I’m Isobel Margaret Russell. Most folks call me “Ibby” I’m a pushing seventy, happily single, part-time research librarian. I live in the fine old house in Salem, Massachusetts where I was born. It’s a big house, and sometimes I rent a few upstairs rooms to short time visitors. It helps with expenses and I enjoy the company.
I’m quite content with my life, here in this interesting, ever-fascinating north-of-Boston city that some persist in calling “the witch city.” That unfortunate name attracts quite a bit of attention for a main street full of garish witch shops and costumed buskers. Salem is so much more than that.
My city is a world famous maritime center and an architectural gem. Most mornings, after I brew a large pot of coffee and bake a few homemade pastries for my guests, I begin my day with a brisk walkabout. The Salem Common is nearby, an oasis of well-maintained grass, sturdy trees, bright seasonal potted blooms, comfortable benches and a handsome bandstand.
I often meet with my friends, Louisa Abney Babcock and Betsy Leavitt for lunch or tea at the atrium restaurant in the world -famous Peabody Essex Museum. I usually stop at the Main Library, just to make sure everything is running nicely and often enjoy an evening at the Salem Cinema with my gentleman friend, Rupert Pennington. Rupert is the director of Salem’s prestigious Tabitha Trumbull Academy of the Arts. Salem folks call the place “the Tabby.” He’s good company and we share a passion for vintage motion pictures.
My health is good. I still wear a size ten and my hair is still red, (with the occasional aid of a subtly tinted rinse. ) I look forward to many more years of enjoying my days in this endlessly delightful spot on the rugged coast of Massachusetts.
IT’S ABOUT TIME
Series: A Wicked Salem Mystery, Book 1
Genre: Paranormal Cozy Mystery
Release: June 2026
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop.org
In this delightfully spooky series spin-off of Carol J. Perry’s beloved Witch City Mysteries, Lee Mondello and her detective husband have plenty of experience solving crimes in Salem, Massachusetts—and now Lee’s Aunt Ibby is starting a sleuthing career of her own in the witch city…
Nothing can spoil the mood at a one-year-old’s birthday celebration like the cops arriving—but it’s not because the party got too rowdy. Instead, Detective Pete Mondello has a search warrant for a tenant’s apartment. When Lee’s aunt Ibby leads the police to Josh Alper’s locked door, she’s surprised to learn that her renter has redecorated . . . with what appear to be masterpieces stolen from a museum back in 1972.
The paintings may be found, but Alper—an artist involved with a shady, cult-like group—is officially missing. So Ibby and her pals, who hold weekly watch parties of their favorite show, Midsomer Murders, decide to jump in and do some real-life sleuthing using the skills they’ve learned from DCI Barnaby. Ibby, a semi-retired librarian, may be in her sixties, but her tech skills are top-notch . . . and with some help from her friends Betsy and Louisa, as well as O’Ryan the clairvoyant cat, that spells trouble for any criminals in Salem.
But when Alper’s body is found in the Salem Woods—felled by an unusually sophisticated weapon—Ibby must buckle down with her team and prove that she’s just as talented an investigator as her beloved niece . . .
About the author
Two of author Carol J. Perry’s current cozy mystery series -Witch City Mysteries and Wicked Salem Mysteries feature her birth city, Salem Massachusetts. She was born Carol Joan Phelps one Halloween eve, just across the street from the Salem Common and around the corner from the Witch Museum. A sprinkling of historical facts, local legends, real people and places are carefully mixed in with fictional happenings in each book. Carol now lives in sunny Florida with her husband Dan.