The Thirteenth Tony Del Plato Mystery

What is remarkable about John Dandola as a writer isn't just his storytelling talent or his ability to capture the feeling of everyday life in the past or his explanations of how movies were made on film long before the advent of digital and CGI. What is truly remarkable is that he can also capture the naturalness of children and teenagers through their path to maturity the way it existed in America up until at least the mid-1960's. Older readers can identify with that and younger readers whose childhoods have been so fast-tracked by social media have no idea. But it's the well-rounded characters which always propel Dandola's stories. From college students to college professors to mobsters to Tony's thirteen-year-old son, there's not a single false note.

How does he do that?

"I've always studied people. I've learned to determine what makes them tick and how they'll behave. When I had psychology in college, it was all second nature to me," explains Dandola. "That's the basis for creating a fictional character. If I include someone from real life in my stories, it's easy because I report what I see and it's done as a compliment to schoolmates and neighbors. If it's a real person from history, I read and study about him or her. Somehow, the real person comes through—at least that's what their descendants have told me."

Is that the only trick?

"I don't think it's a trick at all. It's inspiration. You pick up on things. Many writers do it. A boyhood idol of mine was Harold R. Foster, the creator and superlative illustrator of Prince Valiant. In an interview, he once revealed that his beautiful Princess Aleta character in looks and personality was based on his own wife with the touching words, ‘It's been many years, but I still remember her that way.' I can say the same thing about my Tony Del Plato character who is based on my grandfather and my Patty Drury character who is based on my own wife. The time and the place and the incidents may be fictional but not the personas."

Even more accuracy permeates Dandola's settings in that he uses actual stores and shops which existed in Gloucester, Massachusetts, during the 1940's giving the reader a real feel of the place.

Dead Innocence is 312 pages and priced at $18.95. Following the lead of so many other small publishing houses, it is not available at Amazon.com. For easy and secure publisher-direct sales go to https://www.quincannongroup.com/DelPlatoMysteries.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) — July 1, 2025 — With the debut of this latest Tony Del Plato story, Dead Innocence, the difference readers will find is that on the cover and title page it is subtitled a "crime novel" rather than a "mystery". Although there is a great deal of detecting on Tony's part, the story delves into how this particular crime would have been carried out specific to the 1940's.

The synopsis:

During th 1940's, the mob began realizing that professionally produced pornographic movies could be profitable. To avoid the continued use of over-aged strippers in grainy homemade stag films, fresh-faced college girls were sought. Pornography was illegal but the jurisdiction remained vague between local and federal enforcement. When, in 1944, pornographic casting overtures begin on the campus Patty Drury's college, Tony Del Plato travels to Massachusetts and investigates.