margaret mclellan

margaret mclellan

2 booksMysteryMurder MysteryRomance

Margaret McLellan is a storyteller deeply inspired by regional history and mystery. Born and raised in the Boothbay Region. Her grandmother McLellan wrote short stories for Readers Digest and was the driving influence on Margaret to spin her own tales. When not sitting at he keyboard she works as a professional chef and food quality control analyst in Maine's lobster industry.

Books

Sardines and Silk

Sardines and Silk

Blood in the water and silk in the shadows of a Maine cannery

  • Mystery

Boothbay Harbor, 1910: The Carson Sardine Cannery is a place of grueling labor and salt-crusted dreams. For Effie Barter, it is a stepping stone to a medical degree—until the bodies of young women begin appearing with horrific, deep fang marks on their necks. The management calls them accidents, but Effie knows better. A year ago, a silent toxin in smuggled silk claimed lives; now, a new predator stalks the coast. While the town is distracted by the illegal trade of shimmering seal pelts and bootlegged liquor, Effie uncovers a connection between the carnage and the lunar tides. Her investigation takes her from the canning line to her mother’s brothel, and eventually into the path of Caspian—a man of impossible strength and ancient sorrow. He is a selkie, a creature of myth seeking bloody vengeance for a colony decimated by human greed. As the line between man and monster blurs, Effie must decide if the killer is a villain or a victim of a cruel industry. In a town built on secrets and scales, the truth is more dangerous than the deep blue sea. Sardines and Silk is a haunting blend of historical mystery and dark folklore that will leave you breathless.

The Thistle Island Selkie

The Thistle Island Selkie

A forbidden romance, a mythical betrayal, and a mother's battle for her daughter's soul

  • Romance
  • Fantasy

On the rugged coast of Maine, the ocean gives and the ocean takes. Mariah Scott is a woman of the sea, tied to a cold marriage and the grueling life of a fisherwoman on Thistle Island. When a violent storm nearly claims her life, she is saved by Caspian, a man whose presence is as untamed and alluring as the Atlantic itself. Their forbidden affair becomes a sanctuary she never thought possible—until the tides turn. Years later, after her husband is found dead in the gray coastal waters, the chilling truth surfaces. Caspian is no ordinary man, but a selkie from the depths. He hasn't come for Mariah; he has come for their daughter, Isla, who carries the silver mark of the sea in her blood. When Caspian drags the child into the freezing depths to claim her for his own, Mariah must transform from a grieving widow into a fierce warrior. With the help of an eccentric elder who holds the keys to ancient oceanic secrets, Mariah embarks on a perilous journey to reclaim her child. In a battle against dark magic and a lover turned predator, she must decide how much she is willing to sacrifice to bring her daughter back to the shore. Margaret McLellan weaves a haunting tale of myth, passion, and the unbreakable bond between mother and child.