Murder in a North Fork vineyard: New mystery novel set in familiar territory

Laurel resident Joseph Finora has spent a lot of time in recent months studying how to commit a murder.

But for Finora, 54, who can detail exactly how to off an enemy with an obscure agricultural chemical, it’s all in the name of research — he’s just self-published his first work of fiction, a murder mystery, Red Like Wine: The North Fork Harbor Vineyard Murders, and has spent hours interviewing law enforcement officials, pharmacists and others to ensure that every detail in his book is accurate.

The novel, set in the fictitious village of North Fork Harbor, “is a blend of all the towns on the East End,” Finora said, and takes place in a fictitious vineyard.

Finora did not have to look far for inspiration: The author has planted roots in the community. His parents live in Mattituck, and his wife Mary Grace is a substitute teacher in the area; their daughter Gabrielle is enrolled in the Mattituck-Cutchogue school district while sons, James, 20 is studying at Fordham University and Joe, 26, is an engineer.

Finora, who is also self-employed in marketing, with a focus on the financial services industry, decided to self-publish because working on his own for years has made him “a bit of a control freak. I don’t like the idea of someone 100 miles away handling my book.”

While his first work of fiction, the book is not Finora’s first foray into the publishing field. He’s also written two business books on marketing.

But tackling a work of fiction has long been top on Finora’s bucket list.

“It’s been a lifelong ambition,” Finora said. “I’ve always wanted to do this.”

The book is centered on the North Fork, he said, with many familiar locales peppered through the pages. “I wanted to expose the North Fork beyond the New York metro area,” he said. “Many people don’t know about the North Fork, and I wanted to help promote the North Fork and the wine industry — and for some bizarre reason, people love murder. It’s a crazy fascination.”

Finora delved deep into the dark side when penning his first fictitious tome. “I have four murders in my book,” he lauded. “I give you a lot of murder for your money.”

The book, he said, centers on two character types, the “local people and the transplants, of which I’m one.”

But although there are some “crazy characters” in his pages, Finora won’t ‘fess up when asked if any are based on real-life acquaintances. “There are places you’ll recognize, but if someone comes up and asks me if that’s Mr. so and so, I’ll always deny it,” he laughed.

Originally from the Bronx, Finora first moved out to the area full-time 16 years ago but has summered on the North Fork for years.

The novel, he said, took three years to complete, with most of his writing done in the early morning hours, when he’d find himself “really percolating. That’s when I’d knock it out.”

Juggling a day job with his writing could be “tricky,” he said. “It was a combination of being creative and staying on schedule.”

But the writing process has always intrigued, and fiction posed new challenges, Finora said. “You’re constantly asking yourself what happens next,” he said. “And then you have to examine all the different scenarios. You’re always analyzing. It got to the point where I’d here character conversations in my head.”

His wife, Finora said, was his constant critic/editor. “She was reading pages as they were coming out. She’s definitely paid her dues,” he said.

Influenced by authors including J.D. Salinger, with The Catcher in the Rye being a longtime favorite, as well as E.L. Doctorow and Hubert Selby Jr., who wrote Last Exit to Brooklyn, Finora majored in English at Fordham.

Now that the novel is finished, Finora said he feels “great relief. It’s been well-received. The community has been very supportive.”

Many, he said, have been “astonished to hear that I wrote about murder.”

While researching the deadly and obscure agricultural chemical used in the murders, speaking to toxicologists and other experts — the product, he said, is no longer on the market — Finora said he spent hours “buried in books, with slips of paper,” and interviewing experts. “There is no antidote he said. There’s a five to 10 minute kill time, depending on when it’s injected. You use a syringe as a murder weapon. I also learned that before the proliferation of handguns, the number one murder method was poison.”

Locals, including law enforcement officials, are delighted to help when asked for a hand during the research process, Finora said. “The funny thing is you can approach almost anyone and tell them you need help writing a book, a murder mystery. They become so forthcoming. They almost seem flattered; they get all chatty. That was very nice of them. They’re appreciative that you don’t want to want to make a mistake.”

Next up, Finora’s working on a play about men. With a master’s degree in theater from Hunter College, he’s had plays produced off-off-Broadway. He expects finish his latest work sometime in 2015.

For now, he’s busy promoting his new murder mystery, which is available on Amazon.com, at Barnes & Noble, Preston’s in Greenport, the Southold Pharmacy, the Shelter Island Pharmacy, and at BookHampton.

Readers, he said, should be ready for a hair-raising ride. “If they want to go to sleep with the lights on, they’ll read this book,” he said.