Sunday Spotlight: History and Mystery with @MaddieDayAuthor #giveaway

MADDIE DAY here in the annual Sunday Spotlight each of us author-chefs gets. In previous spotlights, I introduced myself and my writing here, and I covered years of favorite Halloween costumes last fall.

Today I'm focusing on my historical mysteries, including the latest, A Case for the Ladies!

Many of you know me through my contemporary cozy mysteries, most of which include recipes.

As Edith Maxwell, however, I also wrote seven historical Quaker Midwife Mysteries, set in the late 1880s, and a collection of short stories.

Five of these books were nominated for an Agatha Award for Best Historical Mystery, and Charity's Burden won the coveted teapot prize.

I found I loved being an amateur historian and doing all the kinds of research into the era that these books required.

A few years ago I got the idea to give my grandmothers Dorothy and Ruth an alternate reality as private investigators in the 1920s. 

Dorothy Henderson (l) and Ruth Skinner as young women

 

I wrote two short stories featuring them that were published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. “An Excellent Team” tells the story of Dot and Ruth meeting in 1919 and working together to bring justice to an abused, murdered woman, and "Peril in Pasadena" shows them settled in their agency in Pasadena and solving the murder of a lady astronomer. Murder in the Valley is a novel about the two sleuths, but it's still in progress. 

All this meant more research into a new era! And then when I read that Amelia Earhart had been a social worker at a settlement house in 1926 Boston, a new tale started percolating. Dot gets herself to Boston, meets Amelia, and together they solve the mystery of an arson at the settlement house Dot's aunt helped found. That short story is in "Dark Corners," which came out in Bloodroot: Best New England Crime Stories in 2021 and will release as a standalone ebook later this year.

But I wasn't done with those two ladies or the era. I'm thrilled to bring you A Case for the Ladies, a full-length mystery, which officially releases March 12. 

Here's the blurb:

Amid Prohibition, Irish gangs, the KKK, and rampant mistreatment of immigrant women, intrepid private investigator Dorothy Henderson and her pal Amelia Earhart seek justice for several murdered young women in 1926 Boston. As tensions mount, the sleuths, along with their reporter friend Jeanette Colby, experience their own mistreatment at the hands of society and wonder who they can really trust. 

The book has received glowing endorsements. Here's one of many:

"Maddie Day’s tale — in which she imagines an alternate and crime-solving reality for a pre-fame Amelia Earhart — is as much fun as a ride in one of Earhart's planes! Day's heroine Dot Henderson, visiting from California, detects around a well-drawn 1920s Boston with an appealing circle of friends, including the famous aviatrix. Fans of historical fiction will love this women-focused mystery." 

—Sarah Stewart Taylor, author of Amelia Earhart: This Broad Ocean, and the Maggie D'arcy series 

Being me, of course I checked out food and drink of the era, and I'll bring you a 1920's spice cake recipe here on March 8. The book doesn't include recipes, though.

The Halstead Act, aka Prohibition, was in full force at the time, but Dot's Aunt Etta had laid in a hefty supply of alcohol before it started, and there were always ways to order "special tea" when dining out. Also being me, I greatly enjoyed testing out a gin fizz, a Singapore Sling, a Bamboo, a Hanky-Panky, and a Bee's Knees. 

Photo of a Bee's Knees and ingredients by Runskifish, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Don't be surprised if a cocktail recipe finds its way to this blog in the near future.

I hope you'll find a copy of the new book and enjoy the story!

Readers: What's your favorite historical era to read about? If you're among the many with a fascination for Amelia Earhart, share something you know about her. I'll send one commenter a copy of the book when I have them in hand in early March (or an ebook if you live outside the US).

📖🍷🥗

Deep Fried Death, #12 in the Country Store Mysteries, is out!

Murder Uncorked, Cece Barton Mystery #1, released in late October.

Next to release, after A Case for the Ladies, is Murder at the Rusty Anchor in late June. It's the sixth Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery.

Check out all my writing:

We hope you'll visit Maddie and her Agatha Award-winning alter ego Edith Maxwell on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories.

Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau and sweet cat Martin north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.