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93 ratings | 19 reviews | avg rating:4.11

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M.’s 2025 Year in Books

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M. S. Spencer’s Followers (241)

M.’s Bookshelves

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currently-reading (3)
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M.’s Friends (68)

Paty Jager

306 books | 351 friends

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1,207 books | 464 friends

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3,318 books | 101 friends

D.K. Deters

63 books | 171 friends

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4,208 books | 1,254 friends

Laura Thomas

4,000 books | 2,621 friends

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M. S. Spencer

Goodreads Author

Born

June 26

Website

http://msspencertalespinner.blogspot.com

Twitter

msspencerauthor

Genre

Mystery, Mystery & Thrillers, Romance

Member Since

June 2011

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/msspencer

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Although M. S. Spencer has lived or traveled on five continents, the last 30 years have been spent mostly in Washington, D.C. as a librarian, Congressional staff assistant, speechwriter, editor, birdwatcher, kayaker, policy wonk, non-profit director and parent. Once she escaped academia, she worked for the U.S. Senate, the U.S. Department of the Interior, in several library systems, public, private and academic, and at the Torpedo Factory Art Center. She holds a BA from Vassar College, a Diploma in Arabic Studies from the American University in Cairo, and Masters in Anthropology and in Library Science from the University of Chicago. Ms. Spencer has two fabulous grown children and a perfect granddaughter. She divides her time between Maine ...more

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Combine Editions
M. S. Spencer’s books

Average rating: 4.23 · 158 ratings · 123 reviews · 22 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Penhallow Train Incident 4.30 avg rating — 20 ratings — published 2015 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Flotsam and Jetsam: the Amelia Island Affair 4.11 avg rating — 18 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hidden Gem: the Secret of St. Augustine 4.29 avg rating — 17 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Mason's Mark: Love and Death in the Tower 4.12 avg rating — 17 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Orion's Foot: Myth, Mystery, and Romance in the Amazon 4.33 avg rating — 15 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mrs. Spinney's Secret 4.75 avg rating — 12 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lapses of Memory 4.22 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2013 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Wishing Tree 4.22 avg rating — 9 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Artful Dodging: The Torpedo Factory Murders 3.86 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2012 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lost In His Arms 4.40 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2009 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by M. S. Spencer…

1238 posts
M. S. Spencer's Blog

Fair Winds & Foul Play on Instagram, Threads & Blue Sky

All you want to know about my new mystery FairWinds and Foul Play: An Amity Landing Mystery, you can see on Instagram,Threads, and Blue Sky. Here are the links:

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/p/Dejjh7BGxFy/

Threads - https://www.threads.com/@nnlightsbookheaven/post/Dejjyg-EfHn

BlueSky - https://bsky.app/profile/nnlightsbookheaven.bsky.social/post/3mxym2fevfc2i

M. is Currently Reading

M. Spencer is currently reading

Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America

by John McWhorter

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Jun 20, 2022 11:09AM

M. Spencer is currently reading

Snuff (Discworld, #39; City Watch, #8)

by Terry Pratchett

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Jun 20, 2022 11:06AM

M. Spencer is currently reading

The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England

by Dan Jones (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Sep 12, 2014 07:51AM

M.’s Recent Updates

M. S. Spencer wrote a new blog post Fair Winds & Foul Play on Instagram, Threads & Blue Sky All you want to know about my new mystery FairWinds and Foul Play: An Amity Landing Mystery, you can see on Instagram,Threads, and Blue Sky. Here ar Read more of this blog post »
Oct 19, 2026 12:55AM · like
M. Spencer liked T.P. Warren's review of Fair Winds and Foul Play: "Fair Winds and Foul Play is an entertaining mystery with a wonderfully quirky cast and plenty of small-town charm. I especially enjoyed the village of Amity Landing, where colorful—and delightfully nosey—neighbors add humor and personality to the int" Read more of this review »
Oct 16, 2026 11:05AM · see review
M. Spencer liked N.N. Heaven's review of Fair Winds and Foul Play: "A newcomer in Albion Cottage has Zoe’s curious mind humming. He’s intriguing with an air of mystery. What secrets is he hiding? Who is he and why are dead bodies suddenly appearing? When he confessed he was a witness to a murder, she vows to help him" Read more of this review »
Oct 16, 2026 11:03AM · see review
M. Spencer made a comment in the group Goodreads Librarians Group — Adding new book to my profile & deleting incorrection author entry topic " This book appears in as a "new" author but should be added to my author page: http://www.goodreads.com/msspencer. Please delete the stem page that doe ...more "
Sep 09, 2026 07:42AM
M. Spencer made a comment on Fair Winds and Foul Play — Move to existing author page " Please move Fair Winds and Foul Play: an Amity Landing Mystery to the correct author page: http://www.goodreads.com/msspencer ...more "
Aug 18, 2026 01:21PM
M. Spencer made a comment in the group Goodreads Librarians Group — move new book to existing author page topic " This once again is posted as a new author instead of added to my existing author page. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... takes you to a page wi ...more "
Aug 10, 2026 07:28AM
M. Spencer rated a book it was amazing The Definite Article. Albert Campion Mysteries. Illustrated by Margery Allingham	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 28, 2026 12:39PM · like
M. Spencer made a comment in the group Goodreads Librarians Group — Remove book topic " Please remove Jean Joachim's Now and Forever #1 from my list (M.S. Spencer) ...more "
Jul 16, 2025 12:55PM
M. Spencer has read A Love Story (Now and Forever, #1) by Jean C. Joachim (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This is NOT by M.S. Spencer; it is by Jean Joachim.
Jul 16, 2025 12:52PM · like · see review
M. Spencer made a comment in the group Goodreads Librarians Group — Railroad Ties: the Marmion Grove Murders topic " Please correct author name. OLD: "M.S. Spencer (no spaces)" . CORRECT: M. S. Spencer (space after M.) Latest book, Railroad Ties: the Marmion Grove Mu ...more "
Jul 13, 2025 02:06PM

More of M.'s books…

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The MFRW Book Place: Post your Book for REVIEWERS here.	22	83	Jan 30, 2016 09:19PM
Goodreads Librari...: Goodreads Author profiles needing merging BY GR STAFF pt. 24	1008	379	Nov 28, 2018 03:04PM

M.’s Quotes

“If you’re going to be a writer, the first essential is just to write. Do not wait for an idea. Start writing something and the ideas will come. You have to turn the faucet on before the water starts to flow.”
― Louis L’Amour

tags: writing

34 likes

“One hasn't become a writer until one has distilled writing into
a habit, and that habit has been forced into an obsession.
Writing has to be an obsession. It has to be something as organic,
physiological and psychological as speaking or sleeping or eating.”
― Niyi Osundare

tags: obsession, writing, writing-philosophy

22 likes

“Just because something bears the aspect of the inevitable one should not, therefore, go along willingly with it.”
― Philip K. Dick, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer

tags: entropy, rebel, rebellion, revolution

227 likes

“History pays no heed to the unspectacular citizen who worked hard all day and walked at night to a humble home with dust on his tunic and his flat cap. But in the end the builders have had the better of it. The miracles they accomplished in stone are still standing and still beautiful, even with the disintegration of so many centuries on them, but the battlefields where great warriors died are so encroached upon by modern villas and so befouled by the rotting remains of motorcars and the staves of oil barrels that they do not always repay a visit.”
― Thomas B. Costain

tags: architecture, humanity, war

19 likes