Books on New England history for your holiday shopping!

Here is a selection of my books that tell stories of New England history.  Please consider them when shopping for your book lover/history fan!

BESIDE THE STILL WATERS - a novel on the "lost towns" of the Quabbin Reservoir in central Massachusetts.  Four towns…dismantled as an entire valley is prepared to be flooded. The past is being wiped clean, the present threatens, the future belongs to the fearless.

Three generations weave a tapestry of isolation and stubborn independence, battling the forces of nature, the Commonwealth, and each other in this family saga. A courageous girl becomes the guardian of her family’s heritage, and ultimately, the one to determine what happens next.

Beside the Still Waters is based on actual events that displaced four entire towns in central Massachusetts in the 1920s and 1930s for the construction of the Quabbin Reservoir. Families are torn apart, divided between those who protest the construction, those who give up and leave while they can, and those who help to build the dam that will flood the towns.

Return to the Swift River Valley, its charm and its pain, its mysteries and its lessons—to a community, a family, and a young woman in a race against time.

A TRAGIC TOAST TO CHRISTMAS - The Infamous 1919 Wood Alcohol Deaths in Chicopee, Massachusetts.  Non-fiction.  More than 100 people died of a companionable drink in several towns and cities in New England on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 1919, nearly half of them in the city of Chicopee, Massachusetts. How this came to happen, and even how it came to be forgotten are both intriguing aspects to the tragedy.

The story of the grisly incident of unknowingly ingesting poisonous wood alcohol and how it played out in one New England city might stand as a microcosm of the conflict created between the legal production and sale of alcohol, those who would prohibit it, and those who would do anything to profit from it, not only in the years up to 1919, but in the tumultuous decade that followed.

COMEDY AND TRAGEDY ON THE MOUNTAIN - 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom, Holyoke, Massachusetts.  Non-fiction.  The book covers the history of summer theatre on Mt. Tom from1895 to 1965.  For some seventy years the playhouse created magic on the mountain above the city; from vaudeville, operetta, WPA-sponsored shows in the Great Depression, and its heyday from 1941 to 1962 with a resident repertory company called The Valley Players.  In the early 1960s, two new incarnations: The Casino-in-the-Park, and finally, the Mt. Tom Playhouse with touring packaged shows featuring well-known stars from television and movies.  Many stars of stage and screen, and many newcomers who would one day become stars, performed over several decades on Mt. Tom.  Through interviews, newspaper reviews, and nearly 250 photographs, relive their performances, and go backstage for personal experiences that were both comic and tragic, and enjoy again the excitement of opening night.

THE AMES MANUFACTURING COMPANY OF CHICOPEE, MASSACHUSETTS - A Northern Factory Town's Perspective on the Civil War.  Non-fiction.  The three articles that comprise this book tell different stories about the Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts, which played an important role as an arms manufacturer during the American Civil War.  Together, they make up a kind of composite of the Northern Civil War experience in the small, but dynamic, universe of a factory town.  We meet Nathan P. Ames and James T. Ames, brothers who founded the firm, the younger burdened with the responsibility after the tragic and grisly death of the older.

We meet two workers in the factory, one of whom, Charles Tracy, was a machinist who left his position to join the army, and came home without a leg—and was awarded the Medal of Honor.  He was cared for by Clara Barton--and comforted by President Abraham Lincoln on a visit to his hospital ward. The other man, Melzar Mosman, just a boy of nineteen, worked in the foundry department forging canon.  He also left to join the army, but after the war would become celebrated for forging bronze statuary, including a number of Civil War monuments.

We meet the townspeople of Chicopee, the minister who hid slaves on the local Underground Railroad, and the high school principal, who purchased a military substitute to fight in his place.  Later, he would become Governor of Massachusetts and the successful defense lawyer of the infamous Lizzie Borden.

 

And for mystery buffs, the Double V Mysteries Series set in New England in the late 1940s through the early 1950s (so far).

CADMIUM YELLOW, BLOOD RED - an heiress and an ex-con team up to solve a murder and discover much more.  Hartford, Connecticut, spring 1949.

SPEAK OUT BEFORE YOU DIE - the couple reunite to solve a mystery during a New Year's Eve house party in Hartford, 1949.

DISMOUNT AND MURDER - the now dynamic duo are involved in a scandal at a horse show in Litchfield, Connecticut, and Bar Harbor, Maine, summer 1950.

WHITEWASH IN THE BERKSHIRES - kidnapping and communist witch hunts lead to a discovery of murder in western Massachusetts, winter 1951.

MURDER AT THE SUMMER THEATER - a cast member goes missing at a playhouse on the Connecticut shore, summer 1951.

THE IRON LUNG MYSTERY - they are called to the Boston area to solve two mysterious deaths and find a family saga of treachery and treason,  summer 1951.

THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT KILLED - our sleuthing duo is brought to Chicopee, Massachusetts to investigate an old crime of embezzlement and scramble to prevent a murder. Christmas 1951.

All these books are available in eBook or print and can be found online at Barnes & Noble, Amazon,  Apple, and many other online shops.

Bookshop.org is "An online bookstore that financially supports local independent bookstores and gives back to the book community."  A portion of your online purchase will be donated to a fund supporting independent booksellers, and you can even request that the portion donated from your purchase will go to a specific, favorite local bookstore.  They also have a database on their site that will help you to find local independent bookstores in your area.

I'm very pleased to note that my print books are available from my page here at Bookshop.org 

For eBooks, please see my Shopify store page here.

For another option to purchase my print books, please see my Walmart page.

For more information and links to purchase, please visit my website:  JacquelineTLynch.com.

Thank you!

Chicopee Falls mystery novel - THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT KILLED

 

I'm very pleased to announce my newest book -- the seventh in my Double V Mysteries series:  The Little Engine That Killed.

On this adventure, Juliet and Elmer take on a case tracking an about-to-be-released prisoner to recover the money he stole and hid years before -- but as usual, nothing is as it seems, there are more questions than answers, and danger increases with every twist and turn.  It's the Christmas season, 1951, and our intrepid duo, unlike Santa Claus, have a little trouble determining for sure who is naughty and who is nice.

Writing this book has been a special treat for me, because I chose the setting for this story in my own hometown -- Chicopee, Massachusetts.  But there's a twist to that as well.  The particular part of town where the story takes place is Chicopee Falls.  In 1951, that village was completely different than it is now, because in the late 1960s and early 1970s, most of it was demolished in an urban renewal project.  To write this book, I had to recreate not only a time, but a place that no longer exists.  All of the books in this series are a form of time-travel.  This one, The Little Engine That Killed, is especially so.

As you can tell from the cover, trains figure prominently in the story.  Coal does, too, but not just for the Christmas stocking.

Grab your copy in print or eBook here at Amazon, or a variety of other online sources including Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo and others!

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Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of The Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts - A Northern Factory Town's Perspective on the Civil War;   

Comedy and Tragedy on the Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom,  Holyoke, Massachusetts;

 States of Mind: New England; as well as books on classic films and several novels.  Her Double V Mysteries series is set in New England in the early 1950s.  TO JOIN HER READERS' GROUP - follow this link for a free book as a thank-you for joining.

Mapping It Out - THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT KILLED - Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts

The next book in my nostalgic mystery series, THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT KILLED is set Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, in December 1951.  Though the characters and events are fictitious, the locations mentioned in the story did exist in this manufacturing village.  But no more.  This novel seeks to recreate a time before the Urban Renewal movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s drastically changed our urban centers; in the case of Chicopee Falls, wiped out most of it.  Some of the streets are gone now, and some whose directions are diverted and altered, but the more profound difference between then and now are the buildings on those streets that went under the wrecking ball.

Other aspects of the story are easier to distinguish on a map.  Above we have a 1946 topographical map by the U.S. Geographical Survey that shows a deep green area on the bluffs across the river from Chicopee Falls and other areas that were deeply wooded long before they were changed to suburban neighborhoods in the 1950s and 1960s.  A great place to dig a hole and hide stolen money.  If you really wanted to.

The "landing field" at the bottom of the map is the old Springfield Airport, the home of biplanes and the innovative GeeBees long before it became a shopping center.  For some, a field of dreams.

The railroad following parallel along the river figures prominently in the story.  That's not there anymore, either.

There's lots of trains in the book.





Here's a closer look at the setting in the web of streets of Chicopee Falls from a 1912 atlas that also figures into the story.  

Turning back time is a fascinating prospect, and one I've enjoyed very much in the writing of this mystery.  I hope you'll enjoy it, too.

I'm hoping to have The Little Engine That Killed published in November in eBook and in print, and I'll keep you up-to-date as we get closer. 

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Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of The Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts - A Northern Factory Town's Perspective on the Civil War;   

Comedy and Tragedy on the Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom,  Holyoke, Massachusetts;

 States of Mind: New England; as well as books on classic films and several novels. Her latest book is Christmas in Classic Films. TO JOIN HER READERS' GROUP - follow this link for a free book as a thank-you for joining.

Matchbooks as clues in THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT KILLED - Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts

 

Matchbooks as clues in the upcoming --
THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT KILLED

The next book in my nostalgic mystery series set in New England in the post-World War II era takes place in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, in December 1951.  Though the characters and events are fictitious, the locations mentioned in the story did exist in this manufacturing village.  But no more.  This novel seeks to recreate a time before the Urban Renewal movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s drastically changed our urban centers; in the case of Chicopee Falls, wiped out most of it.

                                                         

It was also a time of lots of smoking, as you see here in the several images of matchbooks from businesses in Chicopee Falls in 1951 that pop up in the novel.  It's funny for us today, perhaps, to think of even a bank offering matchbooks to its customers, but in an era of a widespread smoking habit, it was perhaps a good way to advertise, as handy, and more useful than a business card.



I'm hoping to have The Little Engine That Killed published in November in eBook and in print, and I'll keep you up to date on the particulars.  

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I'd like to share with you the wonderfully silly cartoons by my twin brother, John, on a variety of products such as mugs, T-shirts, and more, over at his Redbubble site.  Here's a link to his shop:  ArteAcher23 with more items being added every month.  Here's a cute black cat, enjoying having an enormous piece of candy corn all to himself.  Get your mug, shirt, apron, or whatever in time for Halloween!


 

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Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of The Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts - A Northern Factory Town's Perspective on the Civil War;   Comedy and Tragedy on the Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom, Holyoke, Massachusetts;   States of Mind: New England; as well as books on classic films and several novels. Her latest book is Christmas in Classic Films. TO JOIN HER READERS' GROUP - follow this link for a free book as a thank-you for joining.

New book coming! THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT KILLED...

I'm very pleased to announce that my newest book -- the seventh in my Double V Mysteries series, is going to be published soon!

On this adventure, Juliet and Elmer take on a case tracking an about-to-be-released prisoner to recover the money he stole and hid years before -- but as usual, nothing is as it seems, there are more questions than answers, and danger increases with every twist and turn.  It's the Christmas season, 1951, and our intrepid duo, unlike Santa Claus, has a little trouble determining for sure who is naughty and who is nice.

The setting for this story is Chicopee, Massachusetts.  But there's a twist to that as well, which you'll see in weeks to come.  The particular part of town where the story takes place is Chicopee Falls.  In 1951, that village was completely different than it is now, because in the late 1960s and early 1970s, most of it was demolished in an urban renewal project.  To write this book, I had to recreate not only a time, but a place that no longer exists.  All of the books in this series are a form of time-travel.  This one, The Little Engine That Killed, is especially so.

I'll let you know more in weeks to come.  For now, I hope you enjoy a peek at the cover above.

Where it happens...THE IRON LUNG MYSTERY

This is a map of the Boston area circa 1950.  No Mass Turnpike, no "Big Dig" (a decades-long construction project for those of you not familiar) and just a few markings I've put on to give readers a frame of reference when it comes to the meanderings of Juliet and Elmer in this, their latest adventure.

The green circles mark places visited and described in the story, from the towns of Milton and Melrose, to the Boston Common, to the sites of the drive-in movie and drive-in burger joint.  The red arrows point to locations in the novel that are off the map:  Vaughn Monroe's nightclub The Meadows, and the one pointing out to sea refers to a ferry voyage.

One need not be familiar with Boston or 1951 New England to enjoy the story, but sometimes a little visual aid helps.




The Iron Lung Mystery is now for sale in eBook form.  See this link to get your copy.  The novel will debut at 99 cents for two days only; then will increase to $1.99 on Saturday, September 6th for two days; and then on Monday, September 8th, it will be raised to its regular price of $2.99, so get in early to save some dough.  The eBook will be sold exclusively through Amazon for the first three months, then it will be available through several other online shops.

The print book version will follow later in September and will sell at its regular price of $9.99.

I'm looking forward to sharing this nostalgic mystery story with you.
 
 

A night at the drive-in movie: scenes from THE IRON LUNG MYSTERY

Today, another look at an episode in my forthcoming book The Iron Lung Mystery, which is Number 6 in my Double V Mysteries series. 

Above we have a shot of the entrance to the Neponset Drive-in movie theater in Dorchester, Massachusetts.  Elmer and Juliet move away from the scene of the crime for an evening to take a young child for her first experience at a drive-in movie.  (And, as with so many events in this series, it's also Elmer's first experience.  Having lived a hardscrabble boyhood during the Great Depression, and then spending several years as a young adult in prison, Elmer's missed out on a lot.  Juliet is only too happy to be his guide.)  

Also along for the ride this evening is the attorney who hired the duo to ferret out the mystery in this case, and he happens to be Elmer's old friend from boyhood days.  We've got one foot in the past and one foot in the unsettling present in this novel -- and the future?  Well, we know what lay ahead in pop culture in the 1950s, but we have to let Elmer and Juliet see for themselves and cope as best they can.  But the little girl enjoying the cartoon in the front seat (back in the day you got two movies and a couple cartoons for your ticket)?  Her future is in Juliet's and Elmer's hands.

The Neponset Drive-in was on Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester, right along the Neponset River on the site of a former dump.  It opened in September 1950 and was popular for years, just about a full year before our characters' visit there in August 1951, but as with many drive-ins in the colder climates, fell out of use and in disrepair by the 1970s and 1980s.  It is long since gone, now the site of Pope John Paul II Park.

Perhaps you have happy memories of going to the drive-in in younger days.  I'd love to hear them.

More on The Iron Lung Mystery in weeks to come, and I'll let you know when you can pre-order.

The photo above is from the Dorchester history website: Dorchester Atheneum 2

Elmer and Juliet visit Vaughn Monroe's The Meadows in Framingham, Mass.

May 21st marked the 49th year since the passing of singer, Big Band leader, sometimes actor Vaughn Monroe whose unique vocals and orchestrations thrilled the Greatest Generation. 

Originally from the Midwest, he studied voice for a semester at the New England Conservatory in Boston, and five years later, in 1940, formed his band.  It was in that same year he built The Meadows in Framingham, Massachusetts, his restaurant and nightclub, and continued to perform there, when he was not touring, until his death in 1973.

In my upcoming book number 6 in my Double V Mysteries series, Elmer and Juliet double-date (but not with each other) at The Meadows while Vaughn Monroe performs and even hosts his live radio program, the Camel Caravan, sponsored by Camel cigarettes. 

Above is the cover of the novelty tune "The Meadows - Route 9 on the Turnpike" by Jack Edwards and Johnny Watson.

Here's a song by Vaughn Monroe and his "girl singers," the Mood Maids - "Dream a Little Dream of Me."  Pretend you're with Elmer and Juliet, their dates, and the radio audience at home, at The Meadows in the late summer of 1951.  

Book number six is The Iron Lung Mystery.  More on that in weeks to come.

More on Vaughn Monroe in this previous post, and this one.

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Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of States of Mind: New England; 

Comedy and Tragedy on the Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom, Holyoke, Massachusetts; 

The Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts; 

Beside the Still Waters (a novel of the Quabbin Reservoir towns); 

and the Double V Mysteries series of novels set around New England in the early 1950s.