchley, Columbia professor

  Dorset Clauson, her ten-year-old daughter by a second marriage

  April Briden, Dorset’s best friend

  Mrs. Briden, her mother

  Monsignor Finnigin, pastor of Holy Angels and St. Pat’s

  Brook Thatchley, Cassandra’s daughter by her first marriage

  Brunswick Thatchley, Cassandra’s son by her first marriage

  Ben Thatchley, Cassandra’s first husband, deceased

  Ronnie Clauson, Cassandra’s second husband, deceased; Dorset’s father

  Bea Thatchley, Ben Thatchley’s mother

  Mrs. Hampton, her friend; Cassandra’s housekeeper

  Greta Clauson, Ronnie Clauson’s mother; Dorset’s grandmother

  Stanley Ellston, druggist

  Shirley Ellston, his wife

  Jerry Koznicki, an artist

  Kenny Koznicki, his brother

  Kate Fitzgibbons, appears in later scenes

  Rena Fitzgibbons, her mother

  Places

  Fina Fitzgibbons Detective Agency, Fina’s fictional agency; shares space with Lucy’s

  Lucy’s Cleaning Service, Fina’s fictional cleaning establishment in Brooklyn Heights

  Brooklyn General, fictitious hospital close to Vinegar Hill

  Elaine’s, fictitious soda shop where Dorset hangs out after school with her friends

  Packer Collegiate, Fina’s & Cookie’s K thru 12, Brooklyn Heights

  Vinegar Hill, a neighborhood in Brooklyn where Fina and Denny live

  Brooklyn Heights, a neighborhood in Brooklyn where Fina grew up; location of Lucy’s; location of Trisha Liam’s law firm

  Art Students League of New York, where Dorset attends workshops for artistically gifted children

  The Promenade, Brooklyn Heights overlook

  Cobble Hill, a neighborhood in Brooklyn

  Carroll Gardens, a neighborhood in Brooklyn where Lorraine McDuffy lives

  Dumbo, aka DUMBO, “Down Under the Manhattan & Brooklyn Bridge Overpasses” a light industrial and loft neighborhood in Brooklyn fronting the East River, close to the Fulton Ferry Landing. Brook Thatchley has a studio there, on Water Street.

  84th Precinct, Gold Street, downtown Brooklyn where Jane Templeton and Willoughby are assigned

  Bay Ridge, Brooklyn neighborhood where Stephen Cojok grew up

  Liam, Trueblood & Wolsey, Trisha Liam’s fictitious law firm in Brooklyn Heights

  Smith, Jasper & O’Leary, fictional Court Street law firm where Lorraine was a paralegal for twenty-five years

  Brooklyn Daily Eagle, local paper

  Holy Angels and St. Pat’s, fictitious parish in Cobble Hill; they run a soup kitchen

  Susan Russo Anderson is a writer, a mother, a grandmother, a widow, a graduate of Marquette University, a member of Sisters In Crime. She has taught language arts and creative writing, worked for a publisher, an airline, an opera company. Like Faulkner’s Dilsey, she’s seen the best and the worst, the first and the last. Through it all, and to understand it somewhat, she writes.

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you so much for taking the time to read Dorset in the Dark! I realize there are hundreds of thousands of books available for you to choose from, and since I’m a relatively unknown author, I’m especially honored that you chose to read one of mine.

  My biggest challenge as an author is reaching new readers, but that is where you can help. If you enjoyed my book, please consider posting a review on Amazon. Positive customer reviews are the biggest/best way to attract new readers. It doesn’t have to be long or fancy, but if you write a short review, I will be extremely grateful.

  Thanks!

  Susan Russo Anderson

  [email protected]

  susanrussoanderson.com