Double Release Day plus #Giveaways!

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News Flash: Maddie’s winners are Judith Rycar and Deborah Ortega! Congratulations, ladies, and please check your email. Jessie’s winners are Nancy Whitt and CKMBeg. Your email inbox has details to receive your prize!

Edith/Maddie here, celebrating the beginning of real summer north of Boston.

And I’m delighted to share today’s release day post with Jessie. MyMurder at the Rusty Anchor, the sixth Cozy Capers Book Group mystery, is out along with her Murder at an English Seance!

Here’s Jessie’s blurb: Hidden beneath her British reserve, Edwina has a secret: she’s finished her novel and is bravely mailing the manuscript to a publisher. Beryl also has a secret: as thanks for solving a case, the American adventuress has been gifted an airplane. After swooping over the fields and hedgerows of Walmsley Parva, livestock scattering beneath her, she flamboyantly lands the plane on the village green, prompting a startled Edwina to consider a stiff gin fizz.

Beryl’s aircraft is not the only disruption of village peace. Miss Dinsdale, a psychic medium, has started holding séances. After the church organist resigns to serve as musical accompaniment for the séances, the vicar’s wife hires the enquiry agents to expose the medium as a charlatan. Beryl is confident she can spot the fraud, having learned from Harry Houdini himself some tricks of the trade. The dubious Miss Dinsdale claims her spirit guide is an Egyptian princess whose mummy resides in a sarcophagus in the room. But the only body in the sarcophagus belongs to a murdered villager impaled with a dagger.

As the sleuths begin to investigate, Beryl discovers her plane has been sabotaged and wonders if there’s a connection. Whether in the air or on terra firma, Beryl and Edwina must go round a circle of suspects to divine the culprit . . .

And here’s the Rusty Anchor blurb: There’s deadweight behind the bar at the Rusty Anchor and it’s up to Cape Cod bike shop owner Mackenzie “Mac” Almeida to solve the murder. On a rainy July Monday, the chef opens up and finds a body behind the bar. It’s last call for Bruce Byrne, an elderly high school teacher who’s been around so long it seems like he taught everybody. With no end in sight to the rain, the Cozy Capers Book group has plenty of time to study the clues and sort through a roll call of suspects to determine who decided to teach Mr. Bryne a lesson. But with a killer desperate to cover their tracks, Mac and the group will be tested as never before . . .

Jessie: Launch Days are always such fun! I love spending time in the imagined worlds of my books, but it is also an enormous pleasure to share that space with readers. In the previous novel, Murder at a London Finishing School, the story took place outside of the usual setting of Walmsley Parva. It was nice to let my sleuths loose on a wider stage, but I confess, it is lovely to have them back home in their village where they are surrounded by friends, neighbors, and those who have come to feel like family.

I also took the opportunity to visit one of my favorite areas to research, mediumship and the paranormal. A few years I wrote two books featuring a clairaudient tarot card reader and have wanted to have the chance to feature a character that claimed to have that sort of power, as well as the ones who believed them, once again. Spiritualism and mediums were popular between the wars so this was the perfect chance to write another story along those lines.

Both Beryl and Edwina have grown and changed so much over the series and in this book I think that Edwina, in particular, has come into her own. Beryl finds new horizons to embrace as well. Simpkins, Beddoes, and Charles all are called to stretch themselves as well. I loved writing this installment of their intrepid adventures and hope that you will too!

Edith/Maddie: Congratulations, Jessie! When I started this series, my editor suggested the book title pattern – each book would have a murder in or at one of the businesses in town (plus the cottage Mac and Tim live in). I created the Rusty Anchor pub during Murder in a Cape Cottage, and I really, really wish I could pop in there for a beer this afternoon. It’s very loosely modeled on the Choate Bridge Pub in historic Ipswich, Massachusetts, where Hugh and I used to live. We could walk down the hill, have a platter of fried Ipswich clams with onion rings and a draft IPA, and walk home.

Murder in a Cape Cottage is set during the week after Christmas. One cold dark afternoon Mac is feeling worried and down when she runs into her mom on the sidewalk. Astra sweeps her into the pub, and they have hot toddies and a big plate of french fries. Doesn’t that sound perfect?

My fictional Rusty Anchor has a horseshoe-shaped bar, tables and booths, and a fireplace lit in the winter. An actual rusty anchor hangs at a rakish angle from a rod above the door outside, and neon beer signs light the windows. The bar itself is of maple with plenty of clear sealing so it’s impervious to dings and spills. Pendant lights hang above it. In Murder at the Rusty Anchor, Mac goes in one afternoon later in the week for a cup of swoon-worthy creamy clam chowder. Have I convinced you yet? Whether you are a pub-goer or not, I hope you love my new story.

Readers: Have you ever attended a seance or consulted a psychic medium? Jessie will send two lucky winners a copy of Murder at an English Seance. Where is your favorite place to pop in for casual food and maybe an adult beverage? Edith/Maddie will send two lucky winners copy of Murder at the Rusty Anchor plus a Cape Cod sticker and either a lobster or a lighthouse cookie cutter!

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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.

114 Thoughts

  1. Oh, Lord help me. All that absolutely glorious fried food and that bowl of clam chowder so thick that aforesaid rusty anchor could stand upright in it unaided.

    My cardiologist is already sending out goon squads for me with a straightjacket because those clams and onion rings are calling my name.

    Regarding psychics and mediums, I am someone who was formerly and absolute unbeliever. I thought every single one of them was either a charlatan or, at best, self-delusional. I was a software engineer by profession, and if I couldn’t see it, touch it, and disassemble it, I thought it was hooey. (Although, I’ll admit it was unlikely I’d be able to reassemble it once disassembled.)

    And like most absolutists, I then was hit over the head by THE REAL DEAL which threw my belief system completely topsy-turvy.

    A few months after the death of my mother, I was thrown into contact with an old work colleague through a series of unlikely coincidences (which I no longer believe were coincidences at all).

    At his instigation, we agreed to meet for coffee to catch up on old times. Through a two-hour conversation, he gently and delicately informed me he’d set this up because my mother had been driving him crazy with messages she wanted to give to me.

    I immediately started checking for nearby exits, but was polite. I believed him to be totally sincere, if misguided. My mind was anything but open to believing what he told me.

    And then he started sharing things I’d been feeling, but had told no one. I concluded that he was just really good at reading me and feeding back my own feelings.

    And then he described a photo that was on the dresser of my bedroom. Except for immediate family, no one had seen that photo. It was of me and my grandmother, taken when I was a baby. He described the pose – I was seated on a table next to my grandmother and she was wearing a blue and white dress with a lace collar.

    Friends, the photo was black and white. I only knew the dress was blue because it was my grandmother’s best go-to-church dress, and I had seen it in her closet before she died in 1963.

    At that point, I had to accept that my world-view had been altered. Turned upside-down in fact. Through the next months and years, there was much, much more. I discovered that I had a little bit of psychic talent – nothing like my friend, but real nonetheless.

    And just in case anyone is wondering, he never asked for or received a nickel from me. But he gave me so much. A wider world, and a new set of hopes and expectations.

    Sorry to be so long-winded, but I couldn’t find a briefer way to tell the story.

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  2. Brings back memories of exploring the Maine light houses when I was a child. Food looks good too.

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  3. Congratulations to you both!! Both books sound wonderful! Yes, I’ve been to several psychics, most felt quite “generic” to me, you know? The standard, ” Your mother/father/grandparent is watching over you”…but I have had one or two that were eerily accurate, one even knew that I had already met my future husband, even described him (he worked where I did, but we’d never really met).

    We have probably 4 or 5 pubs near where we live, most offer sandwiches, some hot foods, but you know I think I’d rather treat myself camping, around a fire!

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  4. Congratulations to Jessica and Edith. What intriguing books to look forward to reading–and those gorgeous covers! Congratulations to you both. And thank you for all the reading pleasure you give us.

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      1. I love vicariously eating in books – you can have a satisfying meal whenever you want! As for seances & other supernatural phenomena, I do like reading about people’s experiences.

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  5. Happy release day to you both!

    To answer the questions: I have never attended an actual seance or gone to a medium. Nor would I ever do so.

    My favorite place to pop in for casual food is the 99 Restaurant and Pub. I play trivia at the Fairhaven location each week and I also go to the one in my town too. I usually go there when I’m having lunch with my best friend Ann.

    No need to enter me into the giveaways.

    Can’t wait to read the two books, of which I have MURDER AT RUSTY ANCHOR having picked up a copy yesterday! Whoo hoo!

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  6. Congratulations Edith and Jessie! Both books sound wonderful.

    I’ve never been to a seance or a psychic, I think most are frauds but accept that there are people who are the real deal.

    My favorite place to pop in for lunch or a drink is the Austin Ale House in Kew Gardens NY. There’s a movie theater that plays a lot of foreign films & a lovely bookstore nearby, so a great location.

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  7. congrats to you both. I have never been to a seance or medium. I do wish i had a local bar like the rusty anchor to go to or even for that matter live on the coast of maine.

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  8. Happy double book release day to EDITH and JESSIE!

    No, I have never consulted a psychic medium but I was really obsessed with ESP and paranormal phenomenon in my teen years.

    I no longer eat any fried foods so I will virtually enjoy seeing the yummy fried food in this post and that will be mentioned in MURDER AT THE RUSTY ANCHOR. I can still eat chowder IRL.

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      1. Awww, that’s too bad. I ate a really good chowder at Seattle’s Pike Place Market this past April.

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  9. I’ve never been to any mediums or seances. Most are probably not more than parlor tricks and suggestion but I wouldn’t mind going for fun, something different.
    We have a bar here in my town that does make good food too. I especially like the mushroom Swiss burger or Philly, and the Friday night special, hot beef sandwiches or hot beef pizza. When I’m out of town getting groceries I usually stop at one of two places- Steve’s Pizza or Piggy Blues BBQ.
    P.S. I have never seen a lobster cookie cutter. That is so neat!

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  10. Happiest of release days to both of you, ladies! I hope you both have a great time. No seances for me, though attending one would be fascinating. My fave go to is a little place called Byrnes Grilled Pizza. Great food, great people, and plenty of choices from the bar. Cheers!

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  12. Congratulations to both Edith and Jessie on your releases! Both are on my TBR list.
    I haven’t participated in a seance or consulted psychics or mediums. I’ve eaten lots of seafood and clam chowder having grown up in Nova Scotia.
    My cousin owned a small restaurant in NS and he recently retired and sold the restaurant. He made the best deep fried clams and chips I’ve ever had. I was lucky enough to be in NS when he was closing and got the last order of clams and chips. He knew I was at my mom’s and texted me to say he would have them ready for me on a Wednesday. I called, made sure the person taking the order knew it was me and he said, “We could have sold this order at least 20 times today. Glad you finally called!” I hurried over for the pick up and it was delicious.
    My mom made a great clam chowder too!

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  13. Congratulations! Both books sound fantastic. I had tarot cards read by someone I trusted the day I became president of Sisters in Crime. It was eerily accurate for the fourteen months ahead of me. As I said under Lee’s comment, my parents had a minister who would say, “Ah, the mystery of it all.” That sums up life for me.

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  14. Congratulations on the new books! They sound wonderful. My dog and I went to a “pretend” psychic at a little fundraiser for a dog group. She told my dog she’d meet someone Tall, Dark, and Handsome. A few displays down the way we met a black Shetland pony!

    There’s a good place down the street with yummy sandwiches that we like to go to.
    ckmbeg (at) gmail (dot) com

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  15. Congratulations Jessie and Edith! I have never had an experience with a seance or medium. My favorite place to enjoy a wonderful snack is A cozy, and lovely cafe with delectable pastries and teas. It feels as if I am somewhere else and in another era. Honeybun’s is my place to escape.

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  16. Happy book birthday to you both! I’ve never met a psychic or medium or had any such experience, but I was quite fascinated by such things in my teens and early adult years and read many books about the topics. We have a couple of restaurants nearby that are good for those evenings when I don’t feel like cooking. There’s Lost Dog Café, known for amazing sandwiches, pizza, and an extensive array of beers, and Ireland’s Four Provinces, an Irish restaurant and bar with really good food. I plan to head to my favorite local independent bookshop, One More Page, later today to look for or order Jessie’s book. I do need a few days in Wamsley Parva with my favorite sleuths.

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  17. Congratulations Jessie and Edith! I haven’t ever been to a psychic or medium. Perhaps I should. When I am craving a hot, soothing soup I know just the place which soothes my soul. This place is souper and perfect and relaxing especially when I can relax and have my ginger soup. Annie’s is lovely.

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  18. Congratulations to Edith and Jessie on your new books.
    I have had readings in the past from friends that are readers in Salem MA. There are some really great readers there. You really need to know where to go to get readings. Yes, there are fakes out there so it’s important to do your research.
    My favorite casual restaurant is also in Salem MA. It’s the Olde Maine Street Pub. They have really good fish and chips. They are right on Essex St.

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  19. Congratulations to both on your book birthdays! Jessie, I’m loving the way Beryl and Edwina have grown and changed. Was Beryl named after Beryl Markham? I should know this but if I did, the airplane connection has sparked the question again.

    Edith, I’m starving now. Onion rings and clams would make the perfect breakfast, maybe better at lunch, I’d like an IPA to go with!

    Séance, nope, haven’t been to one, but in the mid 1980s I worked on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. They sponsored a psychic fair and there was a card reader outside the building. A group of us stopped for a reading. The card reader told me she saw me living in a cold climate. I laughed and assured her that was not in the cards. In 2005 after 30 years in South Florida, I moved to far northern Maine – the crown to be exact. I often wished I knew the readers name. I think she deserves the last laugh.

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  20. Congratulations on all of your books, which are fun and engaging. I first received mysteries (after Nancy Drew, Judy Bolton, and Trixie Belden, of course) from my dissertation adviser, who gave me books by Dorothy Sayers, Mignon Eberhart, Josephine Tey, and others of her era. I became hooked. They were such a relief after reading works in Old and Middle English or long 19th century novels. Trying to figure out “who done it” in a well written mystery was and is a good vacation.

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  21. Congratulations to both of you! I’ve never consulted a psychic/medium. I’m not sure I’m a true believer. But just in case, I really don’t want to know what’s in my future.

    One of the nice things about moving to Ligonier is sampling all the restaurants. So far, our favorite is probably 1942 Tacos & Tequila, which has the benefit of being a short walk across the street. But I also liked The Road Toad, which is a little east on Route 30. A bit nicer (read more expensive) featuring American/Italian.

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  22. Congratulations, Edith and Jessie! My favorite local place to drop-in here in Portland, ME is Becky’s Diner. My experience with psychics is slim and decidedly mixed. They’re always trying to find out why I’m unhappy. Is my marriage failing or my career? I don’t think I am unhappy. I’ve never been able to figure out if I look unhappy or I have an unhappy aura or it’s just a good guess that anyone visiting a psychic is unhappy.

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    1. I don’t think you seem unhappy in the least, Barb! I do think that it is easier to pick out large areas of unease in people’s lives than in happiness. And most people don’t consult psychics for what is going well in life. Also, I have had many lovely meals at Becky’s!

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  23. Congratulations! Can’t wait to read them.
    Never been to a psychic or a seance. I’m too skeptical.
    And unfortunately no local pubs.

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  24. Yes, many years ago I consulted a pyschic. One thing she said was she wasn’t sure if I would hve children, that wasn’t clear in my palm, but if I did I should be sure I wanted them. Years later we adopted internationally twice.
    As to casual food and an adult beverage, it would most often be home!

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  26. Congrats to you, Jessica and Maddie! It’s wonderful to know that you are both continuing to write books for both of these series. Although I don’t have a favorite place to stop in for casual food or adult beverages, I remember seeing a bar named Your Father’s Moustache when I was vacationing in Cape Cod with my family, including my cousins. Our parents used to love to go there to drink, and they would come back to the cottage three sheets to the wind. Oh, the memories! I have never attended a seance or consulted with a medium because it goes strongly against my personal beliefs. Still, I fully intend to read Murder at an English Seance. It’s a great series, and Beryl and Edwina are a hoot!

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  27. The new books sound great-congrats on the release to you both!
    Can’t wait to read about Mac’s new sleuthing.
    I have not been to a psychic or seance but definitely find solace in believing that our loved ones who have passed are watching over us-sometimes smiling, sometimes shaking their head and definitely laughing at times. Nature’s Table Cafe is one of my go to places for a casual bite…and a refreshing smoothie especially in the Florida heat.

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  29. Although I’ve never attended a seance or consulted a psychic medium, we did go to a possible ghost event. We were in Tombstone, AZ for an event we traveled from AR to be at. A local resident and very dear friend, Emmett Kelly Jr. lived there in a very old, supposedly old house. The story goes that back when the house was new, a little girl of the family that lived there was killed in the upstairs room. They say that if things are right and she’s in the mood to be seen by those in attendance, that you can stand on the porch and see, hear or smell this sweet little girl’s ghost. Hubby and I were invited as were two other couples to spend time on the porch late one night. In the quiet, we didn’t see a ghost, but we did experience the sweet smell of perfume (the kind she liked and would sneak a bit from her mother’s bottle) and there were pebbles tossed upon the porch as if from thin air (they say a little prank she would pull when she didn’t want to be seen). Do I believe it was her, part of me wants to say yes and another part suggests other explanations as to what we saw and smelled.

    We live in a mostly dry state and definitely a dry county so no pubs around. However, we do have a wonderful little cafe that’s been around for years that we love to pop in. The meals are homemade and delicious making it hard to get a seat during tourist time, but worth the wait. Even getting a cool drink and an order of fried pickle spears in the summer time gives you time to get off your feet and into the a/c during concerts on the courthouse square or listening to folks in the pic ‘n’ park.

    Congratulations to your both on the release on two books I can’t wait to read and review! Thank you for the fabulous chance to win copies.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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      1. We felt a sudden temperature change that only lasted a few minutes along with the sweet smell of perfume of the sort I remember my Granny wearing and the pebbles landing on the porch all left one wonderful with an open mind. It was later when what we call logic that I found the doubt of it all. I wondered what it would be like to live in our friends house if it could be more intense when there alone.

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  32. More than 35 years ago, my BFF and I spent the summer visiting tearooms that also did readings of various sorts. Most of the readings were very prosaic and often wrong, but one woman insisted that BFF was going to get married. She didn’t have a male friend at the time and didn’t figure on ever getting married. I reminded her of her dance partner who was 14 years younger than her. She laughed. They have now been married for more than 30 years.

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  33. Hello Edith and Jessie! Congratulations on your books!! I have never been to a Seance or reading, although it sounds exciting. To hang out in my small town, I like Chilis!

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  35. Double congratulations Edith and Jessie! We just went Hudson for the first time and loved the name (what does it mean?) Kith and Kin, it might become our new favorite place to pop in for a bite to eat, vegetarian amazingness and meat dishes too! would love a copy of M at the Rusty Anchor Edith

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  36. Congratulations to Edith and Jessie on your new releases! No, I have never been part of a seance or consulted a psychic medium. A local place called The Oar House is a favorite place to eat some casual food and have a favorite adult beverage.

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  37. Congratulations to both of you on your new releases. I have never been to a medium or a senance. My favorite place when I’m in Holland MI is The Beechwood Inn. They have a great happy hour and the food is good and so are the drinks and it’s also close to Lake Michigan. Looking forward to reading both your books.

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  38. We love local favorites here in Georgia–Wright’s Chip Shop that is owned by some Welsh transplants and their fish and chips are fabulous. They are getting ready to open a real British Pub. In the meantime, we eat at Blind Dog’s Pub. I have not been to a seance but believe in all of that and still have my vintage Ouija board. It was scary in my youth in the 1960s. I also still have my tarot cards. I will love to read both of these fabulous books by fantastic writers. When I went to London with family we ate at many great pubs, and I even had a Guiness (though I do not like beer). We used to go out to bars for drinks–Seagram’s VO and Ginger or Cuba Libres (rum, coke and lime). But they got too expensive, so we now have Happy Hour at Casa Spangler.

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  39. Congratulations on your latest releases! I have been to table tipping events, tarot readings, and I went to see a psychic medium with some friends in a conference room of a hotel. I’m into all the fun new age/spiritual/paranormal stuff. Sadly, all of my favorite places for casual food have closed over the years….The Fish Pier in South Boston, Lindsey’s in Wareham, and Coco’s Sunset Grille on Tybee Island. I guess I’ll have to venture out and find some new spots to try this summer.

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  40. No to a seance or medium. We love Chick-fil-a or Burger King. We have only been in Bob Evans a couple of times since the pandemic. We have also had one meal at Tony Packos. Thank you for the opportunity. God bless you.

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  41. My city has grown so much that most places I would have dropped into have been torn down.
    Grateful for books like these to remind me of good times!!

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  42. Congratulations on the new releases!! I have never been to a psychic or a seance. That would be neat! My favorite local pub makes the best sandwiches!! Especially during hot summer months it really huts the spot.

    Thanks for the chance!!!

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