WELCOME to my mysterious web site!

I was born in 1713 – no, that’s the date my ancestors settled in my hometown, Oxford, MA. The truth is, I might as well have been born then. I feel right at home in the colonial era. By the way, the Puritans were really a lusty group who ate, drank and loved to excess. I feel my fiction is a more realistic picture of our colonial ancestors than the stereotypes that continue today in the media.

Rather than a grumpy, sourpuss in a black, high-crowned hat, the proper Bostonian of my period – 1689 to 1713 – dressed in the latest London fashions, which might be a scarlet waistcoat with gold trim. (Cotton Mather wore a scarlet cloak and no doubt he presented a fine, handsome figure, him being something of a ladies man.) This is not to mention the vast amounts of liquor the average male consumed. How would you like to drink a concoction of beer, rum, molasses and breadcrumbs?

M. E. Kemp's latest novel, Death of a Bawdy Belle, is now available .

My detective, Hetty Henry, is a successful businesswoman. As a widow she has certain legal rights that she would not have as a married or single woman, although there were many women who ran the family business while their husbands were away for months at a time. Hetty’s sidekick, Increase "Creasy" Cotton, is one of a new breed of minister appearing in the pulpit – less fire and brimstone and more compassion for human frailties. Originally Creasy started off as the main character in the first book, MURDER, MATHER AND MAYHEM, but then he met Hetty. She’s a pushy broad, no doubt about that, and she took over the book and the series. My plots come straight out of history. MM&M is based upon the bloodless revolution against the Royal Governor, Edmund Andros. DEATH OF A DUTCH UNCLE allowed me to explore the little known influence the Dutch retained in the Albany area. Cookies, cole slaw and place names like Kinderhook and Guilderland are a few that remain. DEATH OF A BAWDY BELLEis set during the Salem witch trials and examines a seamier side of the Improper Bostonian. Foremost in Puritan life was a strong belief in justice and in the law; the witch trials were an aberration that never occurred again, although witches were burned in Europe well into the 18th century.

I hope you enjoy my little tour set in the right place but a different time.