Gini Anding

Amy Page, a middle-aged American widow and food columnist from Charleston, South Carolina, is in Paris to write a cookbook. Her lengthy stay in the City of Lights suddenly takes an unexpected turn when a cab driver is murdered in front of her building on the Ile St-Louis. Jean-Michel Jolivet, Inspector for the French Sûreté and Director of the International Bureau of Security, insists that Amy is essential to solving his ever-widening investigation that now involves several murders and an international plot. While interrogating Amy, Jolivet becomes increasingly annoyed with her incessant ramblings about cookbooks, cuisine, the Ile St-Louis, Paris, French history, culture, and architecture-distracting him from the investigation and from finding the killer. Much to Jolivet's surprise, he determines that Amy is much more complex than she seems and may possess an acute power of observation that is strong enough to assist him in his difficult homicide cases. Intrigue and desire may lead Amy and Jolivet to discover more than they bargained for in a passionate journey toward intimacy and joy on the enchanting Ile St-Louis.

Witness on the Quay

Zach asked Josie what she really thought of the present state of affairs. “I’m tempted to use that line from my favorite movie, ‘Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.’” “Okay, Scarlet. But surely you are concerned over what’s been going on. That famous memory of yours must be putting ... what do you call them? Oh, yes, patches. Aren’t you putting two and two together and getting five? That’s what you usually do.” It was Josie’s turn to laugh. “Honestly, Zach, what I’m putting together reads like a script for a bad spy movie. We have nothing but red herrings, a mishmash of motley characters from various parts of the globe, more spies than villains, an attempted kidnapping, a fistfight, a car chase, a car blown up, a car accident, an escape on a motorcycle, nefarious thugs, virtuous good guys, covert agencies falling over covert agencies, a safe house or hideout, as the case may be, drug smuggling, romantic intrigue, false passports, not to mention changing locales: an offshore bank, an Irish pub, a travel plaza, a small animal hospital, and marinas up and down the east coast. We even have a plateful of old ops: Seagull, Mulberry Bush, Polaris. I’ve even had to revisit the Patches program. The inmates are running the asylum.” “So you think we’re being set up?” “That’s what bothers me. Just what are we doing in this particular script? Why Chipley Island? Why round up all these old spies? Why here?”

A Patchwork of Old Spies

Amy Page is trying to get her life back on track, back to writing her cookbook, back to strolling around her beloved Ile Saint-Louis in the heart of Paris. Her lover, Inspector Jean-Michel Jolivet, is on leave, recovering from gunshot wounds sustained in the course of their last adventure. How can they now possibly help the police solve the murder of the young woman found in the Square Barye? Clues abound, but are they red herrings? Is the victim an agent, an untrained operative, an art restorer, or something else? What do jewelry design, the color blue, a river goddess, a trumpet, wooden earrings, biometric identification systems, oil paintings, stamps, and the South Pacific have in common? Will Amy be able to connect the dots, as she has in the past? Danger awaits Amy and Jean-Michel once again, and their romantic relationship is certain to change because of it.

Witness in the Square

Gini Anding and Amy Page first met in a pastry shop on the main street of the Ile Saint-Louis in Paris. It was a chilly, rainy evening, and both were wearing the same navy blue raincoat and carrying identical black umbrellas. At the counter, they both ordered two slices of quiche Lorraine and four small palmiers. Simultaneously, they burst out laughing. While one is slightly shorter and plumper than the other, both are blondes and also Americans. "We could be taken for sisters " one of them exclaimed. From this chance encounter came a magical friendship and The Amateur Gourmet. Sometimes in the world of fiction, a character takes off and the author loses control. So it is with Gini Anding and Amy Page in the Witness series of romantic mystery novels: Witness on the Quay (2005), Witness at the Bridge (2006), Witness in the Square (2006), and a work in progress, Witness by the Church. Amy is the protagonist in these novels, and she is writing a cookbook, a project that many of her friends thought she'd never finish because of her constant additions and revisions. Even her creator began to despair of having her find the last period. Fortunately, it just so happens that Gini shares Amy's love of cooking and interest in all things culinary. It was only natural that Gini take over and make Amy's cookbook real, proving once and for all that creations of the imagination exist in our concrete everyday reality.

Gini Anding

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