Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Murder Under A Honey Moon: A 1930s Mona Moon Historical Cozy Mystery by Abigail Keam. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
Murder Under A Honey Moon: A 1930s Mona Moon Historical Cozy Mystery
by Abigail Keam
Murder Under A Honey Moon: A 1930s Mona Moon Historical Cozy Mystery
Historical Cozy Mystery
12th in Series
Setting – On the RMS Majesty ocean liner in the Atlantic
Worker Bee Press (February 19, 2024)
Print length : 250 pages
Mona Moon and her new husband, Robert Farley, Duke of Brynelleth, are on their honeymoon at last. They have just boarded the RMS Majesty ocean liner. The couple are looking forward to visiting Robert’s ancestral English home, Brynelleth, and then off to Paris before winding up on the Italian Riviera. After a romantic evening of dancing until the wee hours of the night, Mona and Robert discover their suite has been ransacked and Mona’s jewelry, supposedly secured in their stateroom, has been stolen.
Mona is horrified, as some of the jewelry belongs to the Brynelleth Estate and were cherished pieces of Robert’s mother. The ship’s crew searches the ocean liner, and a gold brooch turns up in a bartender’s cabin. It is the same bartender who served Mona earlier in the evening. The only problem is the bartender has been murdered and the rest of the jewelry is still missing.
Author Guest Post: I GUESS FAULKNER WAS RIGHT by Abigail Keam
William Faulkner’s line, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past,” is one of the most quoted lines in American 20th century fiction and resonates today in all literature including historical mysteries.
Does history revolve in circles or undulate in waves? The same patterns keep emerging—the same type of grifters who try to con the gullible, the same type of heroes who risk everything, and those who watch from the sidelines.
I have always been fascinated by history and knew I wanted to write an entertaining mystery series where I could combine fiction with historical fact.
When I began writing my 1930s Mona Moon Mysteries, I decided to weave real people and events into the story line. I wanted to make those mysteries come alive with both the saints and the scoundrels of the day. After doing much research, I discovered the 1930s had been politically explosive like the 1960s and even today with many of the same issues still confronting the world. So how does one incorporate themes of social justice, world events, and conflict into a mystery and write a story that is still entertaining and fun to read? Not with a hammer, but with a soft wave of a woman’s fan.
One way is to give voice to a female protagonist to whom women will relate. The second is not to become “preachy.” My job as a mystery writer is to author an engaging story with facts that enhance the reader’s enjoyment of the book—not deter. One thing that helps is that my intrepid champion speaks from the perspective of a gal who needed grit and resolve to survive the harrowing years of the Great Depression. She is my “every woman.”
Enter Mona Moon, my American cartographer, who is broke with no prospects in sight. Not good news for a single woman in one of the worst years of the Depression. A man, wearing a Homburg hat, knocks on her tenement door after midnight. She answers with a pistol in hand. The man announces he is a lawyer representing her estranged dead uncle and informs Mona that she has inherited the Moon family fortune.
With that introduction, I plucked Mona from New York City and planted her on a horse farm in Kentucky’s Bluegrass where Mona discovers that half of her farm hands can barely read or write, her bank refuses to give her credit because she’s a woman, and the employees at the Moon copper mines are threatening to strike due to low pay. All three concerns were real issues in the 1930s, which caused protests/riots in the dark days of the Depression—lack of educational opportunities, women’s economic rights, and workers scraping by on subsistence pay.
Several years have gone by, and now Mona has married the dashing, but brooding Robert Farley, Duke of Brynelleth. They take the RMS Majesty ship to Great Britain where they will stay at Robert’s ancestral estate, Brynelleth, and then on to a Mediterranean cruise. After a night of dancing, they return to their suite only to discover that it has been ransacked—and all of Mona’s jewelry stolen. Mona is devastated.
To make matters worse, a bartender has been found dead with one of Mona’s brooches clutched in his hand. Since Robert has used the jewels for loan collateral, they must get them back of the banks will call in the loan notes. Mona sets out to find the missing jewels and the murderer of the bartender!
Of course, she meets many fascinating people along the way.
I love to weave real people in my Mona Moon mysteries. Murder Under A Honey Moon includes Noel Coward, famous British playwright, Martha Gellhorn, only woman journalist to accompany American soldiers on D Day, and Virginia Hall, a famous American spy.
I believe Faulkner was right about the past. It is never dead, and writers can incorporate the past into their historical mysteries making them richer. If a reader enjoys the mystery and learns something as well, then I am thrilled because we should all be keepers of history. And as we all know from a good mystery, secrets from the past never stay buried. See you between the pages. Abigail Keam
About Abigail Keam
Award-winning author Abigail Keam writes the Mona Moon Mystery Series—a rags-to-riches 1930s mystery series, which includes real people and events into the story line. “I am a student of history and love to insert historical information into my mysteries. There is an addendum at the end of the mystery to give more information. My goal is to entertain my readers, but if they learn a little something along the way—well, then we are both happy.”
Miss Abigail currently lives on the Palisades bordering the Kentucky River in a metal house with her husband and various critters.
THE MONA MOON MYSTERY SERIES
1930s Historical Mysteries
Murder Under A Blue Moon I
Murder Under A Blood Moon II
Murder Under A Bad Moon III
Murder Under A Silver Moon IV
Murder Under A Wolf Moon V
Murder Under A Black Moon VI
Murder Under A Full Moon VII
Murder Under A New Moon VIII
Murder Under A English Moon IX
Murder Under A British Moon X
Murder Under A Bridal Moon XI
Murder Under A Honeymoon XII
Author Links
Official Site http://www.abigailkeam.com/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/author.abigailkeam/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/abigailkeamauthor/
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/abigailkeam/
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Abigail-Keam/e/B0045PEGUQ
TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@abigailkeam
Purchase Links – Amazon – Barnes and Noble – Apple – Kobo
AWARDS
2010 Gold Medal Award from Readers’ Favorite for Death By A HoneyBee
2011 Gold Medal Award from Readers’ Favorite for Death By Drowning
2011 USA BOOK NEWS-Best Books List of 2011 as a Finalist for Death By Drowning
2011 USA BOOK NEWS-Best Books List of 2011 as a Finalist for Death By A HoneyBee
2017 Finalist from Readers’ Favorite for Death By Design
2019 Honorable Mention from Readers’ Favorite for Death By Stalking
2019 Top 10 Mystery Novels from Kings River Life Magazine for Murder Under A Blue Moon2
2019 Honorable Mention from Readers’ Favorite for Death By Stalking: A Josiah Reynolds Mystery
2019 Top 10 Mystery Novels from Kings River Life Magazine for Murder Under A Blue Moon: A 1930s Mona Moon Mystery
2020 Imadjinn Award for Best Mystery – Death By Stalking: A Josiah Reynolds Mystery
2022 Finalist in Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Finalist for Best Historical Category – Murder Under A Full Moon
2022 Finalist for the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award for Best Historical Category – Murder Under A New Moon
2022 Death By Chance: A Josiah Reynolds Mystery Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Finalist for Best Cozy Mystery
2022 Top Ten Mystery Novel by Kings River Life Magazine for Murder Under A Bridal Moon: A 1930s Mona Moon Mystery
2022 Top Ten Mystery Novel by Kings River Life Magazine for Murder Under A British Moon: A 1930s Mona Moon Mystery
Enter the Giveaway
Murder Under a Honey Moon TOUR PARTICIPANTS
February 19 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – SPOTLIGHT
February 19 – StoreyBook Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST
February 19 – Eskimo Princess Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
February 20 – Mystery, Thrillers, and Suspense – SPOTLIGHT
February 20 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
February 20 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
February 21 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
February 21 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
February 21 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
February 22 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST
February 22 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER GUEST POST
February 23 – Books to the Ceiling – SPOTLIGHT – PODCAST
February 23 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW
February 23 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
February 24 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT
February 24 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT
February 25 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee – SPOTLIGHT
February 25 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
February 25 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
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Sounds like a book I will enjoy.
Here are some early reviews. Thank you.
FIVE STARS! “I revel in the clever and entertaining manner in which Ms. Keam weaves historical figures and events into her compelling stories!” -Empress DJ, Books and Bindings Reviews
FIVE STARS! “This is a well written perfectly paced murder with great characters that i have come to love!” -Miss W Book Reviews
FIVE STARS! “Murder Under A Honey Moon is a thrilling crime mystery novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The story is set in the 1930s and offers commentary on the political and social climate of the era. Readers will love getting to know Mona because she is a formidable character who does not back down easily.” -Readers’ Favorite