Historical Mystery · Victorian London · Debut Novel

Stories where
history hides
extraordinary secrets.

A baker's daughter. A queen's secret.
A Jubilee about to go very, very wrong.

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"The most powerful thing she can bring to the throne room isn't a title — it's her courage." — The Palace Mix-Up

A sparkling debut set in the gaslit corridors of Buckingham Palace

When Penny Pym — a baker's daughter with no business being anywhere near royalty — is plucked from her ordinary life and appointed as a lady-in-waiting, she discovers that the palace is full of secrets. And someone has decided she knows too many of them.

The Palace Mix-Up: A Lady-in-Waiting's Guide to Total Disaster blends real history with mystery, wit, and heart. For readers who love cozy historical mysteries with clever heroines and the kind of historical details that make you say, "Wait — that actually happened?"

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Writing from the North Carolina foothills, where history feels close enough to touch

Samantha J. Mason crafts character-driven historical mysteries inspired by real events, forgotten oddities, and the wonderfully strange corners of the past. She delights in uncovering the quirks and secrets hidden in old archives and weaving them into stories filled with humor and heart.

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