Tuesday, June 8, 2021

The Pit & the Passion ~ New Romance Old Murder in Sarasota

 


“Captivating, suspenseful, entertaining novel! This thriller kept me on the edge of my seat while I was reading it! Would highly recommend to those who enjoy this genre.”

At midnight, in the darkness of a deserted hotel, comes a scream and a splash. Eighty-five years later, workmen uncover a skeleton in an old elevator shaft. Who is it, and how did it get there? To find out, Charity Snow, ace reporter for the Longboat Key Planet, teams up with Rancor Bass, best-selling author. A college ring they find at the dig site may prove to be their best clue.

Although his arrogance nearly exceeds his talent, Charity soon discovers a warm heart beating under Rancor’s handsome exterior. While dealing with a drop-dead gorgeous editor who may or may not be a villain, a publisher with a dark secret, and an irascible forensic specialist, Charity and Rancor unearth an unexpected link to the most famous circus family in the world.

This is John Ringling and friend at St. Armand's Circle (which he also built).



The Pit and the Passion: Murder at the Ghost Hotel, is set on Longboat Key, on the Gulf Coast of Florida. It is one of the barrier islands that protects Sarasota from the bad moods of the Gulf of Mexico. In the early 1920s John Ringling, of the Ringling Brothers Circus, began a concerted effort to promote the area. He planned housing developments, hotels, the St. Armand’s Circle shopping district, and other elements to draw northerners to Florida. His last great endeavor was the Ritz-Carlton at the tip of Longboat Key. Construction began in 1926…and ended in 1926. The hulk sat moldering until 1964 when it was finally torn down. To locals it was known as the Ghost Hotel. Below is an aerial view of the Ritz-Carlton in 1952.

 


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