Detroit, MI
Halloween-themed LGBTQ+ murder mystery by local author is set in Detroit
Halloween edition: Rivian owners can choose new futuristic dashboards
Rivian owners got treated to a special surprise for Halloween — new dashboards featuring their favorite movies and shows from the ’80’s.
Mystery lovers looking for spooky fall vibes should check in with local author Frank Anthony Polito. “Haunted to Death: A Domestic Partners in Crime Mystery,” is out now and set during the Halloween season.
“Domestic Partners in Crime” is a cozy mystery series about a queer, millennial couple who renovate old houses in metro Detroit on their hit reality TV show and continue to stumble onto dead bodies along the way.
Book three in the series finds our heroes, JP and PJ, working on a house that, legend has it, is haunted by the ghost of a beautiful heiress who fell from the third-floor balcony on Halloween night 25 years ago. Seemingly supernatural encounters, locked rooms and secret passageways tease the question of whether the house is truly haunted, or whether the long-ago death was actually a murder.
Polito, a Lambda Literary Award winner, based the lead characters on himself and his partner, Craig. Like the protagonists, the two are also an author and actor who lived in New York City before appearing on HGTV’s “House Hunters,” where they bought a 1920s Craftsman house in a historic Detroit suburb and began renovating it themselves.
Polito says “Haunted” may be the last book in his series.
“The first book, ‘Renovated to Death,’ did really well,” he said. “There was a lot of publicity and a lot of push by the publisher to get it all over Instagram and send out review copies and set up interviews. And then the second book, ‘Rehearsed to Death,’ came out a year later and … not so much of a push for it.
“When I recently got in touch with my editor to tell him that I had finished writing book four, he informed me that sales for book two were not as good as they hoped they would be, and that if the sales for book three did not increase comparatively, then they wouldn’t be able to offer me the contract. They’re not willing to take a chance.”
Polito says he’s now “in limbo” to see how “Haunted” performs.
“It’s a little disheartening,” he confessed, “because (book four) is already written and I feel like I have these characters that I’ve been developing over the course of three books and I’m finally just really getting to know them, and getting to know the town, and coming up with all these other ideas for stories.”
Still, he says there are possibilities with other outlets.
“What’s really great about this cozy mystery community is that it’s very supportive,” he said. “I see messages and emails from other writers, wishing me luck and saying, ‘If it doesn’t end up getting published through Kensington, you should try this publisher or this editor because this has happened to other authors who were able to continue their series.”
“Haunted to Death” can be purchased at amazon.com and wherever books are sold. For more on Frank Anthony Polito, visit facebook.com/frankanthonypolito.