Synopsis

Lucia Scafetti, a Philly private eye, has tried to move out of the shadow of her infamous crime family. She has her own business, her beloved dog Rocco, and she’s starting to date the cute lawyer down the hall. Her life is upended when her notorious hitman father disappears while in search of the diamond and gold coins he stole from his last victim.

Lucia races to unravel the mystery of her father’s disappearance before a crooked and powerful cop beats her to it. Though Lucia’s allies are scanty and her enemies numerous, she tries to resist the questionable help on offer from her Mafiosi family. It looks like Lucia must finally decide on which side of the law she truly belongs, knowing the wrong choice could send her to prison – or an early grave.

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Praise for Felicia Watson

‘It easily checked all my boxes required for a successful science-fiction novel and kept me flipping the pages time and time again.
What I liked the best about this story, however, is the feeling of discovery as the Lovelace travels farther and farther into the unknown. I have a soft spot for stories that take the reader where no one has ever been before and We Have Met the Enemy delivers this feeling in droves.”-Publisher’s Weekly, for We Have Met the Enemy

“The prose is supple and accurate. It begins with action. While the reader is given time to breathe, the action thereafter never really lets up…McGuffins are skillfully crafted, aliens are both imaginative and credible, and the tech is believable and serviceable without getting in the way.”- Judy Moore, Author of ‘Is Death Really Necessary?’, for Spooky Action at a Distance

“A richly imagined and immersive starship tale. Watson’s prose is filled with vivid worldbuilding details while still managing to feel urgent and punchy…. Though the book is preceded by two others, the story is self-contained enough for those new to the series to hit the ground running. The tale is thoroughly in the tradition of Star Trek…and fans of that franchise will enjoy Watson’s Roddenberrian world. The result is pure space opera, nothing more or less.”- Kirkus Reviews, for The Risks of Dead Reckoning

“`The author delivers an enthralling mystery.. There are whiplash-inducing plot turns throughout and a wholly gratifying final act. Hopefully Watson will give this unforgettable private eye her own well-deserved series. A clever, supercool gumshoe effortlessly steals the show in this delightful caper.”-Kirkus Reviews, for Where No One Will See

Review

This book was quite a surprise. I didn’t expect to laugh and also have to try and decipher a mystery at the same time.

Lucia has a sarcastic wit, and I loved her! She may be from a mafia family, but she is working as a PI and making it a success. She has quite the brain to unscramble the clues in this book and uncover the true criminal. It doesn’t hurt that she has a dog, Rocco, that is her sidekick. He seems like my kind of dog, despite his crankiness towards people.

I enjoyed the journey to help uncover the mystery surrounding her father’s death and others. There were several surprising twists that I never saw coming. I don’t think Lucia did either until a few clues led her down that path.

I enjoyed that this was set in the 1990s before the tech boom. It tickled me to read about Usenet groups and Lucia trying to figure out if she needed a webpage or a cellphone. Sometimes it is nice to read a book that isn’t technology dependent.

There is a little bit of romance for Lucia, which is a nice bonus.

This was a book I didn’t want to put down, except when I had to for things like sleep.

We give this book 5 paws up.

Guest Post

10 Things You Didn’t Know About ‘Where No One Will See’

1. This is a much, MUCH revised version of the first novel I ever wrote. It’s set in the 90s because it was originally written in the 90s. One of the major revisions I made was to change the setting. It was originally set in New York City, but when I pulled it out, I thought, ‘Why not set it in the city I’ve lived in, love, and still visit frequently?’ Now that I’ve re-written it, it seems impossible for me to imagine Lucia living anywhere else.
2. I set Lucia’s office in West Philadelphia because it made sense but also because my husband used to live not far from the address of the fictional Overbrook Commons. That poor man had to put up with endless questions like: “Honey, where would someone go to buy legal pads in your old neighborhood?” or “What’s the best place to get water ice in your old neighborhood?” “Which trolley line runs closet to 40^th and Ludlow?”– and so on, ad nauseum.
3. Lucia’s dog, Rocco, is named after and based on my late dog Rocco, though the character is heavily mixed with my first dog (the first dog that was all mine, not a family dog), Tristan, who was, yes, also a dachshund.
4. I love Lucia, but I often disapprove of and/or disagree with her decisions. Same for Hank, the lawyer whom she dates. If you’re looking for the character I most often agree with – that would be Juli, Lucia’s best friend.
5. My late mother was Italian-American, so a lot of the Italian-American idioms, phrases, etc., come from hearing them from her or other family throughout my childhood. The biggest challenge was figuring out how to spell them and what they really meant. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of disagreement among Italian-Americans about both of those things, especially meanings, so I went with what I remembered. There is a glossary at the back of the book.
6. The diamond at the heart of the mystery, “The Kimberly Star,” is entirely fictional but is loosely based on the Krupp Diamond, which was found in South Africa and at one point was given to Elizabeth Taylor by Richard Burton. The coins mentioned in the story, the Kruger Double-Nine Ponds, are totally real, rare, and valuable coins from South Africa.
7. Two of Lucia’s strengths – sewing, and playing pool – are things I’m not very good at. I’ve worked at both of them with varying degrees of success. Meaning, I’m okay at pool but suck at sewing. That being said, I wanted Lucia to have at least one decidedly “feminine” trait that she puts to use in a surprising way. I did give her one forte we both share – swimming. Like Lucia, I love the water and swim almost every day.
8. While I was outlining this latest version of the novel, I spent hours researching guns – their different uses and capabilities, hitmen, the prison and court systems, police informants, notorious criminals, crooked cops, the particulars of break-ins and fencing stolen goods, as well as how bodies decompose. In short, I’m sure the research for this novel has landed me on several FBI watch lists.
9. Every chapter starts with a quote, and the title chapter is taken from that quote. The quote is not random – it sums up the theme or significance of the chapter. This convention is my trademark as an author and goes back to my fan-fiction days. Most of the quotes come from books I’ve read. I’m forever highlighting pithy phrases I run across while reading and saving them to a file which I pull out and peruse whenever I need a quotation.
10. All of the restaurants which are mentioned in the novel – other than the one belonging to Lucia’s family – are authentic Philadelphia restaurants that either exist now or did back in the 90s. They were all frequented by me and my husband back when we were dating. Since he’s one of my beta readers, that was kind of an Easter egg I put in just for him.

©Felicia Watson

About the Author

Felicia Watson, author of the ground-breaking romance, Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela, and the award-winning scifi novels, The Lovelace Series, started writing stories as soon as they handed her a pencil in first grade.

When not writing, Felicia spends her time chasing after her not-so-brilliant, but darling and beloved dogs, being chased by her truly brilliant, darling, and beloved husband. She is known to friends and family as an amateur pastry chef and still finds time for swimming and her day job as a scientist.

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Giveaway

This giveaway is for 3 print or ebook copies.

Print is open to the U.S. only, and the ebook is open worldwide.

This giveaway ends on May 19, 2023 midnight, pacific time.

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