The House on Xenia
(A Mary Catherine Mahoney Mystery Series)
by Rita Moreau
The House on Xenia, a full-sized YaYa (Greek grandmother). It’s also very much extraordinary . . .
~INTO THE ABYSS
About the Book
The House on Xenia (A Mary Catherine Mahoney Mystery Series)
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Independently Published (May 8, 2019)
Paperback: 332 pages
ISBN-10: 1096120712
ISBN-13: 978-1096120711
Digital Print Length: 209 pages
ASIN: B07R9Q682Y
A government conspiracy. A life-threatening secret. Can a psychic accountant balance the books of justice?
Mary Catherine “MC” Mahoney prefers numbers to her supernatural powers. But when a cold-case corpse shows up under her cousin’s family home, the only calculations that add up are paranormal. And deep within the floorboards of the house on Xenia, MC and her madcap Greek family uncover evidence pointing to visitors from another planet…
Pursued by military agents intent on keeping the secrets buried, MC will have to play by the house’s rules to expose the alien mystery. And there’s only one member of the family who can get to the hidden truth…
Can MC reveal the cover-up, or will a dangerous hush job close her books forever?
The House on Xenia is a standalone novel in the Mary Catherine Mahoney cozy mystery series. If you like psychic female sleuths, crazy family antics, and long lost aliens, then you’ll love Rita Moreau’s quirky tale.
Hi Sister Matilda! Welcome to Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? “My name is Sister Matilda. I am the assistant mother superior of the Order of the Sisters of Saint Anthony. Sort of like a vice president. Saint Anthony is the saint you pray to when you have lost something (or you are lost). My order contains a secret society of nuns who are psychic, including me. It comes in handy when Saint Anthony is busy and trust me he is busy. I am short and petite but I carry myself as someone as tall as my best friend Sister Hildegard. She says I am a walking Wikipedia on any subject. I have a deep love of history. The nuns at the convent do their best to avoid me because it will lead to what they have dubbed: history time.”
How did you first meet Mary Catherine Mahoney?
“Through her Aunt Sophia. I also had her as a student back in the day. She was a handful. We were told she had a knack at finding things. Part of it was her training with the IRS and part of it her DNA. She is a reluctant psychic. We were desperate since we had lost a very old jewel which some say contained supernatural powers. We ordered her to find it and she did (eventually).”
Want to dish about him/her? “She is easily scared by nuns but then who isn’t?”
Why do you think that your life has ended up being in a book?
“The author attended the play, Late Night Catechism and found out that nuns are not supported by the Catholic Church. We’re on our own. She then visited her high school nuns, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in Cincinnati and they told her about the audit of Catholic nuns by the Vatican. She decided to weave all that into her third book Feisty Nuns.”
Tell us about your favorite scene in one of the author’s book. “In chapter 11 of The Russian & Aunt Sophia
Did you have a hard time convincing your author to write any particular scenes for you? “No, she pretty much obeys my every command. She is a product of parochial schools just like her protagonist, Mary Catherine.”
What do you like to do when you are not being actively read somewhere? “Sit and meditate in the Garden of Saint Hildegard which sits on our convent property. We grow herbs in the garden, much like Saint Hildegard, for medicinal purposes of course.”
Do have any secret aspirations that your author doesn’t know about? “I’d love to see the author’s books made into a movie.”
If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only mission was to enjoy yourself, what would you do? “Go to a museum. I love history. It’s my passion.”
What impression do you make on people when they first meet you? How about after they’ve known you for a while? “I scare them. Mother Superior, Sister Hildegard, is very tall and we wear the habit, unlike modern nuns who wear everyday clothes. I stand next to her and its lights out. After they have known me for a while I still scare them.”
What are you most afraid of? “Flying insects.”
What’s the best trait your author has given you? “Strength of character.”
What’s your author’s worst habit? “Cannot write fast enough. In today’s world an author needs to produce books quickly.”
How do you feel about your life right now? What, if anything, would you like to change? “I worry for my order since we do not get any assistance from the Catholic Church. We are getting older and there are no younger nuns to take our place. If we live long enough we will run out of funds. They will separate us and send us to the old folk’s homes.”
What aspect of your author’s writing style do you like best? “Her voice.”
If your story were a movie, who would play you? “Why myself of course, Sister Matilda.”
Describe the town where you live. “Fish Camp, a small Florida town near State Road A1A.
Describe an average day in your life. “Busy, putting out fires.”
What makes you stand out from any other characters in your genre? “I’m a nun and I’m very tall.”
If you could be “adopted” by another writer, who would you choose? “Mary Higgins Clark.”
Will you encourage your author to write a sequel? “Yes. We need the money. She regularly donates funds from her book sales to the sisters.”
Thank you, Matilda, for visiting today!
About the Author
Rita Moreau is the author of the Mary Catherine Mahoney Mystery series.
A workaholic by nature, upon retirement, Rita Moreau began work on her bucket list, writing a book. Traveling the national parks with her husband George in a vintage Bluebird motor home, (on George’s list), Rita completed her first novel Bribing Saint Anthony. Back home she completed Nuns! Psychics! & Gypsies! OH! NO, Feisty Nuns, The Russian & Aunt Sophia and The House on Xenia. Rita and her husband live in a postcard called Florida where he has fun telling everyone he is the author’s husband. When not writing she joins PatZi Gil on the Joy on Paper radio program with Book Buzz Mysteries or you can find her teaching fitness classes and doing her best to keep busy. She loves connecting with readers.
Visit her at www.RitaMoreau.com or find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RitaMoreauAuthor. She would love to hear from you.
Author Links – Website – Facebook – Blog – GoodReads
Purchase Links – Amazon
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