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Newfangled Madness
Marion isn’t crazy. She can talk to birds and see the future, but she isn’t crazy.Fourteen-year-old Marion Morrissey has an overactive imagination. That’s why when she sees the body of a dead woman reflected in her bedroom mirror, no one thinks much about it. It’s just a trick of the light, until that same woman washes ashore after a hurricane, and things get real…and real weird.
First, Marion finds a ring on the waterfront.
Second, she tries it on – and she can talk to birds.
The police say the woman on the shore took her own life, but the birds? The birds say she was murdered.
Now Marion must solve the murder to prove her sanity, because either she can talk to birds and the woman was murdered, or she’s crazy.
And Marion isn’t crazy.
A whirlwind mystery of whimsy and wit, Newfangled Madness is about standing for truth, even if it kills you.
If you like unique protagonists, colorful similes, and runaway grandmas, you’ll love Newfangled Madness!
So go ahead, buy Newfangled Madness and solve the murder today!
“Delightfully quirky from start to finish.” Paisley the Dog
“A tale of intriguing characters, blackmail, and secrecy, and don’t forget the gnomes…need I say more?” Myriam Conley, Literature Enthusiast
“E.M. Chaffin writes about homeschoolers with fondness and authenticity, and I love it.” Brittany Friedel, Homeschooling Advocate
First, Marion finds a ring on the waterfront.
Second, she tries it on – and she can talk to birds.
The police say the woman on the shore took her own life, but the birds? The birds say she was murdered.
Now Marion must solve the murder to prove her sanity, because either she can talk to birds and the woman was murdered, or she’s crazy.
And Marion isn’t crazy.
A whirlwind mystery of whimsy and wit, Newfangled Madness is about standing for truth, even if it kills you.
If you like unique protagonists, colorful similes, and runaway grandmas, you’ll love Newfangled Madness!
So go ahead, buy Newfangled Madness and solve the murder today!
“Delightfully quirky from start to finish.” Paisley the Dog
“A tale of intriguing characters, blackmail, and secrecy, and don’t forget the gnomes…need I say more?” Myriam Conley, Literature Enthusiast
“E.M. Chaffin writes about homeschoolers with fondness and authenticity, and I love it.” Brittany Friedel, Homeschooling Advocate
368 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 23, 2022
3 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
E.M. Chaffin
2 books14 followersE.M. Chaffin lives in Oklahoma with her dog friends, Paisley and Tricki Woo. She enjoys eating mashed potatoes, petting fat animals, and taking vitamins. She's the author of Dead Man's Swamp and Newfangled Madness, two YA mysteries about spunky homeschooled teenagers in coastal North Carolina. There was this one time she floated down the Yellow River in a raft made of inflated sheepskin, but that doesn’t have anything to do with her books.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 15, 2022
E.M. Chaffin does it again!
Another wonderful book full of mystery and unexpected moments! As a fellow graduate homeschooler I must say it has been fun to have characters that I find so relatable. I didn’t even know I was missing that in my life!
Another wonderful book full of mystery and unexpected moments! As a fellow graduate homeschooler I must say it has been fun to have characters that I find so relatable. I didn’t even know I was missing that in my life!
August 28, 2025
What a fun mystery with a bit of magic thrown in. It gave me strong Boxcar Children/Three Cousins Detective Club vibes, in a good way.
The setting was quite nice and I loved all the fun characters. Admittedly, Marion was a little too precocious for my tastes, but I did enjoy her most of the time. Also, homeschooler representation that's actually realistic! Love, love, love.
I highly recommend if you like mysteries, whimsy, and a bit of murder on the side.
The setting was quite nice and I loved all the fun characters. Admittedly, Marion was a little too precocious for my tastes, but I did enjoy her most of the time. Also, homeschooler representation that's actually realistic! Love, love, love.
I highly recommend if you like mysteries, whimsy, and a bit of murder on the side.
February 16, 2023
THIS. BOOK. This book has shot up to being one of my favorites of all time. The main character is so quirky and weird and charming and courageous, absolutely love her! And even the SCs are all layered and fascinating. And the mystery?? It's so fantastically woven into the story to fool me. It was so good 😭💙👌 Please read this book
July 19, 2022
E.M. Chaffin does it again with an unforgettable tale full of twists and turns that has me wishing I could talk to birds and clambering for the rest of the story!
February 24, 2024
An enjoyable read that leaves one excited for more! I laughed, I was intrigued, but most of all I am here for the homeschoolers!
April 12, 2023
Ahhhhh yesssss I loved this book! It had me so invested, which is hard these days.
First of all, the vibes are just. Fantabulous. Idk how to describe it - whimsical, I guess might be the right word? Quirky? Sometimes quirky has a negative connotation but I mean it in the absolutely best way ok. It reminds me a lot of A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd and (for some reason) The Half Glass Girl by Julie Mozart. More ASOM, though.
Next up: the characters. I love the characters; they're all unique and different and interesting, especially Marion (the MC). Marion can tALk tO biRds (I LOVE BIRDS) and her color categorization is cool and I want to have a wall of quotes now because she does and it's fantastic. Also I love that the main characters are all homeschooled. The part about the Questions Everyone Asks Homeschoolers was hilarious and accurate.
The plot! The plot is intriguing and mysterious and twisty and everything a plot should be. It does get darker than I expected, but it's a murder mystery so I totally should have expected it lolol. The end felt the tiniest bit abrupt though.
Content/cleaness: no swearing I'm pretty sure (unless you're concerned about mild British swearing /hj). There is some mild violence (remember, it's a murder mystery) and some other stuff (not smut) that is not good, but it is presented in a negative light (as it should be imo) so it's not glorified and I would consider it clean.
Anyway I loved this book and I highly recommend reading it!
First of all, the vibes are just. Fantabulous. Idk how to describe it - whimsical, I guess might be the right word? Quirky? Sometimes quirky has a negative connotation but I mean it in the absolutely best way ok. It reminds me a lot of A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd and (for some reason) The Half Glass Girl by Julie Mozart. More ASOM, though.
Next up: the characters. I love the characters; they're all unique and different and interesting, especially Marion (the MC). Marion can tALk tO biRds (I LOVE BIRDS) and her color categorization is cool and I want to have a wall of quotes now because she does and it's fantastic. Also I love that the main characters are all homeschooled. The part about the Questions Everyone Asks Homeschoolers was hilarious and accurate.
The plot! The plot is intriguing and mysterious and twisty and everything a plot should be. It does get darker than I expected, but it's a murder mystery so I totally should have expected it lolol. The end felt the tiniest bit abrupt though.
Content/cleaness: no swearing I'm pretty sure (unless you're concerned about mild British swearing /hj). There is some mild violence (remember, it's a murder mystery) and some other stuff (not smut) that is not good, but it is presented in a negative light (as it should be imo) so it's not glorified and I would consider it clean.
Anyway I loved this book and I highly recommend reading it!
July 1, 2023
I had so much fun reading this book. It was a great way to spend the weekend. Newfangled Madness had all the good arcs of a traditional mystery but unique threads of the author’s voice woven throughout! The characters were funny and charming and I felt like I was solving the mystery alongside them! (E.M. Chaffin, can I be an honorary member of the Lady’s Madness Homeschool Mystery Gang?)
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews