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.

            The outhouse survived for most of my childhood. Because our water supply came from a spring that occasionally went dry during a summer drought, we were occasionally forced to resort to the old privy. Luckily, these occasions were rare and typically brief, but I’ll admit I prayed fervently for rain.

Interview with the Author

• Do you read the genre you write? Why or why not?
  I read in my genre nearly every day–because I love cozy mysteries. Of course, doing some reading in my genre is important to learning how to write books which fit that category, but love is my true and most important reason.
• How did you come up with the title for your book?
  I had great fun with this title. It’s silly and ridiculous, but also describes my main character Mabel’s experience as a volunteer archeology assistant to the university team excavating privy ruins on a historic estate. By winking at the first Indiana Jones movie title, I wanted to suggest that aura of cinematic adventure and mystery…while hinting Mabel’s experience might fall a bit short of Indie’s.
• What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing?
  I’ve gotten so much valuable advice, but am especially grateful to the late Ray Bradbury, who said, “Write what you love, and love what you write.” I spent too much of my youth trying to write something of great literary value, or trying to convey a moral theme.

  I finally learned that the creative energy I needed could only come from my own quirky interests (like digging up abandoned privies and searching for artifacts). The results may not be literary triumphs, but I now realize my job is to create enjoyable reads out of what I myself enjoy–if I try to write something weighty, it’s bound to sink, because that’s not who God created me to be as a writer. And, lo and behold, I have readers come to me later and say that while they’ve been laughing, they’ve also found themselves touched or they’ve learned something new.

  As Bradbury also said, “I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.”

• How did publishing your first book change your writing process?
  I was one of those writers who plodded along, claiming they had to edit as they wrote, and couldn’t go back and do revisions. After I began publishing, I learned that my “method” was crippling my creativity, because instead of getting into my story and letting inspiration guide me, I was trying to follow “the rules,” decide how to phrase something artfully, etc.

  I also learned that my “seat of the pants editing” as I wrote was resulting in books that desperately needed to be rewritten because they “majored in the minors” and tended to miss big things like logic issues. Now, I write freely and then go back to thoroughly revise and edit, sometimes adding new scenes or characters, and tossing out entire chapters.

• Is your writing space pristine or organized chaos?
  My writing is chaos–“organized chaos”is far too kind! In actuality, I write all over the place and have never really had a dedicated writing space for long. I write at the kitchen table, a corner of the couch, out on the screen porch in good weather, on trains and in the car. The list goes on, but I do think changes of scene stimulate the muse!

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