A day in the life of Meg Barrett by Kathleen Bridge

The hurricane barreling up the East Coast wouldn’t bother me in the least, except for the fact that I’m staying on a friend’s vintage sailboat docked at the East End Yacht Club and there is an evacuation order for Montauk. The reason I’m living on a sailboat in the Hamptons with my curmudgeonly adorable cat, Jo, is that I’m waiting on zoning approval for my new oceanfront cottage. Jo’s not a fan of staying on a boat moored at the yacht club, maybe because she can’t partake in the Top Chef worthy gourmet meals and daily massages.

If I’m honest, the Malabar X’s owner, Cole Spenser, is more than a friend. Yes. Definitely, more. But between Cole’s schedule and mine, we haven’t spent much time together. He’s been sailing his antique boats, I mean “yachts,” as I was told to call them, to far off ports, accompanied by his three-legged dog, Tripod, while I work on decorating the author suites at the Victorian Bibliophile Bed & Breakfast in Sag Harbor. Each room is filled with antiques and vintage items that coincide with the time the authors were alive. I think rare book collector and owner of the inn, Franklin Hollingsworth, is going to be very pleased when he sees what I’ve done in the Edgar Allan Poe suite. That’s if he has time to check it out, because he’s been so busy coordinating the first annual Sag Harbor Book and Ephemera Fair, not to mention, the kick-off Gatsby-esque cocktail party where he’ll read from his recently acquired The Heiress and the Light unpublished manuscript written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The book takes place at my favorite spot on earth, the Montauk Point Lighthouse, and I can’t wait until it’s published.

Back to the issue of here-again, gone-again, Cole. Perhaps, due to Cole’s lack of commitment, I’m also spending time with Byron Hughes, Hamptons’ Landscape Architect extraordinaire. Do I feel guilty, I am staying on Cole’s yacht, while occasionally dating Byron? You betcha, but that doesn’t stop me from having feelings for both men. I’m only human and they both have a lot to offer. I’ve promised myself I will choose one guy or the other by Labor Day. I just hope whomever I pick, picks me back.

Jo’s in her crate and the waves are starting to get rough. It’s time to hit the road and make the trek to Sag Harbor, it’s only thirty miles away, but I’m sure it will take us hours to get there because of the evacuation. Brenna Hollingsworth, Franklin’s niece, has kindly offered Jo and I shelter from the storm. Pets aren’t usually allowed at the inn, so I’m hoping Jo behaves herself in the attic space, soon to be the Emily Dickinson loft. Jo has a penchant for getting in trouble—kind of like her owner. . .

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You can read more about Meg in Ghostal Living, the third book in the “Hamptons Home and Garden” mystery series.

In the latest mystery from the author of Better Homes and Corpses and Hearse and Gardens, Hamptons interior designer and antiques picker Meg Barrett uncovers a veil of spooky goings-on. . .

The first Sag Harbor Antiquarian Book and Ephemera Fair is right around the corner, and interior designer Meg Barrett has her hands full decorating rooms at the Bibliophile Bed & Breakfast for wealthy rare book collector Franklin Hollingsworth. Rumor has it Hollingsworth is in possession of an unpublished manuscript written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. When the Fitzgerald manuscript’s authenticator is found dead at the bottom of a cliff, Meg suspects a killer is on the loose.

Rare books start disappearing from the B & B and Meg sees a connection between the stolen books and the deceased authenticator. With the fair looming, she finds herself caught up in catching a killer and thief before another victim is booked for death.

Includes Recipes And Decorating Tips

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About the author
Kathleen Bridge, National bestselling author of the Hamptons Home and Garden Mysteries Hearse and Gardens and Better Homes and Corpses, started her writing career working at the Michigan State University News in East Lansing, Michigan. She is the author and photographer of an antiques reference guide, Lithographed Paper Toys, Books, and Games. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America, and has taught creative writing classes at Bryant Library in Roslyn, New York. Kathleen is also an antiques and vintage dealer and has contributed to Country Living magazine.

Connect with Kathleen at www.kathleenbridge.com, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram and on her Amazon author page.

All comments are welcomed.

Ghostal Living is available at retail and online booksellers or you can ask your local library to get it for you.

A Morning in the Life of Meg Barrett by Kathleen Bridge

I wake earlier than usual and step from my bedroom onto the juliet balcony that offers a panoramic view of the easternmost tip of Long Island. The light atop the Montauk Point Lighthouse goes off and a weak October sun pushes up from the Atlantic to brighten the dawn sky. I’m so excited about the day’s plans, I almost forget about my pending court case and the possibility I might lose Little Grey forever. Little Grey is my newly purchased nineteenth-century oceanfront cottage that I plan to bring back to its old glory.

I stick to my morning routine. A cup of french roast on my screened porch, a short meditation on the beach, and a barefoot stroll (even in October!) toward the lighthouse where I see a quote by Keats written in the sand in front of reclusive author Patrick Seaton’s cottage. I climb the twenty-six steps up to my rental and go inside. It’s only seven-thirty. After a quick shower, I put in my hearing aids and call Elle, my best friend and vintage treasure-hunting cohort, to confirm the day’s plans.

“Yes, we are still going to loot one of Uncle Harry’s vintage bungalows. Yes, he said we can keep anything we find inside. No, I don’t think we’ll find a hidden Pollock or Warhol. Sorry, there’s no way I can pick you up earlier than planned, I’m painting an apothecary cabinet to go in the White Room. The Hamptons International Film Festival minions will soon descend and they’re some of Mabel and Elle’s Curiosities’ best customers. And no, I didn’t forget to put your box of antique books in the back of the pickup for your current Cottages by the Sea design project. Don’t get your granny panties in a twist. I’ll see you at ten.”

Will I ever live down the granny panties incident?

I pace the main floor of my four-room rental cottage, two rooms upstairs, two rooms down. Not a lot of room to pace, so I sink into the down cushions of the sofa and reach for the postcard on the repurposed milk crate/end table. The card’s edges are worn from numerous readings. The shiny photo on the front of the postcard shows a dog on a beach, bounding over frothy waves. The dog looks like Tripod, only this dog has four legs, not three. I read the caption under the photo, G’DAY MATE, FROM AUSTRALIA! I don’t need to turn the card over, I’ve memorized his words. Took longer than planned. Tons of rough weather. Yacht arrived safely. We miss you. C. That is it. The postcard arrived three weeks ago. Not a word since.

I deliberately change my focus to what Elle and I will find at Elle’s great-uncle’s estate, Sandringham, in Montauk. Elle’s ninety-two year old great-uncle, Harrison Falks, is a multi-multimillionaire (yes, double multis) and one of the most revered art brokers of the twentieth century.

It’s still an hour until Elle’s planned arrival. I open my laptop and search Google for Hamptons top landscape architect, Byron Hughes. There are numerous photos of him on Dave’s Hamptons, the who’s who tattletale newspaper website. Every shot shows Byron’s arm entwined with a gorgeous celebrity or wannabe. I’d booked him months ago to draw up plans for my garden at Little Grey. I might not be allowed inside my cottage until the court rules, but I can set up plans for a glorious garden. There is still hope things will turn out as I planned.

Or maybe not. . .

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Hearse and Gardens is the second book in the Hamptons Home and Garden mystery series, published by Berkley Prime Crime, May 2016.

A Hamptons interior designer deals with skeletons in the closet in the new mystery from the national bestselling author of Better Homes and Corpses.

To keep her mind off the legal battle over the oceanfront cottage she’s trying to buy, Meg agrees to help her friend inventory and clear out furniture from the massive Montauk estate of wealthy art broker Harrison Falks. But the job takes a terrifying turn when Meg discovers a skeleton in a hidden room in one of the estate’s many bungalows. The remains turn out to be those of Harrison’s son, who went missing nearly twenty years ago—along with one of his father’s Warhol paintings.

As Meg delves into the Hamptons’ pop art past, she gets drawn into the sketchy goings-on and family drama at the estate. But when Meg makes no bones about solving the crime, she just might become the subject of the killer’s next installation.

Includes recipes and decorating tips

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About the author
Kathleen Bridge, national bestselling author of Better Homes and Corpses, started her writing career working at the Michigan State University News in East Lansing, Michigan. She is the author and photographer of an antiques reference guide, Lithographed Paper Toys, Books, and Games. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and has taught creative writing classes at Bryant Library in Roslyn, New York. Kathleen is also an antiques and vintage dealer in Long Island, New York, and has contributed to Country Living magazine.

Connect with Kathleen at kathleenbridge.com, on Facebook and on @kathleenbridge.

Giveaway: Leave comment below for your chance to win a print copy of Hearse and Gardens. US entries only, please. The giveaway will end May 11, 2016 at 12 AM EST. Good luck everyone!

All comments are welcomed.

My Musing ~ Better Homes and Corpses by Kathleen Bridge

Better Homes and Corpses by Kathleen Bridge

is the first book in the NEW “Hamptons Home & Garden” mystery series. Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime, August 2015

After Meg Barrett found her fiancé still had designs on his ex-wife, she decided it was time to refurbish her life. Leaving her glamorous job at a top home and garden magazine, she fled Manhattan for Montauk, only to find decorating can sometimes lead to detecting. . .

In between scouring estate sales for her new interior design business, Cottages by the Sea, Meg visits the swanky East Hampton home of her old college roommate, Jillian Spenser. But instead of seeing how the other half lives—she learns how the other half dies. Jillian’s mother, known as the Queen Mother of the Hamptons, has been murdered. Someone has staged a coup.

When she helps a friend inventory the Spensers’ estate for the insurance company, Meg finds herself right in the thick of things. Cataloging valuable antiques and art loses its charm when Meg discovers that the Spenser family has been hiding dangerous secrets, which may have furnished a murderer with a motive. As Meg gets closer to the truth, the killer will do anything to paint her out of the picture. . .

I like it. A chance meeting with a college friend gets Meg involved in a murder mystery that pulled me in and never let me go until the last clue was exhausted and a murderer was identified. I love the pacing and how the story flowed from chapter to chapter quickly becoming a page turner as I had to know what happened next. The author’s narrative in describing the scenes through the eyes of Meg placed me right there in the middle of all the non-stop action once the sleuthing began. Who was behind the murder? I had my suspicions and the presentation of all who had motive kept me in intrigued right to that aha moment where I knew the killer’s identity and I reveled in watching how it all played out with a couple of twisty turns that enhanced the telling of this tale. With Montauk and the Hamptons serving as the backdrop, this was a very enjoyable whodunit with good dialogue and a nice cast of characters and I look forward to learning more about Meg and her friends in the next book in this pleasantly appealing new series. Bonus vintage décor tips and recipes are included.

previously posted on the Cozy Chicks blog

A Not So Normal Day In The Life Of Meg Barrett by Kathleen Bridge

On a normal day, I’d wake up and step onto the deck of my cozy beachfront cottage in Montauk and greet the morning.

On a normal day, I’d take the twenty-seven steps down to the shore and meditate, using the rhythm of the waves as my mantra. If the weather was rough, I’d leave my hearing aids behind and revel in the feel and smell of the briny ocean wind as it lashed my face.

On a normal day, I’d walk along the beach to check for poetry written in the sand by a reclusive author with a tragic past.

On a normal day, I’d make a pot of rocket fuel in my French press, bring the pot and my favorite I-heart-NY mug, along with the East Hampton Journal to my screened porch and scour the ads for estate and garage sales.

On a normal day, I’d peruse my Cottages by the Sea storyboard filled with clippings and diagrams of my current interior design project.

But today was a not-so-normal day.

Today was the not-so-normal day that I went to the Seacliff estate in East Hampton and found socialite and rare antique collector Caroline Spenser, bludgeoned to death.

Today was the not-so-normal day that I found myself seated in an East Hampton patrol car, trying to stifle the gag reflex. Not that I was a stranger to riding in police cars. My father was a retired Detroit PD homicide detective, but I was a stranger to finding murdered corpses.

Today was the not-so-normal day that I glanced at the bumper sticker on the back of my Jeep that read, MONTAUK—THE END, referring to the town’s location on the easternmost tip of Long Island.

Up until this not-so-normal day, I’d thought of Montauk as THE BEGINNING.

But now, I wasn’t so sure.

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You can read more about Meg in Better Homes and Corpses, the first book in the NEW “Hamptons Home and Garden” mystery series, published by Berkley Prime Crime.

About Better Homes and Corpses

After Meg Barrett found her fiancé still had designs on his ex-wife, she decided it was time to refurbish her life. Leaving her glamorous job at a top home and garden magazine, she fled Manhattan for Montauk, only to find decorating can sometimes lead to detecting. . .

In between scouring estate sales for her new interior design business, Cottages by the Sea, Meg visits the swanky East Hampton home of her old college roommate, Jillian Spenser. But instead of seeing how the other half lives—she learns how the other half dies. Jillian’s mother, known as the Queen Mother of the Hamptons, has been murdered. Someone has staged a coup.

When she helps a friend inventory the Spensers’ estate for the insurance company, Meg finds herself right in the thick of things. Cataloging valuable antiques and art loses its charm when Meg discovers that the Spenser family has been hiding dangerous secrets, which may have furnished a murderer with a motive. As Meg gets closer to the truth, the killer will do anything to paint her out of the picture. . .

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GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment by 12 a.m. eastern on August 12 for the chance to win a print copy of Better Homes and Corpses. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. Winner will be notified within 48 hours after giveaway closes and you will have three days to respond after being contacted or another winner will be selected.

Meet the author
Kathleen Bridge started her writing career working at the Michigan State University News in East Lansing, Michigan. She is the author and photographer of an antique reference guide, Lithographed Paper Toys, Books, and Games, and the author of Revenge of the Sports Widows—How to Cope with a Sports Fanatic. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and has taught creative writing classes at the William Cullen Bryant Library in Roslyn, New York. Kathleen is also an antiques dealer in Long Island, New York, and has contributed to magazines, including Country Living magazine.

Visit Kathleen at her www.kathleenbridge.com, on Twitter and on Facebook