News & Events
Invitation to a Book’s Birthday Party!
Come to a Book Birthday Party on Aug. 16 at Chop Suey Books in Carytown! My latest mystery, MURDER IN DISGUISE, will be released that day and, in the spirit of the Roaring Twenties, I’m doing a short reading and serving suitable Prohibition fare. Convenient free parking behind the Byrd Theater across the street.
Just got a nice review from Publishers Weekly
Author: MARY MILEY
Title: MURDER IN DISGUISE
Publication: PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Issue: 19TH JUNE 2017
Murder in Disguise: A Roaring Twenties Mystery, Mary Miley. Severn, $28.99 (240p) ISBN 978-0-7278-8714-6
The shooting murder of projectionist Joe Petrovitch, during a showing of Chaplin’s The Gold Rush at a Hollywood movie theater, propels Miley’s engrossing fourth Roaring Twenties mystery (after 2016’s Renting Silence). The police rush to the theater, but the gunman escapes without a trace. The victim’s wife, a hairdresser at the Pickford-Fairbanks Studio, asks script girl Jessie Beckett, who’s a skilled amateur sleuth, to investigate. With help from Adele Astaire (Fred’s glamorous sister and dance partner), actress Myrna Loy (later to achieve fame in The Thin Man), assorted vaudevillians, and police detective Carl Delaney, spunky, resourceful Jessie sets to work. Aficionados of showbiz history will delight in the technical details of filmmaking in the silent era and the peripatetic lives of the performers. Readers will also get the lowdown on bootlegging, speakeasies, and gin joints. Series fans will be pleased to know that David Carr, Jessie’s love interest, has a tidy subplot of his own.
Amazon taking discounted pre-orders
Save $4.65 on pre-orders for the fourth in the Roaring Twenties series, hardcovers reduced to $24.35. I just received my sample author copy in the mail today–always a thrill to hold the finished product in your hands. The book goes on sale at bookstores on August 1. E-books available that date too. Paperbacks coming later.
Cover Art for New Book
Fourth in the Roaring Twenties mystery series due to be released in August. I just received the cover design from the publisher. Love it!
Snowed in!
Looks like we’re snowed in for a few days. Living at the end of a long driveway and a cul-de-sac that never gets plowed means we have to wait for the snow to melt. But there are worse things than being snowed in for a few days–we have plenty of wine and firewood, the electricity hasn’t shut off, and it’s a perfect time for writing.
Another corporate history completed
HHHunt, a mid-Atlantic developer of first-quality planned communities, commissioned a book to commemorate its 50th anniversary milestone. The results are this beautiful full-color story of the company’s founders, early years, growth, and recent achievements. This is the fifth corporate history I’ve written, and I’m quite proud of it.
Renting Silence Debuts Today!
At long last, the third in the Roaring Twenties series comes to the U.S.! It is now available in bookstores and online, and should be available in libraries within a few weeks. If you can’t wait that long, click on the clover on the right hand side of this page and read the first chapter.
“A little sparkle, a hint of sex, some wily Prohibition-era shenanigans, and one smart cookie in the lead make this a great read.” –Booklist, 10/15/16
Stolen Memories comes in Second for the Daphne Award for Historical Mysteries
First place would have been nicer, but I’ll take second any day!
Cover Art for New Book
My publisher, Severn House, sent me the artwork for the cover for Renting Silence, the third in the Roaring Twenties series. I love it! I think it’s the best of all my covers. The woman looks just like I envision Jessie: unruly bobbed hair, confident gaze, pretty but not glamorous. I couldn’t be happier–which is lucky for me because authors usually have little to no say in their book’s cover.
The book will be released in August in the U.K., but not until December in the U.S.
Nice review from Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly reviews only a few of the many books published each month, so I was fortunate that they chose Stolen Memories for their April 4 review–and doubly lucky that they liked it!
Set in Paris in 1928, this suspenseful novel from Mary Miley (Silent Murders) will appeal to fans of the classic movie Gaslight. After surviving being thrown into the Seine, the unidentified narrator wakes in a hospital to find that she can’t recall her name or anything else about her life. Although the passport found in her purse identifies her as Eva Johnson, she refuses to accept that name. She’s haunted by feverish dreams involving lost paintings and a lost little boy, and her conscious moments are also a torment, especially after she’s confronted by Alexander DeSequeyra, a man claiming to be her husband. Her alarm only grows after hearing that Alexander committed a murder years earlier, but escaped conviction due to his wealth and influence. She becomes even more isolated after Alexander arranges her discharge from the hospital into his care, having overcome the doctor’s medical objections with a hefty bribe. Miley keeps the twists coming—and the reader guessing—to the end.
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