Murder on Cape Cod is Everywhere

by Posted on

Edith/Maddie here, secretly pleased to have the house cleaned, restored to its non-holiday state, and quiet again, no matter how much I loved having my family home for the holidays. Read on for two special giveaways!

It’s release week for Murder on Cape Cod, Maddie Day’s first Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery. What, you ask? Didn’t that release last year? Sigh. Yes, it did, but only from Barnes & Noble and only in paperback. The exclusive arrangement was urged on me by my agent and my editor, and it has been a very nice boost to my career.

That said, so many of my devoted readers, possibly you among them, only read on Kindle or other eformats , sometimes for reasons of a disability. Or only read via audiobook. Or don’t have a B&N near them and can’t afford the shipping cost. Or are Canadian and … see previous. Or are devoted to buying only from their local non-chain bookstore. All were made to wait a year.

I’m delighted the book is now out everywhere. In ebook. On audio. Locally!

Audiobook cover

Summer is busy season for Mackenzie “Mac” Almeida’s bicycle shop, nestled in the seaside hamlet of Westham, Massachusetts. She’s expecting an influx of tourists at Mac’s Bikes; instead she discovers the body of Jake Lacey, and her brother soon becomes a suspect. Mac’s only experience with murder investigations is limited to the cozy mysteries she reads with her local book group, the Cozy Capers. To clear her brother’s name, Mac has to summon help from her book group co-investigators. For a small town, Westham is teeming with possible killers, and this is one mystery where Mac is hoping for anything but a surprise ending.

I have to tell you, I am loving writing this series. Murder at the Taffy Shop releases March 31 – in another limited, exclusive paperback release from Barnes & Noble.

I’m a third of the way through writing Murder at the Lobstah Shack. Stay tuned for how that turns out – even I don’t know!

To reward all you readers who had to wait for Murder on Cape Cod, I will send one commenter a code to listen to the audiobook, and to one lucky (and patient) Canadian reader, a gift of the book from Chapters/Indigo, which my sister in Ottawa tells me is the one big Canadian bookstore chain (or an audiobook code, if you prefer).

Readers: Do you have a favorite memory of a bicycle you rode as a child? Have you ever rented a bike and, if so, how did it go? If you haven’t had bikes in your life, tell me your favorite way to read books.

Published by Edith Maxwell

Agatha Award -winning author Edith Maxwell writes the historical Quaker Midwife Mysteries (Beyond the Page) and short crime fiction. As Maddie Day she writes the Dot and Amelia Mysteries, the Country Store Mysteries series, the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, and the Cece Barton Mysteries (all from Kensington Publishing). She lives north of Boston in an antique house with her beau and cat Martin, where she writes, gardens, cooks, and wastes time on Facebook.

51 Thoughts

  1. Congratulations on “going wide” and on the upcoming release of Murder at the Taffy Shop! Cape Cod is a wonderful setting for a cozy series, and the Cozy Caper Group mysteries bring it to life.

    My first bike ever was a black and orange trike. I remember tearing around our apartment complex on that and was especially proud that it’s colors mimicked the NJ license plate colors. In those years NJ and NY switched plate colors annually, Buff and black one year, orange and black another. I received the trike on an orange and black year.

    My first two-wheeled bike was a powder blue Huffy. I was four or five and I’d been practicing on other two-wheelers so I had the balance thing down. When my Dad insisted on attaching training wheels, I was devastated. When he finally let me mount the bike, I carefully balanced so neither training wheel touched the ground and went off on a tour of the parking lot. The training wheels came off immediately and playing cards went into the spokes.

  2. I’m Canadian! I shop at Chapters!

    It’s been a long time but I seem to remember that getting a 3-speed bike was a big deal.

  3. My favorite bike as a child was a purple Huffy with a banana seat and high-rise handlebars. I saved my allowance and chores money for ages to buy it! My least favorite bike ever was one my husband proudly snagged from someone’s trash. It was a nice bike…except I soon found out why it had been thrown out. It’s brakes quickly gave out while I was riding downhill! I SHOULD have rented one instead of using that trash picker find.

    I currently have a Trek highbred that I love. Come to think of it, I haven’t been out on it in a couple of years. I think I need to put air in the tires and hit the trails this spring!

  4. Congratulations on the wide release. This book is right up my alley–love to read anything about books–librarians, bookstores, book clubs etc! As a kid there was only 1 bike between us 4 girls so we learned to share. Oh the memories.

  5. I don’t know about SPECIFIC bike memories but I know that riding bikes in the neighborhood as a kid was a thing all the kids did. Racing all over the place from morning to night (when we weren’t playing sports) during the summer.

    Maybe the first time I was allowed to ride my bike to the convenience store, with the strong admonition from my mother to walk with the bike when I went to cross the highway.

    I’ve never rented a bike. And honestly, I don’t ride a bike anymore.

    Edith, I don’t need to be registered for the giveaway as I have ‘Murder on Cape Cod’ already. I’m eager to dig into Book 2 as well. I’m looking forward to the signings you’ll be doing for ‘Murder at the Taffy Shop’!

    1. I loved calling out to my mom, “Going riding,” and just head out to explore and feel the wind in my hair. Nobody wore helmets, of course.

  6. I would ride for hours when I was little on a “banana seat” bike with the fringe on the handles. Also, Dad played sports and sometimes we would rent bikes in the park when Dad was playing baseball. Very fond memories!

  7. My first bike was an oversize tricycle that must must have started a lifetime of riding. I’m a mountain biker now! Also another Canadian who shops at Chapters.

  9. I loved for ide my bike as a kid. I was thinking g of buying a 3 Wheeler adult bike to get back into it. I miss it a lot.

  10. Congrats on the wide release!

    Favorite bike? Had to be the 10-speed I finally was able to buy when I was in high school. It had curved handlebars and everything. I could pretend to be racing.

    It’s not a favorite, but there is also one bike I remember vividly – my grandmother’s, which I used to ride when I was at her house. It had a rear-view mirror on it. I remember I got so engaged in watching the mirror, that I hit a crack, fell, and shattered the mirror. I still have the scar on my knee where a shard of glass embedded itself and my grandfather had to remove it.

  11. Congratulations on this release and I’m so happy the Barnes & Noble arrangement is working so well. My first “big” bike was used. I have no idea how old, but instead of the little kickstand that pulled down on the side so the bike could lean on it to stand, my bike had a U-shaped contraption that rested on the rear fender and swung down to actually lift the rear wheel off the ground. I thought it was terrific, especially since I could sit on the bike and pedal in place!

  12. Looking forward to reading this book! I’m Canadian and your sister is correct, Chapters/Indigo is our big book retailer. I remember my first bike – it was gold colored and seemed so big! I learned to ride it in our driveway and shortly after headed down the road to my aunt’s ice cream shop. I felt so grown up! That bike took me on lots of adventures in the summer and in later years got me to my summer jobs too.

      1. I live in Belleville Ontario – 2 hours east of Toronto and 2 hours south of Ottawa.

  13. Congrats, Edith, on the wide release. That is really exciting.

    What I remember most about my first bike was my father’s embarrassment that it took me so long to learn to ride without the training wheels. He finally said he was taking them off and I simply had to learn. He helped by hanging onto the seat for awhile. Once I got the hang of it, I was unstoppable. Looking back, I can’t believe how far I rode that 22″ bike. Of course, now days kids would never be allowed such freedom. But, oh is was joyous!

  14. I’m thrilled for readers this book is out wider now. It’s so much fun.

    Looking forward to returning to the characters in a couple of months.

  15. I don’t remember any specific bike, but I do remember riding all over the neighborhood on my bike. Would love to listen to “Murder on Cape Cod” on audio.

  16. I am so excited about this book. I love all the books you write and I can’t wait for the next book to come out.

  18. My first bike, when I was 12 years old, was the second hand bike my dad got from a second hand shop,. Daddy fixed it and painted it blue (my fav color) that’s what Santa gave me for Christmas..it was only years later after daddy passed that I learned how my one and only bike came to be mine 🙂

    2. My first bike was a used one, too. My parents apologized at Christmas for that. I didn’t care. I had a bike!

  19. My first bike I crashed into a fire hydrant on my first ride. My dad bent the dent out but you could always see it. It was a blue schwin I had it until I was driving a car. That’s another thing first time I drove I went the barbed wire fence and gouched the windshield. My poor dad. Thank you for the chance

  20. Loved riding my bike as a kid. I lived in a small town, road it everywhere. I have never rented a bike while on vacation.

  21. I remember getting my first two wheeler at Christmas when I was seven. Loved that bike. Noting fancy but I rode it all summer and regretted it each winter when we had to put it up.

  22. Dianne KC and Rose Kerr are our lucky winners of the audiobook and the Canadian bookstore gift, respectively. Congratulations, ladies, and please check your emails! Thank you all for your comments, and I wish I had a book for everyone.

Comments are closed.