Original, engaging, suspenseful and charming!
I loved this book—the rich historical setting, the sparkling array of characters, the balance of action and luscious descriptions. And, most of all, the smart, spunky young protagonist, Keridec Rees who faces a complicated shipboard murder plot. What more can a reader ask of the start of a new mystery series?
Anne Hillerman, Author of the New York Times best selling Leaphorn Chee Manuelito mysteries
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There’s an assassin aboard in 1885 as the liner Oceanic steams across the Pacific toward San Francisco. His target is an orphan girl, Keridec Rees. Most 19th-century almost-fifteen-year-olds would be ill prepared to defend themselves, but Keridec possesses the sharpest mind on board. Susan Cummins Miller’s My Bonny Lies Under is a gripping war of wits between the brilliant teen and her would-be killers. To survive, Keridec must discover who wants her dead and why.
Miller is a master of the mystery genre, a scholar of women writers breaking barriers in the 19th century, and a poet who manipulates language in magical ways to further her plot. She and I and the remarkable Elizabeth Gunn were part of a critique group that published more than thirty novels over a couple of decades. Thanks, Susan, for continuing to carry our torch with the introduction of this delightful new sleuth!
J. M. Hayes, author of The Grey Pilgrim and The Spirit and the Skull
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In My Bonney Lies Under, Cummins Miller has created a beautifully written and captivating historical adventure with a crew of intriguing characters pitted against an unknown but powerful adversary—all at sea, aboard a steamship headed for San Francisco. Already in mourning, 15-year-old Keridec Rees undergoes yet another loss and then must fight to stay alive and discover who wants her dead. Analytic and gutsy, Keridec is an intelligent female heroine you’ll want to see more of. I know I do!
Kathy McIntosh, Author of the Adventure Calls Mysteries
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In Susan Cummins Miller’s historical mystery, My Bonney Lies Under, 14-year old world-traveler Keridec Rees sails home to San Francisco from the Orient in 1885 while grieving great losses and investigating a death on the ship, after being attacked herself. Along with her two guardians, Toru and Phineas, Keri thinks and draws and feels her way through her sorrow and the investigation. Cummins Miller is an award-winning poet and her prose is lyrical and detailed, with beautiful descriptions of characters, the movements of the ship, the weather, the food, and serious attention to historical details—including adherence to the diction of the times, class divisions and racial tensions. We are privy to Keri’s innermost thoughts and emotions. I gulped the novel in almost one sitting (I had to go to bed!), and by the end, Keri had transformed through grief and smarts into an independent young woman, though still so very young. A very compelling and satisfying read.
Liza Porter, winner of the 2024 Faulkner/Wisdom Writing Competition in nonfiction and author of Del Bac, Keep the Singing, and Red Stain
