Celia Miles is a native of Appalachia, born in Western North Carolina, and, except for brief stints in Massachusetts and Virginia, plus college in Kentucky and Pennsylvania, has lived here all her life. A long-time English instructor at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, she is retired and living in Asheville. She calls herself “a teacher by trade, a traveler by design, a photographer for fun, and a writer by avocation.”
-Quoted from celiamiles.com
———————-
I met Celia through the Blind Pig & the Acorn. If you’re a longtime reader you may remember her guest post a few years back And the Animals Knelt. It’s a must read Christmas story.
Celia’s writing background includes lots of different genres-everything from textbooks to Appalachian fiction. I bet you can guess which one I like the best.
I’ve read most of Celia’s fiction books and I’ve enjoyed them all:
- Thyme for Love
- Thyme Table Mill
- Mattie’s Girl: An Appalachian Childhood
- Sarranda
- Journey to Stenness
- On a Slant: A Collection of Stories and Islands
- One and All: Stories and Otherwise
Celia sent me her latest book back before Christmas. I added it to my pile of reading material, but if I had known how good the book was I would have read it immediately.
The Body at Wrapp’s Mill A Grist Mill Mystery with Marcy Dehanne is a fantastic book. As soon as you began reading you’re pulled into the mind and heart of Marcy Dehanne. And once the mystery begins to unfold you’re hooked until the last page-at least I was.
As I neared the end of the book, I began wishing the story wasn’t going to end. I kept thinking I’d like to know what happen to Marcy after the mystery is solved.
The book did end-but the portion of the title A Grist Mill Mystery with Marcy Dehanne gave me hope it might continue in another mystery book.
I’m a sucker for mystery series like Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone series and and Dana Stabenow’s Kate Shugak series. But I believe anyone-mystery fan or not-will enjoy The Body at Wrapp’s Mill A Grist Mill Mystery with Marcy Dehanne.
Can’t wait to read the book? Then check out Celia’s website to purchase your own copy. And while you’re there poke around a little bit. Celia’s website has a wealth of interesting information.
Tipper
62 Comments
Ron Stephens
October 29, 2016 at 12:51 pmIf you like oldies, I can heartily recommend Melville Davisson Post’s “Uncle Abner” mystery stories. Post was a native of West Virginia and a lawyer. He writing was done before 1920 and the time period for most of his Uncle Abner stories is the latter half of the 1800’s. They have a deep and authentic rural Appalachian feel and are also thought provoking, tending to linger in memory. Print copies can be found as used books but Amazonhas an ebbok with all the Uncle Abner stories. Unfortunately, there are just not enough of them.
Glenda Beall
February 9, 2015 at 6:22 pmI’m happy to see this post on Celia Miles, an excellent writer and a friend. I might be too late to get in on the drawing, but wanted to vouch for Celia’s books. I love old mills also and I’m sure this is a very good book.
Tipper
February 9, 2015 at 3:13 pmSue-thank you for the comment! I have never heard of that series-but I’m going to check it out : )
Tipper
Blind Pig The Acorn
Celebrating and Preserving the
Culture of Appalachia
http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com
Tipper
February 9, 2015 at 3:12 pmDale-thank you for the comment! The book is based on fiction : )
Tipper
Blind Pig The Acorn
Celebrating and Preserving the
Culture of Appalachia
http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com
Tipper
February 9, 2015 at 3:06 pmJudy-thank you for the comment! I’m not familiar with the series-but I’m going to check it out : )
Tipper
Blind Pig The Acorn
Celebrating and Preserving the
Culture of Appalachia
http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com
Tipper
February 9, 2015 at 3:01 pmLola-I don’t know-but I hope so!
Tipper
Blind Pig The Acorn
Celebrating and Preserving the
Culture of Appalachia
http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com
Tipper
February 9, 2015 at 2:58 pmPamela-I haven’t read the books-but I’ll check them out : )
Tipper
Blind Pig The Acorn
Celebrating and Preserving the
Culture of Appalachia
http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com
Tipper
February 9, 2015 at 2:57 pmLuann I haven’t read his books-I’ll check them out!
Tipper
Blind Pig The Acorn
Celebrating and Preserving the
Culture of Appalachia
http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com
Paula Rhodarmer
February 9, 2015 at 10:29 amHi Tipper, I like mysteries and all things Appalachian. Maybe I will win the book! If not, I’ll buy the Kindle edition one day. Love your blog.
Gary Powell
February 9, 2015 at 10:02 amThis sounds like an excellent read. I still love the old fashioned books, not the electronic versions. I usually am reading a couple of books at a time.
tena
February 9, 2015 at 8:53 amPlease add my name to the pot.
Janice McCall
February 9, 2015 at 7:45 amPlease add my name to the drawing. Thank you!
Jeanne Adamek
February 9, 2015 at 5:01 amI am not sure if this contest welcomes people living out of the U.S. but I had to try anyway. I love mysteries! My parents are living in the Ashville area, and after visiting them I fell in love with the Appalachia.
Judy Mincey
February 9, 2015 at 12:05 amTipper,Sounds intriguing. I love mysteries!
Are you familiar with Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series? They are a bit different.>
Shirley B
February 8, 2015 at 11:13 pmHi Tipper,
Please put my name in the pot for this book.It sounds like something I would love to read .we have a special love for the mountains and visit western North Carolina every Oct.I especially am fascinated by grist mills and we always have to stop if we come across one.Thanks for telling us about Celia and her books!
Dee Kimsey
February 7, 2015 at 10:41 amI love mysteries and would love to read Celia Miles mystery book “The Body at Wrapp’s Mill A Grist Mill Mystery with Marcy Dehanne”! I haven’t read any of her books yet, but will check out her website! Please add in my name.
Patty
February 7, 2015 at 9:30 amIf its as good as the last book I read, I will LOVE it.
Ed Ammons
February 6, 2015 at 11:19 pmThere was once a mill on Painter Branch just a little ways up from where the creek empties into the Little Tennessee. The mill race, an Appalachian aqueduct, follows the course of the creek below. There is a wooden bridge that crossed over the stream and under the race. If you stop in the middle of the bridge there is water running above you and water running below you. The old moss covered race is so leaky that big drops of water rain down on you. You look up and try to catch them in your mouth but are more apt to catch one in your eye. The big wheel creaks slowly beside you, filling its buckets from the race above and dumping them into the tailwater below. Water drops try to hang on to the back of wheel for the another ride around but always lose their grip and splash down into their waiting kin below. A sensory feast if ever there was one. I can understand Celia’s fascination with old mills.
Celia Miles
February 6, 2015 at 9:14 pmThank all of you for being interested in “The Body at Wrapp’s Mill:–and especially more thanks than you can count in a cupful of grits to Tipper. I’d love to hear of any old grist mills in western NC or east TN.
Nathan Beck
February 6, 2015 at 9:05 pmLove a good mystery. I am currently reading the latest Grafton edition.
Frank
February 6, 2015 at 9:02 pmIf I am the fortunate selectee, after reading it, I’ll donate it to the Marianna Black Library…
…if its half as good as everyone says it is…it cannot be shelved and must be shared!!
Stay warm…only 18 more Mondays ’til Memorial Day Weekend!!!
Luann
February 6, 2015 at 7:36 pmAlways love a good mystery. Please put my name in the pot.
Have you read any of Tony Hillerman’s books. He sure could write ’em, we lost him too soon.
Tom
February 6, 2015 at 7:27 pmCelia”s book sounds like a great read! Thanks for recommending her website, all your readers should check it out.
Amanda burts
February 6, 2015 at 5:43 pmI would love to read this book! I not familiar with her and need to catch up on all I’ve missed so far!
Suzi Phillips
February 6, 2015 at 5:26 pmOooh, I love a good mystery on a cold snowy day- well, anyday actually! Put my name in the hat-
Ken
February 6, 2015 at 5:24 pmTipper,
If I should win Celia’s book, I
would send it to my oldest daughter
first, then the second. Mrs. Miles
probably was at Asheville Tech
when I lived and worked in Skyland
back in the 70’s. I like her work.
…Ken
Sherry
February 6, 2015 at 5:22 pmOh, please add my name in the pot too! I am so excited to see all these book suggestions!
Brenda S 'Okie in Colorado'
February 6, 2015 at 4:58 pmI love mysteries. I’m hoping to win this book and start reading the others. Wouldn’t it be amazing to own and live in an old grist mill? Perhaps a Bed and Breakfast Inn, serving grits, cornbread pancakes, and biscuits, all made from the mills product. I can hear the sound of the water wheel and chickens in the yard.
Bill Burnett
February 6, 2015 at 4:14 pmI enjoy a good mystery also, in fact much of my life has been dealing with real mysteries. Please add me to the drawing.
Joyce Mullikin
February 6, 2015 at 3:44 pmI would love to read her book. I can’t stand to not have a couple books going at all times.
Love your blog
Robert Wasmer
February 6, 2015 at 2:21 pmI look forward to reading this book. I especially like historical fiction like Sharyn McCrumbs also. Please put my name in the pot for this book.
C. Ronald Perry, Sr.
February 6, 2015 at 1:46 pmShe sounds like an interesting author. I will check our local library to see if they have any of her books.
nancy dillingham
February 6, 2015 at 1:00 pmCelia is a great friend and a great writer–with an abiding interest in grist mills!
Dale Anderson
February 6, 2015 at 12:51 pmIs the book based on fact or fiction? Just interested to know if there is some story behind the story.
Jackie
February 6, 2015 at 12:16 pmI had not read fiction in many years until this last year. I picked up two books by an author in Monroe County, TN and really enjoyed them. Probably because of the place names and people’s surnames I remembered. He included a lot of places where I hunted as a youth. I enjoy reading about the lives of people in the Western NC and East TN areas.
Charline
February 6, 2015 at 11:54 amI’m so pleased to discover there is a ripe crop of authors and books in this genre! I sure plan to get a copy, and to win one would be a serendipity!
Ken Ryan
February 6, 2015 at 11:37 amMy wife and I would both love to read the book. Put my name in the hat.
Cindy Hooper
February 6, 2015 at 11:17 amMysteries are the best books!!!
Wanda Devers
February 6, 2015 at 11:17 amI love Sue Grafton’s mysteries. I’m going to try Dana Stabenow–it’s always good to find a new good series. Hope I win the book!!
Garland Davis
February 6, 2015 at 10:48 amAdd me to the list. I love a good mystery!
Sue Crane
February 6, 2015 at 10:45 amHooray! A new-to-me series to sink my teeth into. Sounds like we have similar reading tastes. Have you read Margaret Maron’s Deborah Knott series? I think you’d like it.
Have a great weekend.
Jane Bolden
February 6, 2015 at 10:33 amI love mystery books. I love Sue Grafton. I still have my Nancy Drew books from childhood.
b. Ruth
February 6, 2015 at 10:05 amTipper,
Don’t put me down to win this book as I have it and (“On A Slant”) already in my kindle library. Just waiting for me to finish another book…LOL
I will never look at a Grist Mill wheel the same….without thinking of this book! LOL
Thanks Tipper,
PS…Yes, there is an old spooky one on Hwy72 near here. I wish someone would restore, it is just barely standing. No doubt it is a grist mill!
Pamela Danner
February 6, 2015 at 10:03 amSounds great! My grandfather had a grist mill and a saw mill back up in Eunaka and Copper Creek.
Pam
scrap-n-sewgranny.blogspot.com
Pamela Moore
February 6, 2015 at 9:20 amSounds like a book I’d enjoy. Have you tried the Lexi Carmichael books or mysteries published by Henery Press?
Henry Horton
February 6, 2015 at 9:19 amLooking forward to reading Celia for the first time. Thanks for the heads up, Tipper
Sheryl Paul
February 6, 2015 at 9:12 amThe books sound fantastic!
Shirl
February 6, 2015 at 9:00 amMy brother-in-law said he doesn’t know how I can stay curled up with a murder mystery or true crime book living back here in the boonies. I’d love to add one more book to my collection.
dolores
February 6, 2015 at 8:51 amThere’s nothing better than a good mystery. Since I retired, reading mysteries is my favorite experience. While teaching, I didn’t have as much time for recreational reading as I do now and I am loving it. I would love to read this author’s works. I would enjoy adding a new author to my reading time.
Jean
February 6, 2015 at 8:45 amHi Tipper,Just read her “And the animals knelt” I like her stile of writing and would enjoy reading her books. God Bless.
Barb Wright
February 6, 2015 at 8:45 amOoh..sounds interesting. Count me in!!
Mike McLain
February 6, 2015 at 8:29 amPlease put my name in the pot.
Cheryl
February 6, 2015 at 8:27 amA mystery fan since a child in grade school, the title has caught my attention. I am not familiar with this author as I must have missed your earlier posts about her. I will try to find her other works. Thanks for introducing me to a new author to add to my list.
Cheryl
Sandy Kirby Quandt
February 6, 2015 at 7:58 amSounds like a wonderful book. I’d love to win a copy. Thanks for the chance!
Annette Casada Hensley
February 6, 2015 at 7:49 amSounds like you and I like many of the same books, Tipper. In my youth, Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy mysteries totally hooked me into becoming a lifelong mystery fan! Please put my name in the hat for Celia’s book!
William Dotson
February 6, 2015 at 7:45 amI am a sucker for good mysteries, Thanks Tipper. I am ready to start my garden but the weather won’t go along with me.
Lola Howard
February 6, 2015 at 7:12 amPut my name in the pot for the book , I love a good mystery.
do you think she’ll do a follow up of the book ?
Lola Howard
February 6, 2015 at 7:12 amPut my name in the pot for the book , I love a good mystery.
do you think she’ll do a follow up of the book ?
Lola Howard
February 6, 2015 at 7:12 amPut my name in the pot for the book , I love a good mystery.
do you think she’ll do a follow up of the book ?
Lola Howard
February 6, 2015 at 7:12 amPut my name in the pot for the book , I love a good mystery.
do you think she’ll do a follow up of the book ?
Keith Jones
February 6, 2015 at 7:11 amHere’s my entry into the contest!
PinnacleCreek
February 6, 2015 at 5:10 amLove a good mystery. If it interested you, Tipper, I am quite sure I would enjoy.
I carefully collected many Nancy Drew mysteries for children in the family, and then nobody would read them. I would love to win the book!