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
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Dorset in the Dark: A Fina Fitzgibbons Brooklyn Mystery Page 29
