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A Murder and Maggie Macgill book tour includes an author guest post and a giveaway for my stop. Enjoy, share comment, follow.
Book Details
A Murder and Maggie MacGill
Cozy Mystery
Stand Alone
Setting – A small southern mountain town called Wrenhaven, Tennessee.
Publisher : Wild Rose Press
Publication date : August 27, 2025
Print length : 296 pages
Paperback
ISBN-10 : 1509262296
ISBN-13 : 978-1509262298
Digital
ASIN : B0FC238LWX
When elementary art teacher Maggie MacGill finds the richest, most despised woman in town dead, then inherits her estate, life in the sweet mountain town of Wrenhaven, Tennessee, takes a greased ride downhill.
No one knows why Mrs. Grayson left her fortune to Maggie, but once her death begins to look like murder, and a series of unexplained pranks directed at the MacGill family turn nasty, Maggie must untangle a web of secrets and discover who has it in for her before it’s too late. Even if it means accepting help from the victim’s grandson, a man she’s loathed since high school but whose devastating grin and quick wit can still make her heart race.
About Rebecca Lee Smith
Rebecca lives with her husband and a dog named Wilbur in the beautiful, misty mountains of East Tennessee, where the people are charming, soulful, and just a little bit crazy. She’s been everything from a tax collector to a stay-at-home mom to a professional actor and director. She loves to travel the world but her Southern roots and the affectionate appreciation she has for the rural towns she lives near inspire the settings and characters she writes about.
Author Links
Website http://www.rebeccaleesmith.com
Facebook: (Rebecca Lee Smith): http://bit.ly/4lykxcF
Twitter/X: (Rebecca Lee Smith): https://x.com/rbeccaleesmith
Bluesky: http://bit.ly/467y7ih
Author Central on Amazon: https://bit.ly/4lapGr3
Purchase Links –
Why I Switched Genres. (Sort of.)
Cozy mystery fans have very strong opinions about what they like and don’t like. What
makes them throw a book across the room and what sends them rushing to their
favorite bookstore or online retailer to find something that ticks all the boxes and leaves
them feeling happy and satisfied. I get it. I do it myself.
Before jumping into the world of cozy mysteries (a genre I adore), I wrote romantic
suspense. Typically, romantic suspense novels are by definition half romance and half
suspense, with each element intertwining equally, and each one just as important as the
other. I published two romantic suspense novels that I am exceedingly proud of, but
juggling the love story and the mystery had become a tedious chore. The mystery was
the fun part for me. The burgeoning romance with all its exhilarating highs and
excruciating lows, not so much.
A couple of decades ago, when I first started writing, I wrote category romance. At least
I tried to. I thought those kinds of books would be a breeze to write and just as easy to
get published. (Wrong on both counts.) I should have figured out that I was dabbling in
the wrong genre when a dead body kept showing up or someone was framed for a
murder they didn’t commit.
Eventually, I transitioned into romantic suspense. It wasn’t even a conscious decision,
just something that evolved. And I did enjoy it, even though I was never very
comfortable with the requisite love scenes and dreaded having to write them.
I’ve always liked my mysteries on the cozy side. Oh, I love a good thriller and a good
solid romantic suspense can sweep me along and keep me up at night turning pages.
(I’m looking at you, J. D. Robb and Sandra Brown.) And I do pound down some really
wonderful women’s fiction. But when I’m reading strictly for pleasure and comfort, I
devour books by Ann Cleeves and Sherry Harris and Sara Rosett. When I’m writing or
reading, solving the puzzle is the fun part. I enjoy sifting through the clues to figure out
which suspects are lying, and which ones are telling the truth. How many are hiding
secrets? Which one is the killer and why? Then (if the book is good) I kick myself for
falling for the red herrings and missing the most obvious clues and guessing wrong.
My new book, A Murder and Maggie MacGill, is a hybrid cozy. Rom-Cozy is the popular
new label for books like mine. There are no scorching love scenes but plenty of witty
repartee. And the murder takes place so far offstage, it could be in the next county. And
even though the mystery is on the front burner, I couldn’t resist adding a little romance
and a few heart-pounding moments of suspense along the way. As it turns out, I liked
my heroine too much not to give her someone to love. Or at least make her laugh when
she least expects it. I want her to have someone she can trade barbs with and is
attracted to against her better judgment, but who is there for her while she’s trying to
solve a murder and keep herself from getting killed. So that in the final few pages, when
the murderer is revealed and all the loose threads are all neatly tied up, she can go
back to her normal life feeling hopeful that everything is going to be all right, and that
elusive happily-ever-after ending is finally within her reach.
Until next time.
In my latest rom-cozy mystery, A Murder and Maggie MacGill, elementary art teacher
Maggie MacGill has always prided herself on facing reality. Whether it’s an attic full of
seascapes no one wants to buy, a surgery scar on her chest that could clear a kiddie
pool, having to be the financial rock her father and brother depend on, or realizing her
new haircut makes her look like a hedgehog. When Maggie loses her job due to budget
cuts proposed by former crush Eli Grayson, and Eric’s grandmother, the richest, most
despised person in town, leaves her fortune to Maggie, and Mrs. Grayson’s
housekeeper accuses Maggie of her murder, it’s a little more reality than our girl
bargained for. The fact that Maggie is the green-thumbed volunteer who brought the
Grayson House gardens back to life and seems to be the only person who could stand
the old woman, is more than a little suspicious to the Grayson heirs.
After a series of unexplained pranks directed at the MacGill family turn nasty, Maggie
has no choice but to untangle the web of secrets surrounding Mrs. Grayson’s death and
find out who wants her out of the picture before it’s too late. Even if it means accepting
help from Eli, a man she’s hated for over twenty years but whose devastating grin and
quick wit can still make her heart race. Eli, as it turns out, is pretty good at hiding a few
secrets of his own. As the suspects pile up in the sleepy mountain town, and the
undeniable attraction between Maggie and Eric grows, can they unmask the killer
before he or she strikes again? Can Maggie let down her guard, open her heart, and
trust a man she realizes she never really knew?
A MURDER AND MAGGIE MACGILL TOUR PARTICIPANTS
November 10 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
November 10 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – SPOTLIGHT
November 11 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
November 12 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
November 13 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
November 14 – Novels Alive – REVIEW
November 14 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT
November 15 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
November 16 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
November 17 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
November 18 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST
November 18 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
November 19 – Salty Inspirations – AUTHOR GUEST POST
November 20 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
November 21 – Sarandipity’s – AUTHOR GUEST POST
November 22 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – REVIEW
November 22 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW
November 23 – Melina’s Book Blog – REVIEW
Giveaway
Prize – $25.00 Amazon Gift Card
