This book event is through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.
Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library book tour includes a character guest post and a giveaway at the end of this post. Meet a fun character, engage with them, share on social, subscribe.
About Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library:
Book conservator Tory Van Dyne and a woman claiming to be Agatha Christie on
holiday from the Great Beyond join forces to catch a killer in this spirited mystery
from Amanda Chapman.
Tory Van Dyne is the most down-to-earth member of a decidedly eccentric old-money
New York family. For one thing, as book conservator at Manhattan’s Mystery Guild
Library, she actually has a job. Plus, she’s left up-town society behind for a quiet life
downtown. So she’s not thrilled when she discovers a woman in the library’s Christie
Room who calmly introduces herself as Agatha Christie, politely requests a cocktail, and
announces she’s there to help solve a murder—that has not yet happened.
But as soon as Tory determines that this is just a fairly nutty Christie fangirl, her
socialite/actress cousin Nicola gets caught up in the suspicious death of her less-than-
lovable talent agent. Nic, as always, looks to Tory for help. Tory, in turn, looks to Mrs.
Christie. The woman, whoever or whatever she is, clearly knows her stuff when it comes
to crime.
Aided by an unlikely band of fellow sleuths—including a snarky librarian, an eleven-
year-old computer whiz, and an NYPD detective with terrible taste in suits—Tory and
the woman claiming to be her very much deceased literary idol begin to unravel the
twists and turns of a murderer’s devious mind. Because, in the immortal words of Miss
Jane Marple, “murder is never simple.”
Character Guest Post MAIREAD BUTLER
One of the great joys of writing MRS. CHRISTIE AT THE MYSTERY GUILD LIBRARY
has been getting to know the unlikely band of fellow sleuths who have found their way
into the orbit of the library’s rather reclusive book conservator, Tory Van Dyne. (Believe
me, characters do this – just elbow their way in and the next thing you know, they’ve
taken over!).
In Tory’s case, these include her socialite/actress cousin, a snarky librarian best friend,
an NYPD detective with terrible taste in suits, and an eleven-year-old Irish computer
whiz. Today, I’d like to introduce you to that computer whiz, Mairead Butler. Or maybe
I’ll let Tory do the honors. Here’s her description of running into Mairead in Washington
Square Park:
I trotted over the half block to the corner of Washington Square North and Fifth Avenue, then
crossed to the park’s entrance, pausing for a moment in front of the curved frame of the arch to
admire the ongoing spectacle that is and always has been the tradition of Washington Square
Park … including the steady parade of canines taking their humans with them on their morning
walk so that the human could pick up their poop.
“G’mornin’, Ms. Van Dyne! Remember me?”
Truthfully, the kid waylaying me would be difficult to forget. It wasn’t so much the mane of
carrot curls or the wide grin that seemed to split the freckled face in half as it was her clear
confidence that all the world was her friend and would, of course, remember her. Which, of
course, I did.
She had been one of a half-dozen fifth-grade students from PS 41 who had visited my lab a
few weeks earlier for Careers Day. The teacher had asked each child to introduce themselves and
say why they wanted to learn about “fixing books.” I’d been kind of curious about that myself. I
mean, what kind of eleven-year-old chooses a visit to a book conservation laboratory over the firehouse or the veterinarian’s office? Except, of course, a kid like I’d been. Who are few and far between. In fact, I did get a few mumbled complaints that “there wasn’t any more room on the vet trip.” But not from the little redheaded girl wearing faded jeans with rolled-up cuffs, faded red Vans, a faded U2 Tshirt and toting a faded cross-body book bag with a battered laptop peeking out of it.
“I’m Mairead Butler,” she’d said as introduction. “MAIREAD. Mairead. Rhymes with ‘parade.’ I’m Irish, y’see.” As if I couldn’t tell by her soft lilt. “My da, he’s a visiting professor of Celtic history at NYU from Trinity College in Dublin. My mam is dead. But she told me the story of how the book doctors at Trinity patched up a copy of the Book of Kells. Are you not a book doctor, too?”
I had been so busy trying to process her matter-of-fact announcement of her mother’s
decease that I only managed to stammer out, “Well, I hadn’t thought of it in quite that light, but,
yes, I guess I am.” Having regained some of my composure, I added, “Although the technical
term is ‘book conservator.’”
“Brilliant,” she’d said, her little freckled face lighting up. “I want to be a book conservator,
then.” At which point she’d pulled the laptop out of her book bag and proceeded to take copious
notes on my presentation.
And now here was this raggedy mini-me in Washington Square Park walking a raggedy little dog at the end of an equally raggedy leash and carrying a carefully knotted poop bag.
“Of course I remember you,” I said. “Mairead. Rhymes with ‘parade.’”
If it was possible, the girl’s grin got wider.
“Where’s your dad, Mairead?” I asked. Although it wasn’t unheard of to see a child of her age out and about alone on the quiet streets of Greenwich Village, it was unusual.
“He’s up there,” she said, pointing up at what I thought at first was heaven—surely she’d
said it was the mother who’d died?—and then realized was the top story of NYU’s Kimmel
Center looming over the south side of the park. “It’s my job to walk Tony here in the morning,”
she continued. “Course I know Da’s watching me with his binocs from the top floor of Kimmel
and that he has a tracker on my mobile, but it’s independence of a sort and I intend to encourage
it.” I blinked at her. Okay. “And besides, I’ve got Tony with me and if anyone gives me any
bother, he’ll fix ’em. He knows who the villains are. I don’t know how he knows, but know he
does. And they’d best look sharp. Tony’s wee but he’s fierce.”
“And this, I assume, is Tony?” I asked, bending down to pet the scruffy little black-and-
brown dog whose head had been swiveling back and forth from speaker to speaker like an
umpire at a tennis match.
“Aye, this is Tony,” Mairead said proudly. “He’s a Yorkie.”
A Yorkie. A Yorkshire terrier. A Yorkshire terrier named Tony.*
Suddenly I couldn’t get away fast enough. “Well, gotta go, Mairead,” I said, standing up so
quickly I felt light-headed. Or at least I told myself that was why I felt light-headed.
The girl’s face fell at my dismissal, and I felt like a total grinch.
“I tell you what,” I said, relenting, “I’ve got to get to work now, but how about you ask your
father to call me about setting up a time for you to come by one day soon, and I can show you
what I’m working on.”
“That would be grand,” Mairead said with another face-splitting smile. “Bye for now.” And
off she trotted with Tony the Yorkshire terrier.
And just for the record, you should know that as a child Agatha Christie also had a
Yorkshire terrier named Tony. So nothing weird going on there…
You can order Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library here:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/763557/mrs-christie-at-the-mystery-guild-
library-by-amanda-chapman/
About me:
I am a lifelong mystery lover and wordsmith. As a book editor, fashion reporter and, eventually, the head of employee communications at a global bank, I have always made a living with my pen. But when the book-writing bug hit, I cheerfully waved goodbye to all that to write mysteries full time. Under the name Amy Pershing, I first wrote the Cape Cod Foodie Mysteries. MRS. CHRISTIE AT THE MYSTERY GUILD LIBRARY is the first book in my new Agatha Inc. mystery series. You can learn more
about me (and sign up for my newsletter!) on my website as well as follow me on Facebook and Instagram.
https://www.facebook.com/amandachapmanauthor
https://www.instagram.com/amandachapman_author/?hl=en
Giveaway
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
August 18 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
August 18 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
August 18 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT
August 19 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – CHARACTER GUEST POST
August 19 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
August 20 – Salty Inspirations – COCKTAIL RECIPE
August 21 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
August 22 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
August 22 – Hall Ways Blog – SPOTLIGHT
August 23 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
August 24 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – REVIEW
August 25 – Sarandipity’s – CHARACTER GUEST POST
August 25 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
August 26 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR GUEST POST
August 27 – Storybook Lady – REVIEW
August 28 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
August 29 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER GUEST POST
August 29 – Novels Alive – REVIEW
August 30 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
August 31 – From the TBR Pile – REVIEW
