Monday, August 31, 2026

Teresa Crowe & The Salt Widow—new dark cozy mystery

Please welcome Teresa Crowe, author of the new dark cozy mystery, The Salt Widow, the first of five in the Salt Widow Mysteries set on the Chesapeake Bay. It releases officially today, August 31. Teresa, could you tell us about the story? 

Truth is a tide. You can’t keep it from coming in.

When Janessa “Nessa” Douglas inherits her grandmother’s house in Mystic Beach on the Chesapeake Bay, she intends to sell it and never look back. The locals still whisper about her grandmother, Elspeth, who wrote strange fairy tales about women who kept dangerous secrets.

When a college intern named Ivy Camden vanishes while studying those same folktales, Nessa’s plans are pulled out to sea. Ivy’s research hints that Elspeth’s most infamous story, The Salt Widow, was not born of myth but of murder.

With help from her childhood friend, Nessa begins to unravel the buried history of the town: drowned girls, a power family’s cover-up, and a legacy of silence stretching back more than a century. The deeper she digs, the more she realizes her grandmother’s stories weren’t warnings. They were confessions.

As storms roll in from the bay and old sins rise with the tide, Nessa must decide whether to flee from her family’s darkness or finish what the Salt Widow started.

The Salt Widow

Teresa Crowe Books, August 31, 2026

Genres: Dark Cozy Mystery, Thriller, Paranormal Mystery

Keywords: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Amateur Sleuth, Small Town, Seaside, Superstitions, Secrets, Cold Case, Family Trauma, Crimes against women, Mythology, Legacy Family

Amazon Sales Link: https://a.co/d/01qDrNeZ

The Salt Widow Mysteries are a planned five-book series featuring the seaside, superstition, and small town secrets unraveled by amateur sleuth Nessa Douglas.

Order of books to be released:

1.     The Salt Widow

2.    The Salt Widow’s Key

3.    The Salt Widow’s Curse

4.    The Salt Widow’s Tide

5.    The Salt Widow’s Watch

 


About the Author & Social Media:

www.teresacrowebooks.com

www.facebook.com/teresacrowebooks

I’m Teresa Crowe, a mystery writer, social work professor, and longtime believer that stories help us understand what people hide, what they survive, and what they carry with them. I live near the Maryland Atlantic coast, where the water, weather, small towns, and shifting tides constantly find their way into my fiction. I’m drawn to places that feel beautiful and unsettling at the same time, like boardwalks after dark, quiet marinas, old houses, isolated shorelines, and small communities where everyone knows more than they say. When I’m not writing or teaching, I’m usually reading, boating, spending time on the beach, or hanging out with my husband and our dogs. My background in social work shapes how I think about people, but my mysteries come from a lifelong curiosity about secrets, motives, and the stories beneath the surface. I write coastal mysteries with psychological depth, atmospheric settings, and buried truths that refuse to stay buried.

Sunday, August 16, 2026

A New Five-Star Review for The Wishing Tree!

 

Out of the blue! A Five-Star Review from Kim Ligon for The Wishing Tree: Love, Lies and Spies on Chincoteague Island. Here’s a tidbit: “Spencer's highly descriptive narrative whisked me away to Chincoteague Island and the non-stop action kept me riveted there.”

The story:

Will the wind whip her token from the Wishing Tree and make her wish come true?

Addison Steele dreams of the day her husband—lost at sea—returns to her. Instead, she meets Nick Savage, whose every word may be a lie. She is soon embroiled in mystery, all related to the top secret science station at Wallops Island, Virginia.

After a Belarusian scientist at Wallops is murdered, the questions multiply. Was it because he caught the person stealing classified documents or because he wanted to defect? Is Nick the spy—or is it his brother? How can she trust the man who is slowly claiming her heart when his story keeps shifting?

To read the whole review click here:

https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/1947521497

Thank you, Kim!

Monday, August 3, 2026

Now available for preorder ~ Fair Winds and Foul Play: an Amity Landing Mystery!

Now available for preorder ~ Fair Winds and Foul Play: an Amity Landing Mystery!

What do a government official, a loony environmentalist, and a batty old lady have in common?

Zoe’s run-in with the newcomer in Albion Cottage is hardly promising, but his gunmetal gray eyes and air of mystery stick with her. Why is he hiding? Who is he? His prickly attitude grates on the neighborly—well, to be honest, nosey—folks of the village of Amity Landing, but when he confesses to Zoe that he is the witness to a gruesome murder, she jumps at the chance to help the handsome stranger.

Two more corpses make their appearance in quick succession, but their connection to the first body is murky at best. Is it simply a series of unfortunate incidents? Has Amity Landing become a hotbed of homicide or is there a pattern to the madness? Do more have to die before Zoe and the stranger can fit the puzzle pieces together?

You can preorder Fair Winds here:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Fair-Winds-Foul-Play-Landing-ebook/dp/B0GX35YY4X

Barnes&Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fair-winds-and-foul-play-m-s-spencer/1150931840

The Wild Rose Press: https://shop.app/products/9410606498010/fair-winds-and-foul-play-an-amity-landing-mystery

Monday, July 20, 2026

Fair Winds & Foul Play Release Date September 30!

 

Get Ready! Fair Winds and Foul Play: an Amity Landing Mystery is on its way. Releasing September 30 of this year, it’s a story of murder and romance in small town Maine. Here’s the blurb:

What do a government official, a loony environmentalist, and a batty old lady have in common?

Zoe’s run-in with the newcomer in Albion Cottage is hardly promising, but his gunmetal gray eyes and air of mystery stick with her. Why is he hiding? Who is he? His prickly attitude grates on the neighborly—well, to be honest, nosey—folks of the village of Amity Landing, but when he confesses to Zoe that he is the witness to a gruesome murder, she jumps at the chance to help the handsome stranger.

Two more corpses make their appearance in quick succession, but their connection to the first body is murky at best. Is it simply a series of unfortunate incidents? Has Amity Landing become a hotbed of homicide, or is there a pattern to the madness? Do more have to die before Zoe and the stranger can fit the puzzle pieces together?


Monday, July 6, 2026

The Pit & the Passion: Murder at the Ghost Hotel in NN Light's Summer Event

A drop-dead gorgeous editor who may or may not be a villain, a publisher with a dark secret, and a mysterious ring—a famous writer & ace reporter unearth an unexpected link to the most famous circus family in the world. Do come by N. N. Light’s Book Heaven for her Summer Bookish Event, featuring my Longboat Key historical mystery the Pit and the Passion: Murder at the Ghost Hotel. I have a new excerpt for you. Enter to win fabulous prizes!

https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/summertime-books-bookish-event

Wednesday, July 1, 2026

Mrs. Spinney's Secret Makes an Entrance at N N Light's Summer Book Event

The lure of treasure draws moviemakers, madmen, and mystery to Maine. Do drop by N. N. Light’s Book Heaven for her Summer Bookish Event featuring my fabulous mystery Mrs. Spinney’s Secret. I’m offering a brand new excerpt! Enter to win great prizes.

https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/summertime-books-bookish-event

OR

https://substack.com/@nnlightsbookheaven/p-204322359

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

In the Crosshairs featured at NN Light's Summer Book Event

 A US senator commits suicide and his aide disappears. Weeks later the body of a lobbyist washes up in Florida, dead by crossbow. Please drop over to N.N. Light’s Book Heaven’s Summer Bookish Event, where my Florida mystery In the Crosshairs: the Body on Leffis Key is featured today!  I’m offering a brand new excerpt. Enter to win great prizes!

https://substack.com/@nnlightsbookheaven/p-203294589  

OR

https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/summertime-books-bookish-event

Monday, June 15, 2026

I'm a recommended read at Teresa Crowe!

Drop by Teresa Crowe's wonderful newsletter. She recommends  Railroad Ties: the Marmion Grove Murders to all her readers. It the first of my novels set in my home town and in the house I grew up in. Marmion Grove is modeled after a town founded in 1891 as a retreat for Washington, DC dwellers during the hot and humid summers. My house, built in 1892, is a classic Queen Anne, complete with tower, wraparound porch, and even a stable. The town is peopled by a quirky assortment of academics, scientists, and eccentrics, making it a perfect setting for murder and mystery.

https://preview.mailerlite.io/preview/1926892/emails/184226357443561084

Thursday, June 4, 2026

Fair Winds and Foul Play Cover Reveal

Coming Soon! 

Fair Winds & Foul Play: an Amity Landing Mystery

Fair Winds and Foul Play is off to be galley proofed. It won't be long now! Save this space. 

The Blurb:

What do a government official, a loony environmentalist, and a batty old lady have in common?

Zoe’s run-in with the newcomer in Albion Cottage is hardly promising, but his gunmetal gray eyes and air of mystery stick with her. Why is he hiding? Who is he? His prickly attitude grates on the neighborly—well, to be honest, nosey—folks of the village of Amity Landing, but when he confesses to Zoe that he is the witness to a gruesome murder, she jumps at the chance to help the handsome stranger.

Two more corpses make their appearance in quick succession, but their connection to the first body is murky at best. Is it simply a series of unfortunate incidents? Has Amity Landing become a hotbed of homicide? Or is there a pattern to the madness? Do more have to die before Zoe and the stranger can fit the puzzle pieces together?


Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Welcome Chelsey Ortega & Bondwitch: Hybrid

Please welcome the inimitable Chelsey Ortega. She’s going to tell us about her new release, book 2 in the Bondwitch series: Bondwitch: Hybrid.

Bondwitch: Hybrid is the sequel to Bondwitch. In book 1, Annamaria learns that she is a witch on prom night by getting her powers unlocked by the very person who locked them sixteen years prior. She goes on an adventure to learn how to use them, and picks up new friends and love interest along the way.

In book 2, Annamaria is well-versed in the use of magic, but is still a baby in the larger magical world that she belongs to. She has responsibilities she does not want, has to fight to keep her boyfriend in her life, and must choose between forming her own found family or staying within her controlling grandmother’s clutches. Meanwhile, her sister, Marianna has been elevated from side character in book 1 to secondary main character in book 2. She will need to confront her past in order to become the witch her grandmother expects of her.

The larger Bondwitch world was inspired by a single conversation with my brother: Witches would have been great in Twilight. What started out as verbal fanfiction for another series, turned into its own world, story, and characters. As I veered into my own story, I discovered that I really like writing from the underlying theme of family dynamics. Annamaria fights with her grandmother in almost every chapter, works out deep emotions with her aunt, and constantly focuses on protecting her sister. Marianna yearns to win her grandmother’s approval while also protecting her sister. The families in Bondwitch are messy, but real and relatable.

Blurb

Annamaria Lyons is finally with her grandma, but Libby holds unyielding control of her coven and granddaughters. Betrothed to a male witch, Annamaria’s heart secretly belongs to her vampire boyfriend. When Libby threatens deadly consequences if she refuses the arranged marriage, Annamaria faces an impossible choice: obey or risk everything to follow her heart?

Marianna Lyons is a big disappointment. Stripped of her magic when she was forcefully turned into a vampire, she is now an outcast, desperate for Libby’s approval. When Marianna is tricked into breaking coven rules, she faces a difficult decision: endure brutal rehabilitation, or leave her new home. As Marianna struggles to rediscover herself, will she accept her new identity, or conform to Libby’s impossible demands?

Excerpt:

“Open the gate.” Annamaria stood as tall as she could in front of the two inside guards.

 “I’m sorry, Miss. Madam Libby’s orders. No one goes in or out tonight.” His face was a mask of neutrality.

“But tonight’s the night Anthony returns.” The guard’s eyes softened, pity swirling in their chocolate brown depths. She pinched her brows. Was this why Libby snooped through her phone this morning? Annamaria looked to her left. The other guard was talking to Zeke, who bobbed his head with folded arms. She looked to her right. No one. She ran along the perimeter, calling on the air to give her a boost. Annamaria leaped upward, a strong wind from her palms catching and guiding her.

“Miss!” 

The guard ran right behind her. His fingers grazed her ankles. Annamaria’s control of the air flickered and she wobbled. She kicked at him, planted her foot against his head, and used his sturdy form to thrust herself upward. She called on a final boost of air, landing on top of the wall. The guard cried out as he landed flat on his back on the ground below. Annamaria looked over the wall. Four figures stood near a vehicle in the dark. 

She jumped and used the air to slow her fall. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she ran toward the group. The figures became clearer. Two shifter guards, Marianna, and Anthony. Annamaria made a beeline to Anthony and threw herself into his arms. He caught her without changing his stance or breath. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and he wrapped his arms around hers, nuzzling his nose into her hair. 

She kissed him in front of their small audience, and anyone else who might be watching. Anthony kissed her back, parting her lips with his tongue and lightly sucking on her bottom lip. Though they had been “dating” for the past month, their last kiss had been before she fled Will’s over a month ago. She kissed him until she ran out of breath, then inhaled and rested her forehead against his.

“Welcome home,” she whispered, gazing into his dark brown eyes and dropping her feet to the ground.

Anthony chuckled, and his black skater hair fell forward as he looked down to meet her gaze. “I’ll go away more often if this is how you’ll greet me.”

 

Bondwitch: Hybrid

The Wild Rose Press: 5/11/26

Genre: Romantic Fantasy

392 pages

Heat level: Warm

 

Buy Links

Amazon Barnes & Noble The Wild Rose Press Walmart

Other buy options: https://chelseymortega.com/bondwitch-2/


About the Author

Chelsey M. Ortega is a teacher by day and award-winning author by night. History is her first love, and any story involving magic and romance, her second love. She especially loves witches and is still awaiting her acceptance letter to a well-known school. Chelsey received her Bachelor's in History Teaching from Brigham Young University. In addition to writing, Chelsey teaches high school U.S. History and ELD. She lives in Utah with her husband, three children, and two cats. Follow Chelsey at www.chelseymortega.com

Socials:

Facebook: Chelsey M. Ortega -Author https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086032045677#

Instagram: @chelsey_mae_o https://www.instagram.com/chelsey_mae_o/ 

TikTok: @chelseym.ortega https://www.tiktok.com/@chelseym.ortega

Bluesky: @chelseymortega.bsky.social  https://bsky.app/profile/chelseymortega.bsky.social

Thursday, March 26, 2026

video

The World of Amity Landing

 The World of Amity Landing

My mysteries, The Penhallow Train Incident and Mrs. Spinney’s Secret, take place in midcoast Maine, in the fictional towns of Penhallow and Amity Landing. My upcoming release, Fair Winds and Foul Play, is set there.

Midcoast Maine is not perhaps as well known as the southern beaches or the Down East sites such as Bar Harbor, but it has its own special charm. Towns like Bath, Camden, Rockland, and Belfast showcase the Maine of lobstermen, shipbuilders, and farmers, while towns such as Thomaston on the many small peninsulas that jut into Penobscot Bay offer gorgeous views and pleasant cottages.

Amity Landing is a small village almost ready to tumble into Penobscot Bay. Established as a Methodist revival camp, people would come from the many small towns in central Maine. At first they pitched tents, then built platforms for the tents, and finally erected walls and roofs. The narrow dirt roads are lined with gingerbread cottages stuck cheek by jowl next to each other.

The city of Penhallow lies four miles from Amity Landing, nestled in the curve of Penobscot Bay, just below the point where Maine begins its journey Down East. Here, the Passamaquoddy River debouches into the bay, splitting Penhallow into east and west halves. The nineteenth-century red brick buildings of an old factory town line Main Street and High Street on the west side. The east side is mostly businesses catering to sightseers heading toward Ellsworth and Acadia National Park.

In the Penhallow Train Incident an ancient mystery comes to a small Maine town and brings with it murder, romance, suspense, and treasure.

In Mrs. Spinney’s Secret Amity Landing is being invaded by Hollywood and Cassidy Beauvoir, chairman of the board of overseers, doesn’t like it. That is, until she meets Jasper MacEwan, the director of American Waterloo: the Rout of the Penobscot Expedition. Their budding romance is interrupted by a series of deadly incidents, sending them on a quest for long-lost English gold.

Soon to be released is Fair Winds and Foul Play. It’s about a man in the witness protection program whose boss was dropped from the sky to his death on a wind turbine. The question isn't so much who murdered him as who wanted him dead. Suspects include developers, environmentalists, NIMBY protesters, and even lovers.





Monday, March 23, 2026

New Contract: Fair Winds & Foul Play

Coming Soon: Fair Winds and Foul Play: an Amity Landing Story

I just signed a contract with The Wild Rose Press for my 19th novel! It's a mystery set in Maine at my favorite little village called Amity Landing.

Here's the unofficial blurb:

At midnight on a deserted island, Gunnar Nordstrom, assistant secretary of the Interior, falls from the sky, to be ripped to shreds by the blades of a wind turbine. Was it murder or a dreadful accident?

Sebastian Guthrie—the lone witness—is rushed into the witness protection program, but is it for his safety or that of someone else?

Nordstrom was about to approve an offshore wind farm in Maine, a project opposed by all but a handful of people. Sebastian finds an ally in Zoe Thibodeau, the owner of a local pet adoption center, and together they sort through a Gordian knot of dead ends, red herrings, murders, and suspects. Is it all to do with the wind farm, or is there a much darker secret buried under the trail of corpses?

Amity Landing

Monday, March 9, 2026

Jana Richards Has a New Time Travel Novel Out!

Please welcome Jana Richards, here to talk about her new time travel romance, Book 1 in the series Twice in a Lifetime, I’ll Be Seeing You.

When apprentice angel Gabriel takes Frank back in time for a second chance at love, they both learn lessons about trust.

I’ll Be Seeing You is a time-travel romance, set partially during World War Two. Frank is a WW2 veteran who, in his old age, is visited by apprentice angel Gabriel who proposes to take him back in time, to the days shortly before D-Day in 1944, to give him a second chance at love.

I’ve always had an interest in stories about World War Two, and in particular, anything relating to the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. My father was WW2 veteran and participated in D-Day. In 1942 he signed up with the Regina Rifles. The nickname for members of the Regina Rifles was the Farmer Johns, because so many of them were farmers named John. My dad fit right in since his first name was John, and he was indeed a farmer.

He spent almost two years training, first in Canada, and then in Scotland, before being shipped to the south of England in anticipation of the invasion. On June 6, Canadian troops, including my dad, landed on Juno Beach in Normandy. By June 9, he was captured and spent the rest of the war as a POW. 

I’d known since childhood that he’d been a POW, but I didn’t realize until a few years ago when we requested my father’s army records that his family didn’t know for months whether he was alive or dead. His army records included copies of telegraphs sent to his father. The first one arrived June 23, 1944, informing my grandfather that his son was missing in action, with a promise to provide more information as it became available. The next telegraph didn’t arrive until November 10, 1944. This one stated that the army had learned through “indirect channels” that Dad was a prisoner of war. The third, and last, telegraph arrived May 2, 1945 to tell my grandparents that Dad was “now safe in United Kingdom twenty ninth April 1945.”

I find those three telegraphs so poignant. I can’t imagine what those months were like for his family, not knowing if he’d return. If my child, or brother, was missing I know I’d be devastated. And yet my grandmother never spoke of it when I was growing up.

I can’t imagine what the experience was like for my father either. He didn’t talk much about his experiences during the war either, at least not to me. I wish I’d asked him more questions. I’m left to imagine.

 

Blurb

Apprentice angel Gabriel Daniel’s first assignment in his quest to become a full-fledged angel is to give WW2 veteran, Frank Brennan, a second chance at love. With help from his mentor, senior angel Thomas, Gabriel takes Frank back to 1944 to Plymouth, England. There, Frank made his biggest mistake with love. He fell in love with Claire Cartwright, but when he found her kissing another man, he ended their relationship, despite Claire’s insistence that things weren’t as they appeared. This time around, Gabriel’s task is to convince Frank to trust in Claire’s love and fidelity, despite the evidence against her.

At the same time, Thomas takes Gabriel on a journey through his relationship with Sloane, the love of his mortal life. For the first time, Gabriel sees how his jealousy and distrust tainted their love.

Unless Gabriel persuades Frank to trust Claire, his goal of becoming a citizen of Heaven is doomed, along with his desire to watch over his mother and brother back on Earth. Frank has a complicated history that Gabriel must help him confront before either of them gets what they need.

 

I'll Be Seeing You

Time Travel Second Chance Romance

Themes: Time travel, angels and Heaven, second chance at love

Keywords: time travel romance, historical fiction, WW2 time travel, WW2 love story, angel paranormal romance, second chance at love romance

336 pages; heat level: PG

Release Date: March 1, 2026

Excerpt:

The man sat in the chair Gabriel had just vacated. “My name is Thomas, and this place is Heaven.” He pointed to the meadow outside the open door. “More specifically, the castle on the other side of the meadow is Heaven. This is a waiting room.”

          Gabriel stared at him. This had to be a joke. Someone was really trying to put one over on him. Must be the guys in the AI department. Who else could pull off something as elaborate as this?

          “Okay, where are we really? When is everybody going to pop out of the woodwork and yell ‘Surprise!’?”

          Thomas folded his hands in his lap. “We’re in Heaven. Really.”

          Impossible. He had to be in a hospital. Panic struck with his next thought. What if he was in a mental institution? Nothing scared him more than going down the same road his mother and brother had travelled.  

          “You don’t have to worry, Gabriel. You’re not in a hospital and you’re not in a mental institution. Your mental faculties are working fine. Better than fine, now that you’re here.”

          Gabriel stepped back. “How did you know my name? How did you know what I was thinking?”

          Thomas lifted one shoulder in an elegant shrug. He stood, and feathered wings, blazingly white and large enough for the tips to touch the ceiling, unfurled from his back and spread wide. “Because I’m an angel. When you become an angel, you’ll be able to read thoughts, too. And much more.”

 Buy Links:

Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA |

Goodreads | BookBub |

About the Author:


When Jana Richards read her first romance novel, she immediately knew two things: she had to commit the stories running through her head to paper, and they had to end with a happily ever after. She also knew she’d found what she was meant to do. Since then she’s never met a romance genre she didn’t like. She writes contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and historical romance set in World War Two, in lengths ranging from short story to full length novel. Just for fun, she throws in generous helpings of humor, and the occasional dash of the paranormal.

When not writing up a storm or dealing with dust bunnies, Jana can be found pursuing hobbies such as golf (which she plays very badly) or reading (which she does much better).

Jana lives in Western Canada with her husband Warren and a senior calico cat named Layla. You can reach her through her website at http://www.janarichards.com

Social Media Links:

Website:  http://www.janarichards.com

Blog:  https://www.janarichards.com/blog

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/JanaRichardsAuthor

Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/JanaRichards_

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janarichards155/

Amazon Author Page:  http://www.amazon.com/author/janarichards

Amazon UK Author Page:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B002DEVWWG

Newsletter Signup: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/k2b4c3

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janarichards155

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/janarichards.bsky.social

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2892274.Jana_Richards

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jana-richards

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Railroad Ties at N. N. Light's Cozy Mystery Event

 A one-hundred-year-old letter describes a murder, but who was the victim? What happened to the body and the carpetbag full of money?

N. N. Light’s Book Heaven is featuring my latest mystery Railroad Ties: the Marmion Grove Murders at her wonderful Cozy Mystery event. Find out why it’s a MUST READ. One lucky reader will win an Amazon gift card!!