About the Book

Book:The Maestro’s Missing Melody Author: Amy Walsh Genre: Romantic Comedy Release date: September 13, 2024 She was thrilled to apprentice with her fiddler hero—until she got to know him. He regretted his decision to play teacher to college kids—until he got to know her. For aspiring musician and college student McKay Moonlight, winning a summer internship with Scottish master fiddler Huntley Milne was a dream come true. When a last-minute change moved the internship program from the Scottish Highlands of her ancestors to a village she’d never heard of along the River Deben, McKay was determined to make the best of it. However, she didn’t expect to make such a terrible first impression on her summer mentor. Hosting a bunch of college students was the last thing Maestro Huntley Milne needed. He was already up to his ears in problems, with Aunt BeeBee being placed in a care home, resulting in him having emergency custody of his tween nephew and niece. Then he met McKay Moonlight, and the chaos really began. The Maestro’s Missing Melody is a charming story featuring endearingly eccentric characters, a treasure hunt caper through the nooks and crannies of a mansion, and genuine laugh-out-loud moments. Sunshine and thunderclouds attract in this delightful age-gap Christian romantic comedy from Amy Walsh.

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About the Author

Amy Walsh is a 5th-grade teacher who loves teaching children about what she loves to do herself: reading and writing. She enjoys outdoor activities, especially hiking and camping. Amy also appreciates opportunities to share her faith through singing, teaching, and writing for her church family. Amy and her husband, Patrick, have three children: Bree, Spencer, Liz, and a son-in-law, Kyle. Amy and her family love to spend time together celebrating special occasions, listening to great music, swimming and kayaking, and having occasional ping pong tournaments.

More from Amy

The Maestro’s Missing Melody Cast of Characters Maestro Huntley Milne regrets committing to host a group of college students, especially when Aunt BeeBee ends up in a care home, forcing him to move into the Milne Monstrosity on Sycamore Street which is about two hours northeast of London. Aunt BeeBee is nagging him to locate the missing Milne stave book, Dory and David are fretting about being put back into foster care, and even his aunt’s cats are high maintenance. Then he meets McKay Moonlight… McKay Moonlight was thrilled when she won the musical apprenticeship at Maestro Huntley Milne’s Highlands Music Center. After all, she had a little crush on him for years after seeing him play at the Rocky Mountain Fiddler Championships. When the apprenticeship is relocated to a tiny town near the Deben River, rather than the Highlands of her ancestors, she takes it in stride. Who would think her traveling mishaps would cause her to be late and forget something very important – ruining her chance to make a good first impression on her summer mentor. The Milne Monstrosity was built by a wealthy plantation owner, who brought his family to England just prior to the American Civil War. This mansion is a hodgepodge of turrets, towers, secret passages, and gables – – and does not fit in with the other homes on Sycamore Street AT ALL. Beatrice Milne has filled the mansion with many colorful and eccentric collections. Other unique features of the Milne property are a tiny guest house which is the exact replica of the Monstrosity, and a stone amphitheater decorated with musical gargoyles within view of the River Deben. Dory and David are tween twins who went from foster home to foster home until they were finally adopted by Mama Bee. Dory enjoys riding her bike around her village, learning to play the flute, reading great books – – and finally having a family, even if her adopted mother is much older and let’s say “different” from other parents. David plays the guitar very well, but his real passion is for building gadgets. The twins were content living in the Milne Monstrosity in Eden Cove with Mama Bee encouraging them to explore their interests and grow their talents. But now, Mama Bee is in a care home and they are stuck with grumpy Uncle Huntley until Mama Bee comes home. That’s IF she ever comes home. Beatrice Milne, aka Aunt Bee Bee or Mama Bee, always had her fingers in so many pies, and those pies were always so splendid, that she seems larger than life to the people of Eden Cove. Now she is a patient of Balmy Bay Residences, the care home she helped refurbish as one of her projects. What’s with her change in personality – and her obsession with Huntley needing to search for the missing Milne stave book? Arabella and Gerard are Aunt Bee Bee’s ginormous cats who have a love/hate relationship with the Maestro. Who knows, maybe they can help with the treasure hunt for the missing stave book…

Interview with the Author

If a reader were to ask you what author you are like, what would you answer?

I would say that I am still in the explorer stage of writing – and that I am trying out different genres and styles.

When I write sweet romance, I am probably most like Ida Cook — I just want to give the reader a break from the harsh realities of life, and I love to focus on the world of music.

When I write romantic comedies, I would love to be like Angela Ruth Strong and Pepper Basham. They are fun and witty and full of fresh ideas.

When writing fantasies, I aspire to be the perfect cocktail of CS. Lewis, George MacDonald, Mary Norton, Gabrielle Myers, Jody Hedlund, and Stephen Lawhead.

When writing historicals, I would love to be gentle and winsome like Carrie Turansky and Julie Klassen, lyrical like Laura Frantz, with sprinkles of humor like Ann Perrault, Jen Turano, and Karen Witemeyer.

There are so many others who I have on pedestals when it comes to genres with which I am experimenting.

What helps you to write?

The place where I used to get most of my writing done, believe it or not, was on a trampoline which was under our giant spruce trees. If I’m not outside as much as possible, I feel like I have wasted my day away – even if I get a lot of writing accomplished. I love being able to listen to birds sing and leaves rustle. I love the smell of evergreens and to see beautiful cloud formations every time I look up.

Two years ago, we finally put a large front porch onto our house. Now I have an actual outdoor office with a table and comfy seating. I even have my electric teapot within reach!

If you could travel back in time, what time period would you go to?

My favorite decade to write about is the 1880s, so I would definitely choose to go back to Victorian times. There were enough modern conveniences and hygiene that I wouldn’t be completely grossed out and overworked – haha, I think. I don’t think my life would be in the same danger as it would be if I arrived alone in other time periods as a penniless woman.

I would love to go to one of the World’s Fairs, and meet some of the spiritual greats of that time, especially Charles Spurgeon. It was a time of wonder with so many new inventions, great architecture, and literature.

What inspired you to write this book?

The inspiration for the opening scene of The Maestro’s Missing Melody came two years ago when I was in Edinburgh attending a strings concert at St. Giles Cathedral.

I felt the urge to cough, but there was no way I wanted to disrupt the heavenly sound of the strings ensemble playing Mozart, so I kept swallowing it down – but you know that terrible throat-tickling sensation. Eventually I just couldn’t keep one from barking out—right in the middle of a quieter part of the piece. A nasty glare from a rather good-looking gentleman, not only inspired me to sneak out so as not to further disrupt the concert, but made me chuckle all the way back to the Airbnb. There, I proceeded to cackle away as I began working on the story racing through my mind.

The opening scene was of a young female musician who was in Edinburgh to audition for a position in a small ensemble — but prior she stupidly disrupted a performance at St. Giles which was orchestrated by the man who ends up running the audition.

Alas, my laptop didn’t make it home safely. When I went to continue working on the story, the screen was cracked and the computer wouldn’t turn on. Several chapters were lost forever.

When I was invited to be part of this fun multi-author project and assigned a romantic comedy, I decided to use these same characters which had been getting stir-crazy from sitting around in my head. Same personalities. Similar “meet-ugly” but different circumstances, and a much different storyline.

What is your favorite hymn and why?

This is a very hard question because so many hymns are like precious friends to me. They have gotten me through hard times – when often a melody would sweetly play in my mind, with lyrics reminding me of truths I needed to remember.

“It is Well with my Soul” is probably the hymn that means most to me. When I think of all that was going on in the lyricist Horatio Spafford’s life – his properties being destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire, the death of his four-year-old son, and his four daughters being lost during a shipwreck – I can’t imagine writing such a song of faith. Losing even one child would be unimaginably devastating.

The lyrics are incredible and take me through such emotions while being full of truth. I’ve been blessed to experience that supernatural peace from the first verse in the midst of life’s storm – and it’s an experience one can never forget – feeling God carry you and deeply knowing that you will get through.

The second verse fills me with such gratitude that sometimes I have to lift my hands –even when just singing it alone at home. “My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought – My sin, not in part but the whole – Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more” – Wow! What freedom we have because of Chris! To be totally free from all past, present, and future sin is such a miracle that it is hard to grasp..

And then the last verse makes me shout-sing. Think about it – one day our faith shall be sight! Can you imagine! The imagery of that verse is so gorgeous and triumphant – the clouds being rolled back as a scroll; the trumpet resounding; the Lord descending! It could be a scary time – but because of God providing His son for us, “even so, it” can be well with our souls.

I have wonderful memories of singing that hymn alongside my grandparents, parents, and many other godly men and women in four-part harmony. The chorus is one of my favorites to sing with others – with the echoing harmony. It’s so beautiful.