Long and Short Reviews Anniversary Bash Features Mrs. Spinney’s Secret

 

Fun for one and all—LASR is celebrating its 16^th anniversary with books of all kinds and loads of prizes. Today my delightful mystery Mrs. Spinney’s Secret  is spotlighted. Read all about it, answer a question and enter to win!

How would you feel if Hollywood came to your little village in Maine to make a movie…and corpses began to show up? 

Here's the link:  https://www.longandshortreviews.com/guest-blogs/lasr-anniversary-scavenger-hunt-mrs-spinneys-secret-by-m-s-spencer-3/

My Maine mysteries

 My Maine Mysteries

Many of you know I write mysteries—you might call them cozy although I don’t usually feature a baker or cat lover. I like to use settings that are familiar to me, so many are set in the places I live or have lived. Two novels are set in the tiny town of Amity Landing, in Maine.

The Penhallow Train Incident

If you enjoy mysterious strangers, quirky romance, small town intrigue, more than one murder, and hidden treasure, you’ll love The Penhallow Train Incident. Set in Maine, it nonetheless manages to import Middle Eastern archaeologists, who set the hero and heroine on a search not just for the murderer, but for the tomb of the Queen of Sheba.

Mrs. Spinney’s Secret

What do you do when Hollywood wants to make a movie in your tiny Maine village? Cassidy Beauvoir, chairman of the board of overseers of Amity Landing, is ready to throw the bums out until she meets Jasper MacEwan, the director of American Waterloo: the Rout of the Penobscot Expedition. Their budding romance is threatened by a series of deadly incidents. Are they directed at the movie crew? Or is the target local Mainers?

Another 5-Star Review for The Penhallow Train Incident

Here’s another of several wonderful reviews for The Penhallow Train Incident, this one from Roxx T:

 

“Spencer's characters are delightful. Quirky, twisted, humorous, engaging, all the hallmarks of characters you will come to love. And set into a tale that pulls in so many varied strands that you could be forgiven for thinking the tapestry will never show itself. But it does, and in so doing, unveils a story that is imaginative and colorful. Guaranteed to keep you chuckling as you flip the pages.

A story you won't want to miss, with a conclusion you simply didn't see coming!”

You can read the full review here:

https://www.amazon.com/review/R2VJZ9R9HF0A4C

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4572095092

https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/2211851036

Griffin Tate hero of The Penhallow Train Incident Interviewed

 

Griffin Tate, hero of The Penhallow Train Incident, graciously agreed to an interview, which really gives you an idea of who (what?) he is. The Penhallow Train Incident is ON SALE at Amazon for 99 cents through March 18—so get your copy now!  It is currently featured at the 2022 Winter Readers Challenge as well.

 Link: http://www.amazon.com/Penhallow-Train-Incident-M-Spencer-ebook/dp/B01BOBX5NC

Questions:

Where are you from?

Hard to say. Growing up we traveled a lot—lived in Europe, the Middle East, and lots of U. S. States. I didn’t really settle down until after graduate school when University of Chicago hired me as an assistant professor. Went from there to Queenstown University in New Jersey and now happily ensconced in Maine.

Tell us a bit about The Penhallow Train Incident.

I sure enjoyed being part of the story, although I’d never admit it aloud. The Penhallow Train Incident is a funny, romantic, murder mystery set in Maine.   Rachel Tinker,  director of the Penhallow Historical Society, meets her match in Griffin Tate,  curmudgeonly retired professor (that’s me). Together we wade through a scene awash in red herrings to solve not one, but three murders. If, in fact, they are murders (I was never convinced, but don’t tell Rachel—she’ll just scoff). Along the way we deal with ancient rumors, ancient crime, and ancient tragedy, as Rachel—poor besotted soul--gropes nearer and nearer to love.

What did you think the first time you saw Rachel Tinker?

One more thing I’ll never admit, although she guessed, but I fell for her the first time I saw her on campus at Queenstown, surrounded by young acne-scarred, snot-nosed whippersnappers.

What was your second thought?

That she’d never give me a second glance.

Did you feel it was love at first sight?

Nah, she was way too chilly—you know how those female academics are. Besides, like I said, it wasn’t worth even approaching her—she was always surrounded by pimply-faced, weak-chinned undergrads.

What do you like most about her?

Do I have to say it? Sheesh, nosy little bugger, aren’t you. I suppose I’d have to say her curiosity, and of course her willingness to agree with everything I say. Oh wait, that’s my dog.

How would you describe her?

Well, she is rather beautiful, in a sensible way. She doesn’t seem to mind my occasional moods. She’s very bright for a girl, and willing to learn. Yes, I’d give her an A.

How would she describe you?

You’d have to ask her. Whatever I say she’ll dispute.

What made you choose Middle East history as a career?

I lived in the Middle East in my youth and naturally veered toward it in school.

What is your biggest fear?

Losing Rachel—and having her know that’s my greatest fear.

How do you relax?

Nap. Beer. Sail. Chase after stolen artifacts.

Who is your favorite fictional character and why?

The Queen of Sheba—if in fact she’s fictional. If not, Indiana Jones.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received?

Sit down and shut up.

 

Mrs. Spinney's Secret featured at NN Light's Best Books '21

 

Come join me at N. N. Light’s Best Bookish Event of 2021, where Mrs. Spinney’s Secret is featured. Enjoy a delightful excerpt about bad lobsters, and enter to win an Amazon gift card.

Here’s the link:

https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/post/mrs-spinney-s-secret-bb21

Mrs. Spinney's Secret at Long & Short Birthday Bash Today

Drop into the Long & Short Reviews Anniversary Blogfest today, Thursday, August 26, for a taste of my Maine mystery/romance Mrs. Spinney’s Secret.(It goes live at 7:00 am.)

 

Mrs. Spinney’s Secret: Lights! Camera! Action! Hollywood comes to Amity Landing, trailing corpses.

 

http://www.longandshortreviews.com/guest-blogs/lasr-anniversary-scavenger-hunt-mrs-spinneys-secret-by-m-s-spencer/

 

LASR is giving away lots of Amazon gift cards, including TWO $100 cards! All you have to do is read my blurb, answer a question on the Rafflecopter, and win! Easy peasy and great fun.

Meet Jasper’s Father from Mrs. Spinney’s Secret at NN Light’s

 

Father’s Day is upon us! Come by N. N. Light’s Book Heaven TODAY for a preview of special books featuring all kinds of fathers, including my Maine mystery Mrs. Spinney’s Secret. The hero, Jasper MacEwan, is an aspiring movie director, and his father Philip has given him his first major motion picture.

You can read two excerpts that show Philip in two lights—as the Hollywood tycoon, and an unexpectedly softer side as a father.

Enter the Rafflecopter to win an Amazon gift card!  Meanwhile, check Mrs. Spinney’s Secret out here:

https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/post/mrs-spinney-s-secret-cfbe

New Graphic for Mrs. Spinney's Secret

 How do you like this one?

Fun Fact about Mrs. Spinney's Secret

I'm participating in the 2021 Winter Games Reader Challenge. If you love to read this group is a fun way to get meet more than 50 authors and challenge yourself to read more and faster. Games and giveaways daily, Author Q & As, free books, and more. And you might win up to $250!  I'm offering Mrs. Spinney's Secret for free read to review.

Click here to join NOW!

https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSdHFwMRdVC8fu.../viewform

Here's a fun fact about Mrs. Spinney's Secret you want like:

In Mrs. Spinney’s Secret, a Hollywood studio is making a movie based on the Penobscot Expedition of 1779, the worst defeat in American naval history. In 1779, at the height of the American Revolution, a contingent of British forces were dispatched to Castine. Their mission was to take possession of the peninsula and build a fort to protect loyalists and to prevent marauding by privateers along the coast. At the time, Maine was still part of Massachusetts, and the boys in Boston took offense at the blatant theft of their territory. So they organized a flotilla to sail up the coast and remove said Brits.

Their leaders—including the revered Paul Revere—were dumb as tree stumps and couldn’t decide how to attack the city—a city that sticks out like a sore thumb on the Blue Hill peninsula. The Redcoats were prepared to surrender, but the Americans dithered offshore for almost three weeks, which was just enough time for English reinforcements to arrive and surround the hapless armada.

Mrs. Spinney's at Musings about the Writing Life with new excerpt

 

Drop by Musings about the Writing Life, Linda Carroll-Bradd’s wonderful site, for a taste of my new Maine mystery romance Mrs. Spinney’s Secret.

The excerpt today, Nemo’s, offers up a little more mystery!

http://blog.lindacarroll-bradd.com/release-promotion/guest-promotion-mrs-spinneys-secret-by-m-s-spencer/

 

Inspiration for Mrs. Spinney's Secret at Alicia Dean's Today

 

Do drop by Alicia Dean’s wonderful blog, where I’m talking about the inspiration for my new Maine mystery romance Mrs. Spinney’s Secret. Here’s the link: https://aliciadean.com/2021/01/22/mrs-spinneys-secret-by-m-s-spencer/

Mrs. Spinney’s Secret at Sandra Dailey’s: Excerpt: a Ghost!

Mrs. Spinney’s Secret is Released!!!

 

Drop by Sandra Dailey’s blog for  the first taste of my new release Mrs. Spinney’s Secret! Not only will you be treated to an excerpt about the Ghost of Amity Landing, but find out what happened to my very first manuscript. Check it out here:  https://sandradailey.blogspot.com/2021/01/m-s-spencer-with-mrs-spinneys-secret.htm

 

Mrs. Spinney's Secret Available for PreOrder!

 Come on down to Amazon where you can order a copy of my January 20 release Mrs. Spinney's Secret!

Here's the link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08P886V99

What do you do when Hollywood takes over your tiny Maine village to make a movie?

Cassidy Beauvoir, chair of the board of overseers of Amity Landing, is ready to throw the bums out; that is, until she meets Jasper MacEwan, the director of American Waterloo: the Rout of the Penobscot Expedition. It’s instant attraction until a series of deadly incidents threatens their budding romance. Are the attacks directed at the movie crew or the townspeople?

As the two search for answers, the trail leads them to long-held secrets of the worst naval defeat of the American Revolution—including betrayal, murder, and a lost hoard of English gold.

Mrs. Spinney’s Secret—Cover Revealed!

 Mrs. Spinney's Secret Cover Revealed

How about them apples! This is the new, approved cover for my upcoming release, Mrs. Spinney’s Secret. Isn’t it fabulous?

 

What do you do when Hollywood takes over your tiny Maine village to make a movie?

Cassidy Beauvoir, chair of the board of overseers of Amity Landing, is ready to throw the bums out; that is, until she meets Jasper MacEwan, the director of American Waterloo: the Rout of the Penobscot Expedition. It’s instant attraction until a series of deadly incidents threatens their budding romance. Are the attacks directed at the movie crew or the townspeople?

As the two search for answers, the trail leads them to long-held secrets of the worst naval defeat of the American Revolution—including betrayal, murder, and a lost hoard of English gold.

Check back often for a release date!

The Penhallow Train Incident--Last & Not Least. Maine mystery to Devour

Okay, get ready for the last of my Wild Rose Press book excerpts.

An antique train, a mysterious corpse, a bank robbery, a treasure map, and romantic rumblings make for passion and adventure in small town Maine.

Blurb

In the sleepy coastal Maine town of Penhallow, a stranger dies on a train, drawing Historical Society Director, Rachel Tinker, and curmudgeonly retired professor, Griffin Tate, into a spider’s web of archaeological obsession and greed. With the help of the victim’s rival, they set out to locate the Queen of Sheba’s tomb. Their plans are stymied when a war erupts between the sheriff and a state police detective who want to arrest the same man for different crimes. It’s up to Rachel to solve a mystery that includes two more murders, if she wants to unlock the soft heart that beats under Griffin’s hard crust. 

Penhallow

Maine, like many states,  is crisscrossed with old railroad beds. The Penhallow Train Incident refers to the fictional Penhallow and Moosehead Railroad. Much like other railways, its heyday came during the 19th century, when it ferried goods, mail, and passengers to many small towns in central Maine. As the story opens, several tourists are enjoying an excursion, complete with a reenactment of a train robbery, when the corpse of a mysterious foreign man is discovered.

Penhallow & Moosehead RR

Preoccupied with leads relating to the dead man’s presence in Penhallow, our heroine Rachel Tinker is confronted with a new clue. What she doesn’t know is whether it is connected to the victim or to some other mystery.

Excerpt (PG): The Clue

Feeling restless, Rachel decided to go back to work. She let herself into the historical society, turned the sign over to OPEN, and went to her office. Immersed in a treatise on the Scottish roots of Penhallow, she didn’t hear the entrance bell ring below. She looked up from her desk to find the woman from the photo standing in her door, her purse clutched to her bosom, staring at her. “Are you Rachel Tinker?”

“Yes. Can I help you?” Rachel thought frantically. How do I call Toby without spooking her?

“You’re the town historian?”

“Yes.”

The front door dinged again. The woman glanced over her shoulder. Then, eyes wide with fear, she tossed the purse at Rachel and ran. Rachel picked it up and, without hesitating, hid it in the file cabinet. Then she went out to the hallway and walked down the spiral iron stairs to the ground floor. The woman stood near the door pretending to examine an exhibit on Main Street businesses. Beside her, the man from the photo whispered rapidly in her ear, his hands balled into fists at his side. She cringed a bit but stood her ground.

Something told Rachel not to mention the purse. “Hello there—can I help you two?”

The man turned. His face was no longer bland. In fact, the rage sluicing from him forced Rachel to take a step backward. He spat out, “Who are you?”

Excuse me? “I am the director of the Penhallow Historical Society. Who are you?”

This seemed to throw him. The woman touched his arm. “Dad, this lady simply showed me where the restroom is. There’s no need to be rude.”

Rachel made a quick calculation. “That’s right. No trouble finding it, I hope?”

“None at all. Thank you.” She took her father’s arm. “This looks like a very interesting museum. It’s too bad we don’t have time to look around right now. Thanks for your help.” She walked out, accompanied by a now rather subdued parent.

Rachel stood in the middle of the hall. What the hell was that all about? Finally she flipped the sign to CLOSED, locked the front door, and stumped back up the stairs to her office. She moved deliberately to the cabinet and pulled the purse out. For a short minute she considered taking it straight to Toby. Then she opened it.

In the main compartment, she found a packet of tissues, a pen, a ten-dollar bill, a comb, and a piece of yellowed paper, folded in half. She unfolded it. It was a deposit slip from the Penhallow Bank and Trust made out for $233.68, dated August 2, 2005.

The Penhallow Train Incident

The Wild Rose Press, 3/30/2016, Crimson Rose Line

Contemporary romantic suspense/Cozy Mystery; Sensual (PG-PG13)

Ebook 79,665 words, Print 334 p.

Buy Links:

Wild Rose Press

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

KOBO

ITunes

Indigo

Google

Walmart

Audio

Great Review for The Penhallow Train Incident

GREAT REVIEW FOR THE PENHALLOW TRAIN INCIDENT!

"A good book, engrossing and entertaining....The plot is well developed, the characters fleshed out and the mystery keeps you guessing."

In the sleepy Maine town of Penhallow, a stranger dies on a train, setting off a chain of events that draws Rachel Tinker, director of the historical society, and Griffin Tate,  retired professor, into a spider’s web of archaeological obsession and greed. Before Rachel can unlock the soft heart that beats under Griffin’s hard crust, they must find the map to the Queen of Sheba’s tomb, and solve not one, but three murders.

Check out the review here:

https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/137006

Five Stars for the Penhallow Train Incident

What can I say? I’m honored that one of my favorite authors loved my cozy mystery/romantic suspense The Penhallow Train Incident. 

Here’s a bit of her FIVE-STAR review:

“I read a lot of mysteries, and I have to say, I fell for some of the red herrings in this book. :) A great read!”

In the sleepy Maine town of Penhallow, a stranger dies on a train, setting off a chain of events that draws Rachel Tinker, director of the historical society, and Griffin Tate,  retired professor, into a spider’s web of archaeological obsession and greed. Before Rachel can unlock the soft heart that beats under Griffin’s hard crust, they must find the map to the Queen of Sheba’s tomb, and solve not one, but three murders.

You can read the rest of the December 2018 review on Amazon here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3DW9IIPR89HI1/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B01BOBX5NC