{"id":481,"date":"2025-09-04T05:47:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T05:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/481\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T05:47:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T05:47:08","slug":"mackenzie-prentice-returns-to-the-crime-scene-this-time-as","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/481\/","title":{"rendered":"Mackenzie Prentice Returns to The Crime Scene, This Time \u2026 as…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Caption\"<\/p>\n

AT THE STAIRCASE. Chippewa Valley author, Mary Pierce, has published the fifth Mackenzie Prentice mystery novel, “Old Habits.” In this book, Mackenzie will solve the murder of Sister Mary Agnes, while she herself is disguised as a nun. (Photo via Unsplash)<\/p>\n

Mackenzie Prentice \u2013 perhaps a familiar name to local readers \u2013 will once again be at the center of a new mystery. \u201cOld Habits,\u201d the fifth installment of Eau Claire-based author Mary Pierce\u2019s ongoing series, will delve into Mackenzie\u2019s past, introduce a touch of romance, and explore the revelations which come from examining one\u2019s former patterns.<\/p>\n

The Mackenzie Prentice series, as Pierce described best in her latest Substack<\/a> story, are light-hearted mysteries which are \u201cnot exactly \u2018cozy\u2019 with the tea and crumpets crowd, but not \u2018thrillers\u2019 either.\u201d Many details throughout each novel are left to the reader\u2019s imagination, and the same will be true for \u201cOld Habits,\u201d Pierce wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cOld Habits\u201d \u2014 and other adventures in Pierce\u2019s mystery series \u2014 take place in Three Rivers, a location that may or may not draw heavily from various places and spaces within the Chippewa Valley.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a Wisconsin town, so it feels very much like Eau Claire \u2014 it\u2019s just smaller scale because that makes (the story) a little more intimate,\u201d Pierce said.<\/p>\n

\"Caption\"<\/p>\n

Book cover for “Old Habits,” by Mary Pierce.<\/p>\n

Pierce vividly describes the moment the first line of “Old Habits” came to her; she looked down at her daily crossword puzzle and suddenly saw Sister Mary Agnes in the corner of the paper. The line reads, \u201cSister Mary Agnes fell down the Bell Tower stairs, and until the bells rang on Sunday morning, no one knew what happened to her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only does this novel dive deep into the twists and turns of a timeless mystery series, \u201cOld Habits\u201d will also reveal the importance of Mackenzie’s relationships, Pierce said.<\/p>\n

Mackenzie (or “Mack,” as Pierce often calls her) will navigate the relationships across three generations of women in her family, including her grandmother’s third husband, Nathan. Along with close friends Tansy and Jade \u2014 and romantic interests Nick and Vince \u2014 Mack continues to face challenging truths concerning those closest to her.<\/p>\n

Mack’s narratives are often influenced by Pierce’s personal history \u2014 like with Three Rivers and Eau Claire \u2014 and her relationships with family and friends. Readers can expect “Old Habits” to offer deeper insights into its characters, Pierce herself, and even their own understanding of the world around them.<\/p>\n

As Pierce noted, she has an incredible amount of fun writing Mackenzie’s story, and the enjoyment doesn’t end there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can’t wait to start the next book when I finish one; I have 20 in mind so I’m just going to keep on going as long as I can,\u201d Pierce said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOld Habits\u201d by Mary Pierce will be available to purchase online via Amazon<\/a> (and soon in-person at The Local Store in downtown Eau Claire) on Sept. 5.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AT THE STAIRCASE. Chippewa Valley author, Mary Pierce, has published the fifth Mackenzie Prentice mystery novel, “Old Habits.”…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[489,156,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}