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Lynn Messina

@authorlynnmessina

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📚 Author of Regency Romance • Regency Cozy • Historical Fiction
🔎Including Beatrice Hyde-Clare mysteries, a cozy series

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𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴.

A good book can alter your perspective, introduce an idea you hadn’t considered or make an unfamiliar place feel strangely familiar.

Sometimes all it takes is the right story to make the world look a little different.

Not bad for something you can carry around with you.

#LynnMessina
#BookishQuotes
#RegencyMystery
#BookishEscape by @authorlynnmessina

“𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦.” It’s enough to drive a newly minted duchess to distraction, especially when the servants insist on reminding her of it every five minutes.

Beatrice Hyde‑Clare may have acquired a title, a husband, and a house with far too many rooms, but she hasn’t lost her knack for stumbling into murder.

When a neighboring chef manages the impossible and suffers a mishap far too dramatic to be believed, Bea is fairly certain 'accident' has nothing to do with it.

Because even if she can’t find her way around Berkeley Square, she certainly knows her way around a mystery.

🔎 𝗔 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗘𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: A Regency Cozy Historical Murder Mystery (Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mysteries Book 6)

#LynnMessina
#HistoricalMysteryBooks
#MysteryReaders
#HistoricalWhodunit
#BeatriceHydeClare by @authorlynnmessina

Catherine Fellingham has spent six seasons doing her best not to attract attention.

She leaves the spotlight to her beautiful younger sister, prefers a newspaper to the marriage mart and has no particular objection to being overlooked.

Then Lady Arabella decides Catherine requires a husband.

Worse, she recruits the Marquess of Deverill to help.

Catherine might have remained blissfully unaware of the arrangement had she not overheard the instructions herself: flirt with Miss Fellingham, bring her into fashion and make society notice her.

Mortifying.

So while Deverill sets about charming Catherine, Catherine sets about making absolutely certain she will not be charmed.

It is an excellent plan.

Unfortunately, nobody appears to have consulted her heart.

𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝗙𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗵𝗮𝗺’𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 — because being sensible is considerably easier when a handsome marquess is not interfering with the process.

#LynnMessina
#RegencyRomance
#HistoricalRomanceBooks
#RomanceReaders by @authorlynnmessina

It's blanket-and-books season.

The air has turned cooler and crisper, and that feels like the perfect excuse to start the weekend with a cup of tea, a cozy corner and my current read (which, of course, is proofreading Bea's next installment - 𝘈 𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘭).

How do you like to ease into your weekend, and what story is keeping you company right now?

#LynnMessina
#WeekendReads
#CozyReading
#BookCommunity by @authorlynnmessina

Beatrice Hyde-Clare is discovering that duchesshood has its drawbacks.

For one thing, there is the pineapple. Chef André has taken to putting it in her beloved rout cakes, and Bea is bearing the insult with considerably more dignity than anyone has a right to expect.

Then she learns that Kesgrave’s uncle is scheming against her.

Kesgrave would prefer to deal with the matter himself.

Bea would prefer considerably more information.

When his uncle is subsequently bludgeoned to death with a candlestick, any hope of keeping Bea at a polite distance from the affair becomes rather unrealistic.

🪶 𝗔 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 finds Bea navigating married life, an exceedingly troublesome family connection and the growing suspicion that becoming a duchess has done very little to reduce the number of murders requiring her attention.

#LynnMessina
#HistoricalCozyMystery
#RegencyMystery
#CozyCrime by @authorlynnmessina

Cliffhangers: some readers love the suspense; others consider it emotional sabotage. Bea would call it intolerable — she likes her mysteries neatly solved.

I’m curious which camp you fall into: delight or despair when a book ends mid‑breath?

#LynnMessina
#WhatReaderAreYou
#CliffhangerReads
#MysteryReaderLife by @authorlynnmessina

Beatrice Hyde-Clare has fallen in love with the Duke of Kesgrave, and frankly, a murder would be a welcome distraction.

Fortunately, someone arrives on her doorstep with a suspicious death in need of investigating.

Unfortunately, Kesgrave insists on helping.

Now Beatrice must solve her third murder mystery while attempting the considerably more difficult task of keeping her feelings to herself.

🔎 𝗔𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗹, Book 3 in the 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘏𝘺𝘥𝘦-𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴.

#LynnMessina
#RegencyMystery
#HistoricalCozyMystery
#HistoricalMysteryBooks
#CozyMysteryReaders
#RegencyFiction by @authorlynnmessina

Beatrice Hyde‑Clare has declared, quite firmly, that she will not be assisting London’s most infamous crime lord. She has a household to manage, a reputation to uphold, and absolutely no interest in stepping foot inside Saffron Hill.

Naturally, that’s when a body appears.

Suddenly Bea is surrounded by forged antiquities, suspicious chisels, and an artistic scandal that stretches from the Royal Academy to the darkest corners of London. And the worst part? The victim is connected to her own family, which means she cannot simply pretend she didn’t hear the knock at the door.

Hell and Fury Hawes wants answers.
Kesgrave wants justice.
And Bea would very much like a moment to breathe.

🔎 𝗔 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗙𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (Book 13 of the Beatrice Hyde‑Clare Mysteries)

#LynnMessina
#HistoricalMysteryBooks
#MysteryReaders
#HistoricalWhodunit
#BeatriceHydeClare by @authorlynnmessina

What happens when a murder mystery dinner party decides to dispense with the fiction?

In 𝗔 𝗚𝗵𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗹𝗲, Bea’s first outing as the new Duchess of Kesgrave is a dinner party devised in her honor, complete with clues, suspects, a victim and a culprit.

All pretend, naturally.

Until one of the guests actually turns up dead.

Now Bea has a genuine murder to solve in a room full of people who were already pretending to be suspects, while trying not to confirm everyone’s suspicions that the new duchess has an alarming tendency to encounter corpses wherever she goes.

The evening was supposed to improve her standing in society.

𝗔 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗳𝘂𝗹.

#LynnMessina
#HistoricalCozyMystery
#HistoricalWhodunit
#AmateurSleuth
#WomenWhoSolveCrimes by @authorlynnmessina

Miss Evelyn Fellingham has many admirable qualities; unfortunately, none of them seem to appear when the Earl of Halsey is present. The moment he looks her way, her wit vanishes, her opinions evaporate, and she becomes the sort of young lady who agrees with absolutely everything, including the forecast of rain on a perfectly sunny day.

It’s a pattern made even more absurd by the fact that her most memorable interaction with him involves a hobby‑horse, a loss of balance, and a tumble one does not soon forget. Halsey, who had dismissed her as a decorative ninnyhammer, suddenly finds himself confronted with a young lady far more interesting than he’d assumed.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗵𝗮𝗺 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝘅 is a novella-length Regency romp featuring an artist heroine, an observant earl, and the social chaos that ensues when admiration and nerves refuse to cooperate.

🪶 Link in bio

#LynnMessina
#RegencyRomance
#TheFellinghamMinx
#LoveTakesRoot
#HistoricalRomance by @authorlynnmessina

Readers come up with wonderfully curious questions, and one that comes up often is: 𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀?

In theory, no. The idea of deleting a scene I’ve spent time on feels vaguely tragic, and I will twist myself into knots trying to keep it. But now and then, the universe conspires against me. One example is when I was working on 𝗔 𝗠𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝘆𝘀𝘁, I wrote a scene I was pretty happy with… until I checked my notes and discovered I’d planned something entirely different, and it was much better, so out it went.

It was a strange experience, mostly because I rarely ever plan far enough ahead to forget my own ideas.

If you have more questions about my writing habits (or misadventures), send them along. I’ll keep answering them here.

#LynnMessina
#AskAuthor
#QuestionOfTheDay
#AuthorLife
#WritingProcess
#CozyMysteryAuthor by @authorlynnmessina

𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗛𝘆𝗱𝗲-𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗟𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹, 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝗻𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.

Then she met the Duke of Kesgrave.

By dinner, she had mentally thrown fish patties with olive paste, stuffed tomatoes, veal cutlets, poached eggs and several other courses at his head. Bea, naturally, kept every one of them on the plate.

Then she found a dead man in the library.
With Kesgrave standing over him.

And so begins 𝗔 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝘇𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆, the first Beatrice Hyde-Clare mystery — and the point at which remaining inconspicuous becomes considerably more difficult.

𝗛𝗮𝗱 𝗕𝗲𝗮 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽, 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹.

#LynnMessina
#CountryHouseMystery
#HistoricalCozy
#AmateurSleuth
#RegencyReads by @authorlynnmessina