Behind The Scenes

I Took My Three Kids To Sicily To Solve A Murder

Was it madness? Were there tears? Absolutely. And I’d do it all again.

Written by Jo Piazza

17 hours ago

Emma Chao/Scary Mommy; Getty Images; Photo Courtesy of Author

About a year ago, after writing a book based on my family’s stories, I decided I had to go to Sicily to solve my great-great-grandmother’s murder. I didn’t envision taking three children under 7 along with me — but once you become a parent, life never goes as you planned.

It was summer vacation, childcare was scarce, and American summer camp was (and is) stupidly expensive. So, off went my family of five, including a 6-month-old baby, to solve a 100-year-old mafia murder mystery.

My new novel, The Sicilian Inheritance, is loosely based on my family’s lore that my great-great-grandmother Lorenza was murdered in Sicily just over 100 years ago. When I finished writing the book, I decided to make a true-crime podcast trying to solve the murder myself.