JERSEY SHORE – Local author Diane Crecca hosted a book launch party for her new book, “The Nose Knows: A Down the Shore Mystery,” at the Buttered Biscuit cafe in Bradley Beach. People from the local shore area assembled to purchase a copy, participate in a Q&A session, and have their book signed by Crecca as they celebrated the book’s launch.
“The Nose Knows” is a murder mystery novel that is heavily inspired by Crecca’s own life. Erica Sloan, the main character of the book, has retired from being a professional “Nose” (aka perfume developer and tester) in New York City and decided to settle down by the Jersey Shore, taking a job as a bartender in Asbury Park at a place called the Harbor Island Beach Club.
However, her calm life down by the beach is interrupted when the club’s treasurer is found dead with Sloan’s missing scarf around her neck. Determined to solve the mystery and protect her new way of life and good name, Erica relies on the skill she knows best: her extraordinary sense of smell.
One elusive fragrance note leads her toward long-held secrets and an unexpected link to the Morro Castle, a ship that caught fire in 1934 and was driven ashore right next to the convention hall in Asbury Park.
As subtle warnings escalate and her friends’ safety is threatened, Sloan must trust her instincts, her training, and those who are close to her so she can find a way to sniff out the truth.
Crecca herself worked as a professional “Nose” in New York City for many years and often compared her ability to smell with that of police dogs, who are also specially trained to respond to scents. With smell being a large part of the book, Crecca uses in-depth detail to describe what exactly Sloan is smelling while slipping some knowledge and tricks of her own trade in each chapter.
Other areas where Crecca used her own life to build out the story of the book are the setting. Crecca is a native of the Jersey Shore, and in her words, basically spent entire summers during her youth on the Asbury Park Boardwalk and at other beachfronts in the area. She also references several of her favorite restaurants throughout the book, allowing locals to tie in an even more personal connection when they read it.
Sloan is also heavily inspired by Crecca herself in terms of personality, and of course, her former job. Her job as a bartender also comes from Crecca’s own interest in being a bartender and her belief that bartenders and perfume makers are not so different in their craft.
Crecca also made a cocktail book inspired by the characters and the setting in The Nose Knows. The book features 12 total Christmas and winter cocktails that blend the holidays with a cozy mystery charm. That book is called “Erica Sloan’s Cozy Christmas Cocktail Book.”
“The Nose Knows” is available for purchase on Amazon. Those interested in learning more about the book are encouraged to do so by looking at Crecca’s various social media pages.
