"Adrienne Giordano is spreading her wings like never before with her latest release INTO THE FIRE, and man did she soar!" -Thoughts of a Blonde blog

An Apple Books pick for the 2020 Most Anticipated Fall books list.

"If you love a good mystery that is well written then this one is for you." -Amazon Reviewer

"I recommend Into the Fire by Adrienne Giordano if you love a good mystery with intriguing characters and a unique plot." -Goodreads

"Into the Fire by Adrienne Giordano was one of those books that captured me from the first chapter. Suspense, emotional highs and lows, distinctive characters and a complex story that kept me turning the pages." -Goodreads

​"A riveting new mystery read that will keep you glued." -Goodreads  --This text refers to the paperback edition.

The story behind the story...


Some projects are intensely personal. This is one of them.

My co-author is my cousin, Mary Jo Briscione. I come from a large Italian family where I'm "the baby". Mary Jo was the oldest of the cousins, making her twenty years my senior. The benefit for me was that from a very young age, MJ showed me that women had powerful voices. She was fiercely independent and outspoken at a time when it wasn't exactly popular for women to be that way. As a kid, I dreamed of living a life like Mary Jo. She traveled, she worked, she was active in the teacher's union and fought hard for her fellow educators. Her influence taught me to imagine life beyond what I knew. It's a gift I will forever be thankful for. She was, in short, my person.

Five years ago, MJ lost her battle with pancreatic cancer. Losing her devastated us. During her last days, I was sitting with her and she told me she'd always wanted to be a writer. She'd been such a large part of my life and we'd talked often about my dream of being an author, but she'd never shared her own desire to write. She even had a project she'd been working on. Unfortunately, she hadn't gotten to finishing it. She directed me to her nightstand, where she kept research on a hotel fire from 1986. 

She'd wanted to do a retrospective on the event and had pages of hand-written notes and copies of newspaper and magazine articles. The amount of work she'd done stunned me. That's when an idea hit me. In all the times she'd talked me out of funks, offered advice and generally helped me get out of my own way, I'd never had the opportunity to do something for her that would truly be meaningful. 

At least not yet.

I suggested that I use her research to write a novel about a fictitious hotel fire and list us as co-authors. She liked that idea. In fact, what she'd said was (and I can still picture her giant smile) "That would be great." 

We spent time over the next few days roughing out ideas. The original fire involved union workers, and she asked if we could add that in. She wanted the sleuth to be an older woman with a fabulous life. Think Auntie Mame, she'd said. Also, there'd been a Secret Service agent who had died in the original fire. He'd been investigating a counterfeiting ring. MJ thought that was interesting, so could I add the Secret Service in? Then there was an entertainer she'd heard about that performed at the hotel. Could I throw him in, too? 

So far I had an unsolved arson, union workers being investigated by Auntie Mame, a random Secret Service agent, a counterfeiting scheme and a crooner. That's when the panic took hold. I had no clue how I'd make it work, but I promised Mary Jo I'd figure it out. 

Days later, Mary Jo moved on to a world much better than ours. 

It took me five years to find the nerve to tackle this project. Emotionally, I wasn't ready. In 2019, I pulled out MJ's research. Seeing her handwriting and holding her pencil sparked something. The book literally poured out of me. 

It's not lost on me that the major characters are an older woman and a junior reporter who learns from her. In many ways, Mary Jo was my Rose. I will always love her for that.

I hope you enjoy getting to know Rose and Rae. Happy reading. --This text refers to the paperback edition.