“Discerning cozy mystery fans who delight in well-developed characters, rich detail, and a smart plotline will find that Kathleen Bridge’s A Design to Die For is their cup of tea!” —Ellery Adams, New York Times and USA Today Bestselling AuthorMontauk’s first annual Designer Showhouse was meant to be a collaborative event, so decorator Meg Barrett can only despair at the group of cutthroat … at the group of cutthroat designers scheming to sabotage each other on the project, not to mention the oddball collection of ghost hunters slinking around to investigate a supposedly haunted cottage. But when one of the owners of the showhouse is found murdered on the rocky beach below, Meg suddenly finds herself clashing with local police because of evidence that points to her as a prime suspect.
Desperate to clear her name and track down the real culprit, Meg discovers that many of her fellow designers despised the victim for his unscrupulous business dealings, while others were speculating about his extramarital affairs. And as more secrets emerge about both the deceased and the many outsiders who have come together for the showhouse, Meg realizes she’ll have to decipher a murky pattern of clues to escape the killer’s deadly designs on her . . .
Includes scrumptious recipes and vintage decorating tips!
Praise for the Hamptons Home & Garden Mysteries:
“A delightful sneak peek into life in the Hamptons, with intricate plotting and a likeable, down-to-earth protagonist. A promising start to a promising series.”
—Suspense Magazine on Better Homes and Corpses
“An excellent read.”
—RT Book Reviews on Hearse and Gardens
“Ghostal Living is a marvelously entertaining tale of revenge, murder, quirky characters—and disappearing books! With a clever protagonist, wonderful details of life in the Hamptons, and plot twists on top of plot twists, Kathleen Bridge will have mystery readers clamoring for more.”
—Kate Carlisle, New York Times bestselling author
About the Author
Kathleen Bridge is the national bestselling author of the Hamptons Home & Garden Mystery series and the By the Sea Mystery series. A member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America, she is also the author and photographer of an antiques reference guide, Lithographed Paper Toys, Books, and Games. Kathleen teaches creative writing in addition to working as an antiques and vintage dealer, and blissfully lives on a barrier island in Florida. Readers can visit her on the web at www.kathleenbridge.com.
more
I found so much to love about this story! Meg Barrett is a decorator in the Hamptons who specializes in vintage and antique design. My own love of antiques was certainly satisfied by the details of Meg’s latest project, collaborating on the decorating of a mansion designed by legendary architect Stanford White for an upcoming Showhouse event open to the public. The author smoothly weaves the mystery with historical details, ghostly legends, and coastal atmosphere so alive you’ll feel it, to make this a contemporary story that will appeal to cozy and historical mystery lovers alike. And there’s also a budding romance between Meg and an extremely appealing writer who lives down the beach from her. I can’t wait to lose myself in the next book in this series!
A Design to Die For by Kathleen Bridge is book five in the Hamptons and Garden Mysteries. This was the first in the series for me but I was able to get current quickly.
Since I am a fan of design shows, I enjoyed this book. It has a great setting and Ms. Bridge makes you feel as if are there. I also liked the characters and their interactions. There were enough suspects to keep you guessing who was guilty. You also get a hint of romance.
I look forward to reading the next in the series.
I was given an ARC by the publisher and NetGalley for an honest review.
A Design to Die For by Kathleen Bridge is the 5th instalment in the “Hamptons Home & Garden Mystery” series. I really enjoy this series, although this can be read as a stand-alone I do recommend you read from the beginning.
I found myself engrossed in the story, I like the setting of the Hamptons and the overall feel of the place. I really enjoy the main character of Meg, and Her bff Elle. Book 4 was the first I read in the series and I have since purchased the previous 3 books.
The mystery is interesting and well plotted, full of twists and turns as well as a few surprises. I can’t say I guessed whodunit but I was starting to lean towards them. This would make a great beach read and it includes some great recipes as well.
I highly recommend this series to all my cozy loving friends.
I requested and received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from Beyond the Page Publishing and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my OWN.
This was a good story with a beautiful setting and interesting characters. I’m looking forward to the next one.
A Design to Die For by Kathleen Bridge is the 5th A Hamptons Home & Garden Mystery. While this book can be read on its own, I believe it is best if the series is read in order. You will then know the characters, their relationships, and their backgrounds. Meg Barrett is a decorator who owns Cottages by the Sea in Montauk. She has been invited to be one of the decorator’s for Montauk’s first annual Designer Showhouse being held at Enderly Hall. There is tension from the beginning thanks to Jenna’s pompous husband, Roland Cahill. It is no shocker when he ends up dead at the bottom of the cliff before the showhouse opens to the public. Unfortunately, the killer is framing Roland’s wife, Jenna (and Meg’s friend) for the crime. Meg cannot resist snooping. There are a number of people who disliked Roland from the showhouse decorators to his boss. I liked the incorporation of Captain Kidd into the mystery as well as the history of Enderly Hall and Jenna’s family. There are a variety of suspects along with misdirection. There is action throughout the book as well as Meg searching for clues and talks to suspects. The whodunit was fun to solve. The clues are there to help you if you pay close attention. I like that the mystery was completely wrapped up. Meg is no longer seeing Cole, but her feelings have yet to disappear. When Cole ends up missing, Meg is worried. There is a new love interest for Meg who shares her passion for poetry. I enjoyed the descriptions of the beautiful furniture used to furnish Enderly Hall and Shepherds Cottage. There were interesting outside the box design tips at the end from Meg and Elle. I am eager to explore a couple of them. There are also recipes from the meal served at Meg’s first Dead Poets Society Book Club Meeting. A Design to Die For is an eventful cozy mystery with fine furniture, galling ghost hunters, a surfeit of suspects, an appalling police chief, designer duds, and a surprise shindig.
I have been reading and enjoying this series since the beginning. In this one Meg is decorating a designer showcase estate with other Hampton designers. The owner of the estate is an old friend, Jenna, from her New York Magazine days. Jenna’s husband is found murdered at the home and she is the prime suspect. Add ghost hunters and hidden treasure. I really enjoy the Hampton setting, the antique background and the characters in this series. The mystery was OK and I was able to figure it out. There was not a lot of investigation. I also missed learning more about antiques and decorating. I am looking for word to the next book in the series. Enjoy
A Design to Die For
A Hamptons Homes & Garden Mystery
Kathleen Bridge
Beyond the Page, Jul 2020
220 pages
Cozy Mystery
Provided by NetGalley
4.5 Stars
The cover is quite perfect for this fifth addition to the home designer mystery series. The haunted lighthouse in the distance as seen from the gazebo that our MC was decorating for the open house. And, of course, the “happy hound” of the best-selling author/poet neighbor.
The story was good. Mostly mystery with a touch of romance for the MC. I really enjoyed all the designer parts of it, because I enjoy home decor and antiques and am from New England. Lots and lots of strained personality stuff flying around in this one, but there are a few sweet moments, too. Just a touch of what seemed like repetition, or maybe not (the stupid EVP!).
The mystery was well developed with some twists. I didn’t figure this one out. But then I usually don’t try to figure them out, I just read. Really, nothing jumped out at me that said: “hah, he did it!”.
This is a group of characters I could really enjoy and I think I will be reading the series as I find the time. The author develops her characters quite well, good depth. There are some mysteries that just want to say I liked the way the author handled the issue of disabilities. The MC herself has a hearing loss for which she wears hearing aids. There are times when this comes up as a problem for her or that her talent for lip-reading is an advantage. There is also another character with much more serious disabilities who is mentioned in the book and it is done in a very appropriate way, I thought. It seems more and more authors are bringing in such things lately. Now, I’d like to see some more cultural diversity in these same books. I recommend this book to my followers who are cozy readers.
A Design to Die For earns 5/5 EVP Recorders…Engaging Fun!
Kathleen Bridge had me as an eager fan with her By the Sea Mystery series, but she’s captured my interest in her Hamptons Home & Garden series, too. The upcoming Memorial Day weekend heralds hordes of tourists. So, Meg and BFF Elle are enjoying the last quiet, if not foggy, moments, but peace is interrupted when their friend, Jenna Eastman, shows up…banged, bruised, and limping. “I think my husband…is trying to kill me.” Jenna’s been known to exaggerate a bit and she could just be under the stress of the Montauk Designer Showcase with which she, her husband, and several designers, including Meg, are involved, but suspicions are easy to come by when a wealthy young woman is recently married to a much older and questionable man. But, it seems things have backfired…Jenna’s husband, who appears brusque and disliked by many, has been found dead at the bottom of a cliff.
Kathleen’s writing style is engaging, uses a first-person narrative with Meg’s perspective with sensory-laden description and dialogue illustrating well tone and emotions and the varied personalities. The murder mystery, however delayed more than I like, was engaging with several twist and riddled with a showroom full of suspects. Marital un-bliss. Reputations at risk. Some things not as they seem. It was fun to weed through the clues, they’re there, and try to solve. The best element is that Kathleen always creates strong, independent women, and in this series, there’re plenty of them. I love Meg, a unique lead dealing with her physical challenge; she wears hearing aides. And, intertwining ghost stories, tales of witches, paranormal investigators, Captain Kidd’s curse, and poetry references made the reading experience quite the page turner.
Recipes and decorating ideas, too! From savory to sweet enjoy recipes from Meg’s father Jeff Barrett (Roasted Shrimp Cocktail with Thai Chili Sauce, Slow-Roasted Salmon with Tomato and Basil, and Basil-Spiced Jasmine Rice), and from the culinary-challenged Meg (No-Bake Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars). She also includes fun and interesting ideas for refurbishing furniture, outdoor pillows and decorations, and care and uses for old paintings and pottery. Tips included for making a road trip to outdoor flea markets a game and revealing a design secret about oversized mirrors.
Old Mansions, Antiques, and The Hamptons
This is a cozy mystery that takes place in the Hamptons portion of Long Island. It is set around interior decoration and design of old mansions with lots of great antiques and twentieth-century treasures. That in itself will suck me right into the book. And, since we are talking old mansions, there was the sidebar of ghost hunters and paranormal phenomena. This is the fifth book in a series and it stood alone quite well. I have not yet read the first 4 books, but I will. I was not lost as the author gave just the right amount of background. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.
cozy-mystery, amateur-sleuth, law-enforcement, murder-investigation, friendship
Meg seems to have been involved in a local murder or two before, enough to have irritated the local law. It’s a good thing that she has a lot of friends. the first body is a really villainous person who was thought to have been threatening his rather new and wealthy wife and Meg was the one who found the body. Let the sleuthing begin. The tale is somewhat convoluted but totally reasonable and the characters really seem like people one would know. I loved it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Beyond the Page Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you!
A great series to help me escape social isolation. This the fifth entry in this series and I have enjoyed every one of them. Best read in order to get all of Meg’s backstory but this one will work as a stand alone.
Meg is a decorator, owner of Cottages By the Sea, in Montauk and lives in a six room cottage of her own. When her friend and former co-worker, Jenna, opens her ‘cottage’, Enderly Hall, to become a decorator showcase house for the first annual Montauk Designer Showhouse. The proceeds will go to the local fire department. Meg will be one of the decorators and there are several others but they aren’t playing nice with each other and tension is high. Add to the mix, Jenna is very wealthy and newly married, to a not so rich man who wants to improve his social standing. Poor Jenna overhears a conversation he has with his former step daughter (who is also on scene as one of the decorators) that he will have control of Enderly Hall – Jenna’s family home for past generations which she owns – and he will be selling it. Jenna is certain that he means to bump her off and so the mystery starts.
The mystery is complex and full of twists, turns and lots of red herrings. It had me guessing to the last chapter and I guessed wrong. For me that is the sign of a well crafted, enjoyable mystery.
My thanks to the publisher Beyond the Page and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
This is the first book I have read by Kathleen Bridge. This is the 5th book in A Hamptons Home & Garden Mystery.
This was an interesting mystery with a lighthouse ghost, Captain Kidd, ancestors, and a mysterious authorial on Montauk, Long Island. Spending time by the Ocean was so nice.
Enjoyable book to read with great characters.
Thank you NetGalley and Beyond the Page Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.