Rosie Genova, author of Murder on the Steel Pier, a Tess Mancini Time Travel mystery, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to introduce us to the Steel Pier in Atlantic City.

Welcome, Rosie. I’ll turn the floor over to you –

In Murder on the Steel Pier, main character Tess Mancini traverses time to land in 1955 Atlantic City. In that era, the Steel Pier was the entertainment centerpiece of AC; there were two movie theaters, a water circus that included the famous diving horses, several entertainment venues, and exhibitions such as the one sponsored by General Motors. Live acts from Frank Sinatra to the Rolling Stones played the Marine Ballroom at the end of the pier—which happens to be the spot where the corpse of the murder victim is found.

The Steel Pier as it would have looked to Tess. Photo by Ed Kanouse, courtesy Kent Kanouse, via Flickr

I’ve had great fun going down dozens of rabbit holes in my research for the story, deliberately mixing real and fictional characters and locations. Part of that research included a trip to AC, where I visited the public library to learn about their digital archives, and of course, made a pilgrimage to the modern Steel Pier. Today’s Steel Pier is primarily rides, shore amusements, and boardwalk food. Its centerpiece is the majestic Wheel, a 227-foot structure which looks out over the Atlantic with amazing ocean views. (So I hear. Rides scare me!)

Rosie on the modern Steel Pier.

Standing out there, I could almost superimpose the image of the old Steel Pier over its modern counterpart—without the time portal, of course! Today’s AC has been given over to the casinos, but if you pay close attention, the ghosts of Atlantic City’s heyday still linger.

What vacation spots have particular memories for you? Has it changed over the years?

Thank you for sharing this with us, Rosie, and good luck with Murder on the Steel Pier, the first book in the Tess Mancini Time Travel mystery series. Readers can learn more about Rosie Genova by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook and Bookbub pages.

The book is available online at the following retailers:

 https://books2read.com/u/bpVKdz   Amazon     B&N    Kobo    Apple Books

About Rosie Genova: Proud Jersey girl Rosie Genova is a multi-genre author. Her work includes a Jersey shore cozy series, The Italian Kitchen Mysteries, and The Tess Mancini Time Travel Mysteries, set in 1955 Atlantic City. She is also the author of standalone suspense and a couple of rom-coms that presently live in her computer files (but are longing to be released into the wild). A former teacher and journalist, Rosie’s non-fiction has appeared in a variety of publications, including Entrepreneur magazine and The New York Times. The mother of three sons, Rosie still lives in her favorite state with her husband, too many dusty antiques, and a charming mutt named Lucy.