Title: Mrs. Spinney’s Secret
Author: M. S. Spencer
Genre: Cozy Mystery/Romantic Suspense
Book Blurb:
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.
Excerpt: We Meet Jasper
She took a minute to look him over. His gray eyes sparkled behind rimless glasses. As she drew closer, she realized he was much taller than she originally thought. He’s hunching his shoulders. Is he shy? Or embarrassed about his height? Being a short person who was forced to look up to so many people she didn’t look up to, she had trouble sympathizing. His large hands dangled from lightly muscled arms almost like an afterthought. Someone—a girlfriend?—had cut his fawn-colored hair rather haphazardly, making it stick out at uninhibited angles. Probably an ex-girlfriend now. One tendril trickled down his temple, lending him a slightly roguish air. “Are you looking for something in particular?”
“I…uh…yes.” He took a step forward. “Do you have anything on Maine history?”
At last. Thank you Lord. “Yes, indeed. We have a whole section on it. Right this way.” She led him to a corner in the back of the shop, where, in an excess of optimism jeered at by her friends, Cassidy had amassed a fairly significant collection of works on Maine. Someday—she would remark when in her cups—her prince would come, demanding the rare copy of B. F. Decosta’s 1871 Rambles in Mount Desert she had found in Bert Weems’s hay loft. She started to speak, but the man was staring with almost carnal avidity at the shelves. “I’ll leave you to it then, shall I?”
She retreated to her desk and watched him from under her lashes. He perused the shelves with great deliberation, his eyes inches from the book spines. Near-sighted? Still, they were an awfully nice shade. Soft gray, like the gentle ashes left from a romantic campfire. She shook herself. Of course, the milky color could be due to his myopia.
He pulled a leather-bound book out and opened it at random, then turned to the title page. She noticed how his slim fingers handled the elegant vellum with a kind of awestruck affection. He dropped it on the table next to him and continued down the shelf. At one point, he stopped, cast a stealthy glance in her direction, then slipped a book out. Turning his back to her, he stood holding it a minute, his back rigid. What caught his eye? He straightened and lifted his heels as though about to sprint out of the store. She half rose to forestall his exit. When instead, he reverently placed the book on his pile, she relaxed, feeling foolish. Still, I intend to find out which book made him go all skittery like that.
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It’s a brand-new year, full of possibilities. Did you make any resolutions/goals for 2021? If so, please share one.
Top of my list is to get off my duff and find a companion. I’ve been alone now for 11 years and have gotten so set in my ways that I’m afraid I won’t be flexible enough to spend time with another person. And yet this past year has been so awfully lonely that I think I have to do something.
Why is your featured book a must-read in 2021?
It’s so much fun! As usual, the secondary characters are quirky and entertaining. If you like going behind the scenes of a movie set you’ll enjoy the setting of a movie production company moving in on a tiny Maine village. The interactions between locals and Hollywoodites is worth the price of admission. That, and the innumerable red herrings and twists in the plot should keep the reader guessing to the end.
Giveaway:
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Open internationally
Runs January 1 – 31, 2021.
Drawing will be held on February 1, 2021.
Author Biography:
Librarian, anthropologist, Congressional aide, speechwriter—M. S. Spencer has traveled the globe. She holds a BA from Vassar College, a diploma in Arabic Studies from the American University in Cairo, and Masters in Anthropology and in Library Science from the University of Chicago. All of this tends to insinuate itself into her works.
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