BLAST, BLITZ, PROMOS, REVEALS, & TOURS . . . : TOUR Audio - CHARACTER INTERVIEW - COZY MYSTERY - A MURDER IN MOUNT MORIAH (Lindsay Harding Mystery, #1) by Mindy Quigley Narrator: Holly Adams

The Mount Moriah Mysteries by Mindy Quigley

A MURDER IN MOUNT MORIAH

Lindsay Harding Mysteries, #1

by Mindy Quigley
Narrator: Holly Adams
Length: 9 hours 36 minutes
Publisher: Mindy Quigley
Release date: April 15th 2015
Genre: Cozy Mystery

Interview with Rev. Lindsay Harding, protagonist of the Mount Moriah Mysteries

What are the challenges of being a young, female hospital chaplain?

Well, the job itself brings challenges. As a chaplain, I deal with life, death, betrayal, truth, fear, and the search for meaning on a daily basis. It can be heavy stuff! But it also allows me to build deep relationships with people very quickly so I can be there to support them when they need it.

Chaplains have to minister to people of all faiths, and even people with no faith. People who are scared I’m going to be all “Jesus, Bible, Hell, Hell, Hell,” are pleasantly surprised that I come to each interaction free of dogma and judgement. But then others have been upset that I don’t conform to their ideas of what clergy people should be. I’m glad that I’ve had both kinds of reactions because that shows me that I probably hit the mark just about right. Religion is a bit like cilantro—some people can’t get enough of it and other people think it tastes like soap.

As for the other part of the question--the “young, female” part--that brings its own set of challenges. I’m single, and I can tell you from first-hand experience that when I guy hits on you in a bar and asks you what you do for a living, there is no more potent romance killer than answering, “I’m a minister.”

What are some of your worst dating experiences?

Ugh, I wish I didn’t have so many to choose from. I’d have to say that the blind date with the 19-year-old high school student was up there. Or the time a reckless kiss and a case of mistaken identity almost broke up my best friend’s wedding? Probably the most humiliating one, though, was when a handsome doctor I was dating went to use my bathroom and got attacked by a squirrel. If telling potential love interests that I’m a minister is a romance killer, having to fend off an attacking rodent is the equivalent of romantic kryptonite.

Lately, you’ve gotten tangled up in a few high-profile criminal cases. Has that been a strange experience for you?

Unfortunately, I was already well-acquainted with the criminal justice system from a young age. My mom and dad were busted dealing drugs when I was little, and they spent most of my growing-up years in jail. My dad turned his life around, but my mom...she’s… I’m a Southern girl, so let’s just say “Bless her heart” and leave it at that.

More generally speaking, even though I’m a chaplain, when I see injustice, I’m not comfortable sitting back and hoping God will take care of things and everything will turn out all right. I actively work to make things right for people in the here-and-now, and not just in the sweet hereafter. From a safety and sanity point of view, that’s not necessarily a good trait.

Your friendships are a big part of your life. What does friendship mean to you?

My friend Rob is a fellow hospital chaplain and my friend Anna is an ER doctor, so both of them understand that working in a hospital can sometimes be pretty grim. Like me, they believe that the grimmer the task, the more humor is needed. It’s not that we’re flippant--okay, maybe sometimes we are a little flippant--but I think they both understand that a certain degree of black humor, along with an occasional alcohol binge, is what gets us through.

Me, Rob, and Anna have had our differences, but in the end, we have each other’s backs.

The Book Junkie Reads . . . Review of . . . A MURDER IN MOUNT MORIAH (Lindsay Harding Mystery, #1) . . . Cozy. Cute. Squirrely. My favorite mysteries are usually small-towns, female investigator, and one that would not be your typical choice to investigate. Mindy had just what I was looking for. I very much enjoy chaplain Lindsya Harding. She was someone that dealt with death and dying as part of her everyday. Now, she was in a role as investigator. The mystery was not overly complicated, but gave you just enough to get you wheels turning and you wanting to know more.

Narrator Holly Adams had the voice that could pull of mystery and still give you that feel of being right there as all the danger, suspense, and comedy took place. I found that this was a good start/introduction to a new series for me to look at.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Mindy Quigley. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

From award-winning mystery writer Mindy Quigley comes a hilarious tale of small-town intrigue and big-time crime.

For hospital chaplain Lindsay Harding, facing death is part of the job. After all she spends her working days comforting sick and dying patients. But when the annual Civil War reenactment in her hometown of Mount Moriah, North Carolina, produces a real casualty, the Grim Reaper suddenly gets a little too close for comfort. With the clock ticking, the police struggle to unravel how and why a beloved local reenactor was shot in front of hundreds of onlookers. As fingers point and tempers flare, another victim ends up laid out on Lindsay's front porch.

Lindsay's life is in danger, but her efforts to expose the century-old sins that lie at the heart of the mystery are undermined by her disastrous love life, her no-good mother, and a ninja-like squirrel - not to mention the small matter of a dangerous killer who'll stop at nothing to keep a sinister secret. Will courage, curiosity, and Lindsay's irreverent brand of religion be enough to catch the killer before she becomes the next victim?

Mindy Quigley is the author of the Mount Moriah cozy mystery series, which is based in part on her time working with the chaplains at Duke University Medical Center. Her short stories have won awards including the 2013 Bloody Scotland Short Story Competition and the 2018 Artemis Journal/Lightbringer Prize. Her non-writing career has been stranger than fiction, taking her from the US to the UK, where she worked as the personal assistant to the scientist who cloned Dolly the sheep, and as project manager for a research clinic founded by the author J.K. Rowling. She now lives in Blacksburg, Virginia, with her Civil War history professor husband, their children, and their idiosyncratic miniature Schnauzer.

Website⎮Facebook

An actress and physical theatre performer for many years before becoming a Voice Actor, Holly continues to divide her time between stage, screen, circus, and audiobook narration. Holly began her VO career doing radioplays and audiobook characters with the amazing Full Cast Audio company. Since then, Holly has voiced radio and web commercials, various e-learning projects, documentary shorts. . . and of course, audiobooks! She has been nominated for Best Fiction and Best Female Narrator. Holly has conservatory training; her attention to tone, energy and rhythm make her work personal and dynamic. Holly’s performance projects abroad (Italy, Afghanistan, Haiti, Russia, the UK, France, and the Middle East!) support her training and skill with dialects and languages. Holly records for Audible, Deyan Audio, Christian Audiobooks, Tantor, and more. Holly loves telling stories! When she’s not in the recording studio, she is on stage or screen; favorite projects include Richard II, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, the films "Here Alone", "Gotham Blue" and "Your Loving, Virginia", working with girls in Kabul for the Afghan Children's Circus and with performers in Balan, Haiti, as well as with her ‘home circus’ Circus Culture. Holly is a SAG-AFTRA performer, a graduate of the International Dell 'Arte School, and holds a Master's in Theatre, Education and Social Change. Https://shearwaterproductions.com/voice-actor and on IMDb as Holly Adams III.