About the Book
Book: Mabel and the Privy of Doom Author: Susan Kimmel Wright Genre: Cozy Mystery Release Date: March 5, 2026
Mabel plans to bring the joys of volunteering to the masses…if she doesn’t fall victim to an ancient curse first.
Mabel has previously encountered dead bodies while volunteering—but she never imagined she’d run afoul of a legendary curse. Until now…
A university archeology team has come to excavate an old privy on the grounds of the Thompson estate, home of Medicine Spring’s first white settler. They hope to retrieve items of historic interest, but rumors of lost treasure and dark curses swirl around the project.
Mabel has joined the dig as a volunteer, despite her reluctance to touch anything collected from the ancient outhouse pit. It doesn’t take long however, before she realizes a few dirt-encrusted artifacts are the least of her worries.
She doesn’t believe in curses, but accidents and misfortune plague team members—including Mabel herself. She begins to wonder if there might be some truth in the old stories. When a body turns up on the site, it appears the curse has transformed from local legend to deadly reality. Will Mabel be its next victim?
Click here to get your copy!
About the Author
Susan Kimmel Wright began her life of mystery in childhood, with reading. That led her to writing kids’ mysteries and eventually to Medicine Spring with Mabel. A longtime member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, Susan’s also a prolific writer of personal experience stories, many for Chicken Soup for the Soul. She shares an 1875 farmhouse in southwestern PA with her husband, several dogs and cats, and an allegedly excessive stockpile of coffee and tea mugs.
More from Susan
I suspect it takes a somewhat warped sense of humor to write a book called Mabel and the Privy of Doom. In fact, I’m afraid this entire series may someday be Exhibit A when my kids decide I need a guardian—but meanwhile I’m having fun! Mabel and the Privy of Doom was a joy to write, combining my love of mysteries, screwball humor, American history, lost treasure, and ancient curses. It all started when I first learned about historic outhouses or privies. I discovered the Homewood privy (c. 1801) in Baltimore on a walkabout near Johns Hopkins University. Part of the Declaration of Independence signer John Carroll of Carrollton estate, this handsome brick building has been well maintained over the centuries and has its own historic plaque! (No, not “John Carroll Sat Here!”) Yet another high-profile privy excavation has been performed in patriot Paul Revere’s back yard in Massachusetts in recent years. Archeologists often learn a great deal from excavating old outhouses, just from examining objects thrown away or accidentally dropped in the privy pit. Even privy pits on humble farmsteads or in modest back yards reveal a lot about family circumstances and daily life. Artifacts such as old bottles, coins, and broken pottery commonly surface. Growing up, I was fortunate(?) enough have an outhouse on our rural, western Pennsylvania family property. My father, a carpenter and cabinetmaker, built our house himself after returning from World War II. Because the work took a long time, he also built an outhouse for use during the construction period, before plumbing was connected. My father (perhaps I got my wacky sense of humor from him) added a “Sanitary Inspected Restroom” sign on the door. It now graces the wall of our powder room.
Interview with the Author
- If a reader were to ask you what author you are like, what would you answer? I’m pretty quirky, so I don’t think I’m very much like any one particular author. I tend to use a lot of oddball humor, and my imperfect main character Mabel isn’t a gorgeous young woman who is a magnet for hunky men. I think the closest might be a combination of MC Beaton (Agatha Raisin–a humorously imperfect main character), Donna Andrews (Meg Langslow Mysteries–all laugh-aloud books that incorporate birds run amok!), and Dorothy Cannell (Ellie Haskell Mysteries–a pleasantly plump main character and lovely British wit).
- What helps you to write? Do you eat snacks, listen to music? When I can, I write with my three dogs and my cat around me. I call them my writing factory staff! My little terrier mix, Betty Sue, is our security chief–she monitors constantly for intruders on the perimeter, such as UPS drivers and marauding bunnies. Chihuahua mix Louie is her junior security officer, who barks when she tells him to–otherwise, he cuddles with me and offers writing encouragement. My most recent hire is our receptionist, Australian cattle dog Blue–a senior foster who ended up staying. He’s proved age is just a number–though he does tend to sniff our visitors a bit vigorously as he checks for prohibited substances…or tempting tidbits! Cirrus, the Maine coon cat, is my editorial supervisor. She expects me to keep my nose to the keyboard, but if I get up, she immediately claims my warm chair. (If you check out any one of my book covers, you’ll see my animal characters Barnacle and Koi, who are dead ringers for Blue and Cirrus!)
- What is your favorite hymn and why? I have to say I don’t have a single favorite, because I love so many–especially the old hymns of my childhood, like Blessed Assurance, I Love to Tell the Story, The Old Rugged Cross, and O, Zion, Haste, which I learned in our tiny country church. They still stir strong emotions in me as I savor the words and remember the beginnings of my faith and the precious people–now gone from here to be with Jesus in glory–who first taught me.
- What is one thing readers would be surprised to learn about you? I am a real country girl, and during my earliest years, I actually grew up with a privy (outhouse), which we were forced to use during summer droughts when the spring that was our only water supply ran dry. (If you think I prayed earnestly for rain, you are right!)
- What inspired you to write this book? One of my readers told me that when I first mentioned the privy in Book Three, Mabel & the Little Green Men, she was convinced it was going to lead to another mystery. I couldn’t help mulling over what she said, and a plot started forming in my feverish little noggin.
Blog Stops
Babbling Becky L, July 10
Texas Book-aholic, July 11
Simple Harvest Reads, July 12 (Author Interview)
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, July 13
Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, July 14
The Avid Reader, July 15
Artistic Nobody, July 16 (Author Interview)
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, July 17
Guild Master, July 18 (Author Interview)
For Him and My Family, July 18
Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, July 19
Holly’s Book Corner, July 20
Fiction Book Lover, July 21 (Author Interview)
The Bookish Ledger, July 22 (Author Interview)
Mary Hake, July 22
Lily’s Corner, July 23
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Susan is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card and a signed copy of the book of the winner’s choice from my series, Mysteries of Medicine Spring!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://gleam.io/vkE9E/mabel-and-the-privy-of-doom-celebration-tour-giveaway