historical mystery – Empowering women through fiction and history.

Release Day for The Missing Witness!

Title: The Missing Witness

Series:Series: Grave Sisters Mysteries: Book 2

Author: Tam May

Genres: Historical Cozy Mystery

Release Date: November 22, 2025

“It is an entertaining read.” — early Goodreads reviewer

In small towns like Gyver, WWI veterans don’t have it easy. In a nation just emerging from an economic depression, jobs are few and far between. Disability and shell shock are real, and battle fatigue is taking its toll on their bodies and souls.

Three years after the end of the war, Violet Grave’s friend, Hank Convoy, is one of these vets struggling to survive. With a grandmother and a disabled sister to support, he takes whatever odd jobs he can get. But like Violet, he’s a product of Jazz Age youth culture, so most of what he earns goes toward cards and bootleg liquor.

To add to his troubles, he’s arrested on suspicion of murdering an army buddy found in the alleyway near his house.

Violet begs her older sisters, Eve and Helena, to help prove Hank killed out of self-defense and not cold-blooded murder.

Will the sisters solve this confusing case based on cigar ash, a missing revolver, and some missing jewelry? And what about the witness who left the marks of a strange pair of shoes in the dirt the night it happened?

You can get your copy of the book at a special promotional price at the following online retailers.

Excerpt

Oliver persuaded Sheriff Warner to go down to Browly’s Diner for some sandwiches and coffee. He then coaxed Hank into eating. The food and coffee revived the young man a little.

But in spite of the district attorney’s compassion for the distraught young man, he didn’t forget he had an obligation to the county to do his duty. He felt the search for Wild Bill’s killer was over. And he was right.

When he and Sheriff Warner had settled into the room the police used for questioning suspects, the first words out of Hank’s mouth were, “I killed Wild Bill.”

“God Almighty, we figured that out a long time ago,” scoffed the sheriff.

“I’ll take over the questioning, Sheriff,” Oliver said in a rough tone. “Get your notebook ready, as we want to take all of this down.”

“Yes, sir,” The sheriff pulled out his notepad and pencil and straddled a chair across from Hank. “I’ll take it down myself.”

“You can take this down, Sheriff,” Hank said in a firm tone. “I had to kill Wild Bill to defend myself.”

Oliver heard the lawman mumble, “They all say that.”

“So you weren’t in Litt last night,” Oliver said. “And you didn’t get that wound from a bar fight.”

“I shouldn’t have lied,” said Hank. “I panicked.”

Oliver patted the young man’s arm. “Listen, son, do you want someone here with you?”

“I can’t afford a lawyer.” Hank suddenly broke down, hiding his face with both hands.

“I didn’t mean a lawyer,” Oliver said gently. “I meant a family member.”

“No one was home when we knocked on the door earlier this morning,” Sheriff Warner reminded him.

Hank stared at him. “What do you mean, no one was home?”

“No one answered,” he said.

The young man blinked. “Ellie’s always home unless she’s with Sarah Anthony.”

“She wasn’t with the Anthonys,” the sheriff said.

“You don’t understand.” He turned to Oliver. “Ellie’s blind, and she can’t walk well. Even if Granny was out, she wouldn’t leave her alone.”

“If she was home, she wasn’t answering the door,” Sheriff Warner said.

“Maybe Granny came back from the Solarises’ and took Ellie somewhere when she saw I wasn’t there,” Hank lamented.

“We can send someone to the Solarises’ to get them,” Oliver offered.

“It’s just as well they aren’t here.” Hank shook his head. “It would only upset Ellie.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t need anyone here. I want to tell what happened. It’s eating me up inside.”

“Start from the beginning,” Oliver said.

About the Author

Writing has been Tam May’s voice since the age of fourteen. She writes stories set in the past featuring sassy but sensitive women characters. Tam is the author of the Adele Gossling Mysteries, which takes place in the early 20th century and features suffragist and epistolary expert Adele Gossling whose talent for solving crimes doesn’t sit well with her town’s conventional ideas about women. She also has a new series, the Grave Sisters Mysteries, about three sisters who own a funeral home and help the county D.A. solve crimes in a 1920s small California town, set to release in 2025. In addition, she has written historical fiction about women breaking loose from the social and psychological expectations of their era. Although Tam left her heart in San Francisco, she lives in the Midwest because it’s cheaper. When she’s not writing, she’s devouring everything classic (books, films, art, music), concocting yummy plant-based dishes, and exploring her riverside town.

Social Media Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tammayauthor/

Instragram: https://www.instagram.com/tammayauthor/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tammayauthor/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Tam-May/e/B01N7BQZ9Y/

BookBub Author Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tam-may

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16111197.Tam_May

Release Day for The Case of the Washed-Up Corpse!

Title: The Case of the Washed-Up Corpse

Series: Grave Sisters Mysteries: Book 1

Author: Tam May

Genres: Historical Cozy Mystery

Release Date: April 26, 2025

New series!

Chosen for the Barnes & Noble Top Indie Favorite list!

It’s 1921, and Americans are still reeling from the effects of World War I. In Gyver, CA, on the California/Nevada border, three sisters own the only funeral home in town. The eldest, Eve, takes care of the administration and accounting. Middle sister Helena uses her scientific and medical knowledge for the more hands-on side of the business. Eighteen-year-old Violet, the youngest, skirts the edge of a flapper lifestyle, preferring parties and jazz to funeral services and burials.

Then, Gyver County’s newly appointed district attorney asks for their assistance in identifying the body of a young woman found along a remote part of the river. At first, the police think it’s suicide. Only it isn’t — it’s murder!

As far as the sisters are concerned, murder is police business. Their business is to see that the dead are laid to rest. But District Attorney Oliver Clarke needs their help, and they can’t say no.

What follows is a twisted tale with only a few clues to help untangle it: a missing engagement ring, a piece of rope, and a torn lapel.

Will Eve and her sisters succeed in bringing justice to a dead, innocent young woman?

You can get your copy of the book at a special promotional price of 99¢ at the following online retailers.

Excerpt

“Would you like some coffee, Oliver?” Helena rose. “I’m sure Agnes still has the pot going.”

“That’s mighty nice of you,” he said. “But this isn’t exactly a social call.”

She glanced at her sister. “Don’t tell me you need our services at this time of night.”

“Death, like birth, waits for no one.” Eve brushed the last cake crumbs from dessert off her lap. “A good thing we filled the hearse with gas this afternoon.”

“It’s not quite that kind of service.” Oliver’s dark eyes grew serious. “I need a different kind of help. A woman was found dead, and we don’t know who she is.”

“Who’s ‘we’?” Helena asked.

“Me and the sheriff, of course,” he said. “And the county coroner. We’ve sent for Dr. Myers, but he’s a little difficult to locate at the moment.”

“All county men,” Eve murmured. “That means —”

“The woman did not die of natural causes,” Helena finished.

“We don’t know that yet,” he said. “We just got down there.”

“Down where?” Eve asked.

“The river.” He paused a moment. “Her body was washed up in the grass.”

“How horrible!” She shuddered.

“No more horrible than what we see,” her sister argued.

“You both know everybody in town,” Oliver said.

“We ought to,” Eve said. “Graves have been here since the town was built.”

“I thought you might know who she is.”

“You want us to look at the dead body?” Eve pressed her hands together.

Helena glanced at her. “It’s our business, isn’t it?”

“I’d like you to do more than that,” said Oliver. “You’re a doctor, aren’t you, Helena?” He glanced at her.

“I studied medicine, but they wouldn’t let me get a license.” A note of bitterness lingered in her voice.

“You have the knowledge and the training,” he insisted. “It looks as if it’s going to take a while before Dr. Myers gets there for the official ruling.”

“It’s that serious?” Eve asked.

“It is for me,” he said softly.

“Your first murder case in Gyver,” Helena remarked.

“Murder, like birth and death, waits for no one,” he said with a little irony.

Eve rose. “We’d better get our coats, then.”

“It won’t be pleasant, I’m afraid.” He helped Eve with hers. “She’s been in the water for some time. That much we do know.”

“As Helena said, Oliver, death is our business,” Eve assured him.

“Agnes!” Helena called. “We’re going out with the district attorney.”

The housekeeper came out of the kitchen, a dish towel in one hand and the cake platter, washed and dripping, in the other. “What’re you wanting to do that for?”

“Because he asked us to,” Eve snapped.

“I think we ought to take the hearse,” Helena said. “We might need it.”

“You can follow me in my car.” Oliver put on his hat.

“What’re you bothering these girls for?” Agnes glared at the man. “Ain’t you got the whole police station and courthouse at your beck and call? Zak never bothered anybody in town at this time of night.”

“I won’t keep them out long, Mrs. Bishop,” he promised.

“Shouldn’t be keeping them out at all,” the woman grumbled. “They need their beauty sleep.”

“You must excuse Agnes,” Helena said. “She still thinks of us as her little goslings.”

“Ain’t these girls got enough on their minds without being bothered by district attorneys?”

“Don’t be inhospitable, Agnes,” Eve said.

“I swear to have them back before ten, ma’am.” Oliver bowed.

“If Vi comes home before we do, make sure she gets to bed,” Eve instructed.

“She won’t be back before midnight, that wild kitten,” the woman snorted.

“I’ll tell the sheriff to send a deputy after her if she’s not back by the time we are,” Oliver said.

“Thank you.” Eve’s breath eased.

About the Author

Writing has been Tam May’s voice since the age of fourteen. She writes stories set in the past featuring sassy, sensitive women characters. Tam is the author of the Adele Gossling Mysteries, which takes place in the early 20th century and features suffragist and epistolary expert Adele Gossling whose talent for solving crimes doesn’t sit well with her town’s conventional ideas about women. Tam also has a new series, the Grave Sisters Mysteries, about three sisters who own a funeral home and help the county D.A. solve crimes in a 1920s small California town, set to release in 2025. She has also written historical fiction about women breaking loose from the social and psychological expectations of their era. Although Tam left her heart in San Francisco, she lives in the Midwest because it’s cheaper. When she’s not writing, she’s devouring everything classic (books, films, art, music), concocting yummy plant-based dishes, and exploring her new riverside town.

Social Media Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tammayauthor/

Instragram: https://www.instagram.com/tammayauthor/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tammayauthor/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Tam-May/e/B01N7BQZ9Y/

BookBub Author Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tam-may

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16111197.Tam_May

Release Day for Murder Among The Rubble!

Title: Murder Among The Rubble

Series: Adele Gossling Mysteries: Book 7

Author: Tam May

Genres: Historical Cozy Mystery

Release Date: December 28, 2024

Chosen for the Barnes & Noble Top Indie Favorite list!

On a quiet morning in 1906, an earthquake of horrendous magnitude shakes one of California’s most vibrant cities. Buildings crumble to the ground. Fires destroy everything from South of the Slot’s dilapidated buildings to Nob Ill’s most ornate mansions, leveling nearly eighty percent of San Francisco.

Radical suffragist and progressive reformer Elsie Blessings calls her friends Adele Gossling and Nin Branch to her side at the Presidio’s refugee camp to help destitute women and children as San Francisco begins the slow process of rebuilding. Adele’s brother, Jackson, and Sheriff Hatfield accompany them as volunteers to help maintain law and order amidst the chaos of the ruined city.

While citizens come together to pick up the pieces of their homes and lives among the rubble, somebody thinks it’s just the right time for murder.

Includes an Author’s Note with background on the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906!

You can get your copy of the book at a special promotional price at the following online retailers.

Excerpt

“Perhaps if we saw her face, the ladies would be able to tell,” Hatfield suggested.

Dr. Fleming bent down and gently turned the woman over.

Missy’s piercing scream echoed among the quiet shrubbery. Nin closed her eyes, clutching Adele’s arm. Adele’s stomach turned over. The entire front of the woman’s body was bloody and full of slits as if someone had tried to rip the dress off her.

“My God, what an animal!” Jackson stared at the horror.

Adele felt as if another earthquake were swaying the ground. Nin seemed to know what was happening and pulled her friend away from the horrible sight into another clearing. Adele leaned against a redwood, feeling the sharp tips of bark pierce into her back. The breeze brushed gently against her cheeks and the sun created a warm umbrella over her. Gradually, the sick feeling passed.

“How could he have done that to her?” Adele choked out. “So much stabbing!”

“Some men are savages,” Nin snarled. “A wild coyote would have been more civilized.”

Adele glanced at her friend and gave a small laugh. “You have a strong stomach, Nin.”

“I’ve seen what humans can do to one another,” Nin said, her tone heavy.

Adele steadied herself. “The rage is more honest, anyway.”

“It was rage that did that,” Nin agreed.

“What could she have done that was so terrible, I wonder,” Adele murmured.

“She probably didn’t do anything but live her own life,” Nin said.

“That’s what I mean.” Adele was beginning to feel stronger. “A woman living her own life is bound to offend someone.”

Nin put her hands on her shoulders. “It’s coming closer, the time when women will be able to live their own lives without offending anybody.”

Adele smiled. “Don’t tell me you believe in our cause at last, dear.”

“I don’t believe in causes and you know it,” Nin declared. “I believe in what the Generous Ones tell me.”

“And they tell you that?”

“The years tell me that,” said Nin. “The years passing by other people’s prejudices.”

Adele pressed her hand. “We should be getting back. I’m all right now.”

“Take some peppermint,” her friend advised. “There’s plenty of it here and it’s very soothing.”

Adele bent down and picked some of the spiky, rough leaves. Nin was right. The stinging scent calmed her stomach. As she plucked a bunch from the ground, she caught sight of a golden ring that looked as if it had been carelessly tossed there. Picking it up, she saw it was inscribed L.S. & G.W.

“Nin, look at this!”

Her friend peered at the ring. “Do you think it belonged to the dead girl?”

“It might have,” Adele said. “Or it might have fallen from the finger of a woman who came out here to meet her soldier beau.”

“A very married woman,” Nin remarked with disapproval.

“It looks fresh to me,” Adele said. “I don’t think it could have been left here for very long.”

“The camp’s been open for only a few weeks,” her friend pointed out.

“No, I think it was even a shorter time than that.” Adele slipped it in the pocket of her jacket. “It hardly has any dirt on it.”

“Are you going to tell the police?” Nin took her arm.

“I think we’d better not,” said Adele. “We don’t know that it has anything to do with the girl.”

“And you’re not going to tell them we saw the girl last night, are you?” Her friend’s eyes were shrewd.

“If we tell Sergeant Walker she was near the Chinese camp, it wouldn’t look very good for them,” Adele said.

“Maybe a Chinese did kill her,” Nin suggested.

“I don’t think so,” Adele said as they carefully made their way among the shrubs. “It doesn’t seem likely someone from the Chinese camp would rip through her clothes like that.”

“Who knows what anyone would do under circumstances like these?” Nin sighed. “Some people have their sense of decency knocked out of them when Sister Nature reacts with such violence.”

“Violence begets violence,” Adele said, feeling her body shake.

About the Author

Writing has been Tam May’s voice since the age of fourteen. She writes stories set in the past that feature sassy and sensitive women characters. Tam is the author of the Adele Gossling Mysteries which takes place in the early 20th century and features suffragist and epistolary expert Adele Gossling whose talent for solving crimes doesn’t sit well with her town’s conventional ideas about women’s place. Tam is also working on a new series, the Grave Sisters Mysteries about three sisters who own a funeral home and help the county D.A. solve crimes in a 1920s small California town, set to release in 2025. She has also written historical fiction about women breaking loose from the social and psychological expectations of their era. Although Tam left her heart in San Francisco, she lives in the Midwest because it’s cheaper. When she’s not writing, she’s devouring everything classic (books, films, art, music), concocting yummy plant-based dishes, and exploring her new riverside town.

Social Media Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tammayauthor/

Instragram: https://www.instagram.com/tammayauthor/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tammayauthor/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Tam-May/e/B01N7BQZ9Y/

BookBub Author Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tam-may

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16111197.Tam_May

Introducing the Grave Sisters Mysteries Series!

If you’ve been subscribing to my newsletter (and if you haven’t, you might want to check out the link below because you’ll get a bunch of cool stuff, including a couple of freebies) you know I announced last year that I would be working on a new series in 2024 to launch in 2025. I’m now ready to talk a little bit about that new series.

The Grave Sisters Mysteries is going to be another historical cozy mystery series (like my Adele Gossling Mysteries). The two series have several elements in common. They both feature strong women sleuths who defy the conventions of their time. They are both set in small towns in California and they both include women who help men in law enforcement solve crimes.

But the Grave Sisters Mysteries has a few differences that set it apart from my current series. As the name suggests, there is more than one sleuth in this new series. The sleuths, in fact, are three sisters. Eve is the oldest and most involved in solving the crimes. The middle sister, Helena, is her aide and brings different skills to the table. Their younger sister, Violet, is less involved in crime solving (at least at the beginning) but she nevertheless puts her hand in.

Another thing that makes the Grave Sisters Mysteries different from the Adele Gossling Mysteries is the sleuths’ non-crime-solving occupation. Adele runs her own stationary store in town. The Grave Sisters own a family business and its nature might surprise you. They run the only mortuary in town! That’s right. They deal with dead bodies in their line of work, though most of them get that way from natural causes rather than murder. Eve handles the administrative and accounting side of things while Helena is the resident mortician who prepares the bodies for burial. Violet, who is only eighteen in the first book, doesn’t get as involved in the family business until much later.

The time frames for both series are also different. Those who know the Adele Gossling Mysteries know the first book is set only a few years after the turn of the 20th century and the series is currently up to the middle of its first decade (spoiler alert: Book 7 is going to take place during the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire). Adele’s values and ideas fit the Progressive Era and her New Woman status lends interest and background to the mysteries.

The Grave sisters live in a later era. The first book is set in 1921, a period in American history that was just as vibrant as the Progressive Era, though in a different way. World War I was behind us but the Roaring Twenties wasn’t exactly in full swing. In fact, the nation was experiencing a sort of dip in prospects with so many World War I veterans who returned home to find they couldn’t get jobs (this becomes one of the themes of Book 2 of this series). But the sisters are firmly planted in this era that was experiencing a transition from the old to the new. America was still trying to hold on desperately to its old values and yet, the younger generation was sick and tired of the old ways and bringing in the modern age against their parents’ and grandparents’ resistance. All of these things affect the sisters and their relationship to one another. Future blog posts will address some of these topics.

Even though Book 1 of the Grave Sisters Mysteries won’t be released until the spring of 2025, don’t despair! I have more information for you about the series here. Book 1 will be available for preorder sometime later this year. I’ll also be including more updates about this series as well as details and excerpts in my newsletter this year, so if you’re not signed up for my newsletter, now is a great time to do so!

If you’re new to my site and haven’t yet checked out the Adele Gossling Mysteries, I encourage you to do that too! Book 1 of that series, The Carnation Murder, is free on all bookseller sites so you lose nothing but picking up a copy. You can find all the links here.

If you love fun, engaging mysteries set in the past, you’ll enjoy The Missing Ruby Necklace! It’s available exclusively to newsletter subscribers here. By signing up, you’ll also get news about upcoming releases, fun facts about women’s history, classic true-crime tidbits, and more!

Release Day Blitz for Adele Gossling Mysteries Box Set: Books 1-3!

Title: Adele Gossling Mysteries Box Set 1: Books 1-3 (Adele Gossling Mysteries Box

Series: Adele Gossling Mysteries

Author: Tam May

Genres: Historical Cozy Mystery

Release Date: November 25, 2023

Can a forward-thinking woman help the police solve crimes in a backward-thinking town?

“Great new series!”

Smart, inquisitive, and a firm believer in Progressive Era reforms, Adele Gossling seeks a new life after the devastating death of her father. She flees San Francisco for the town of Arrojo, planning a life of peace and small pleasures. But both elude her when she and her spiritual sidekick, Nin Branch, get involved in helping the local police solve the case of a dead debutante, a poisoned schoolteacher, and a family matriarch who may or may not have left a generous will.

The Carnation Murder: Adele Gossling has barely been in Arrojo for a week when she discovers her neighbor’s dead body in her gazebo. Can Adele and Nin solve this puzzling case involving a striped carnation, a diamond ring, a note, a muddy pair of boots, and a broken promise?

A Wordless Death: Millie Gibb, the new teacher at the local girl’s school, is found dead and everybody in town assumes the homely, unmarried spinster committed suicide. Can Adele and her clairvoyant friend Nin prove Millie’s death was foul play based on a cigar stub, a letter fragment, and a cigarette lighter before the case is closed for good?

Death at Will: When the affluent Thea Marsh dies unexpectedly, the trail of suspects leads to Thea’s beloved and favored eldest son, Theo. Will Adele make a case against Theo’s guilt for the police out of a stained teacup, a fountain pen nib, ashes that should have been in the fireplace, and daisies that should have been fresh?

Pick up this box set of the first three Adele Gossling Mysteries and immerse yourself in turn-of-the-century Northern California in all its dynamic and chaotic glory for a fun and cozy read!

You can get your copy of this box set at a special price at the following online retailers.

About the Author

Writing has been Tam May’s voice since the age of fourteen. She writes stories set in the past that feature sassy and sensitive women characters. Tam is the author of the Adele Gossling Mysteries which take place in the early 20th century and features suffragist and epistolary expert Adele Gossling whose talent for solving crimes doesn’t sit well with the town’s more conventional ideas about women’s place. She has also written historical fiction about women breaking loose from the social and psychological expectations of their era. Although Tam left her heart in San Francisco, she lives in the Midwest because it’s cheaper. When she’s not writing, she’s devouring everything classic (books, films, art, music) and concocting yummy plant-based dishes.

Social Media Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tammayauthor/

Instragram: https://www.instagram.com/tammayauthor/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tammayauthor/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Tam-May/e/B01N7BQZ9Y/

BookBub Author Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tam-may

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16111197.Tam_May