GHOSTAL LIVING by Kathleen Bridge

Publisher:   Berkley
Published:  May 2, 2017
ISBN:        978-0425276600
Genre:       Cozy Mystery
Format:     Print
Obtained via:  Publisher  
Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina  Ginalrmreviews@gmail.com
 

THREE-1/2 HEARTS

 

Interior designer Meg Barrett’s business has taken off and she’s scored a major coup by doing the interior of the Bibliophile B & B.  The inn’s unique concept of a different room dedicated and designed to the era of certain authors has made this perhaps one of the most enjoyable projects Meg has undertaken. The inn’s opening is timed to occur in conjunction with Sag Harbor’s annual book and antiquarian fair. Even more exciting, Franklin Hollingsworth has in his possession a recently discovered original manuscript by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The manuscript has attracted interest from a diverse group of people. Unfortunately, along with a collection of book aficionados, the manuscript has attracted a killer. Once again Meg finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation. 

I was attracted by Kathleen Bridge’s Hamptons Home & Garden mysteries series mainly because it takes place not only near where I grew up, but in some of the towns we went to on vacation or day trips.  Bridge does a fabulous job of describing Sag Harbor, Montauk and the surrounding towns—especially during the summer traffic crush. Her creation of the Bibiliophile B&B is sheer genius and I sure wish it existed for real. Imagine spending a few days surrounded by first editions…signed first editions of some of the world’s greatest literature!  The mystery of the stolen manuscript in GHOSTAL LIVING had some nice twists to it.  Very clever at the outcome.

When I read and reviewed her first book, BETTER HOMES AND CORPSES, I mentioned that it was disappointing that more wasn’t made of Meg having a hearing impairment. She is a unique amateur detective with the hearing impairment and her lip reading could add some nice depth to the character and how she solves her crimes. I was glad to see Bridge having Meg use that skill in GHOSTAL LIVING.

 
While I did enjoy the descriptions of the various venues in the book – the towns, the rooms at the inn, etc., it seemed to take a long time for Meg to actually start looking for the killer.  At one point I thought I was reading a travelogue instead of a mystery.

She does have, as is the pattern cozies seem to be falling into, a love triangle.  I’m not the only reader who finds them annoying, especially when they drag on through several books. If I want to read a romance, I’ll pick one up.  I don’t mind the sleuth having a love interest, but I want the focus on the detective’s smarts, cunning and creativity, not trying to figure out which guys she wants to be with. While Bridge does have the triangle aspect, she does a nice job of including it and then dispensing with it. In fact, it’s more of a background issue than actually part of the story so you don’t see much of it at all.

A nice addition to a fun series.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

 

 

HEARSE AND GARDEN by Kathleen Bridge

 

Publisher:     Berkley

Published:     May 3, 2016     

ISBN:        978-0425276594

Genre:      Cozy Mystery  

Format:     Print

Obtained via:  Publisher  

Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina  Ginalrmreviews@gmail.com

THREE - 1/2 HEARTS

 

Life just hasn’t settled down for Meg Barrett after solving a murder not so many months ago.  She’s found the perfect cottage that with just a little renovation could be her dream home except the ownership is in dispute.  She had a bit of a relationship sort of starting, but her prospective beau is off sailing the seas with his three legged dog, Tripod.  And less than ethical business rival, Tara Gayle, is up to her usual tricks in their home decorating businesses.  Her once piece of … peace … is going to Sandringham.  No, not the Queen of England’s get-away but a replica out on Montauk, Long Island.  There, along with her friend Elle, who is distantly related to the family, Meg has a piece of the childhood she had and misses.  And just when things look like they might be levelling out a bit, she and Elle find a skeleton in a sealed room in the very cottage she’s renovating.  Who is the body in the sealed room and is the killer still around?  And, is he related to the person stalking Meg?

I really enjoyed Kathleen Bridge’s first book in her Hamptons Home & Garden mystery, Better Homes and Corpses.  Her newest, HEARSE AND GARDENS is a close second. Not quite as tight writing and while the descriptions of the various rooms and locations was interesting, it did not contribute all that much to the mystery or solving it.  I had a hard time keeping track of the characters and finally pulled out pen and paper and wrote them down only to find about 2/3 Meg had to do the same.  I often have this problem with Agatha Christie’s books – and I’m a huge fan of Christie – and use the old write down the characters trick with her books.

I mentioned this in my review of Better Homes and Corpses—that we have a heroine who is deaf and can lip read.  Aside from the one time Richard comes up on Meg there is little use of what could be a great addition to the story – Meg can lip read and while she does a bit of that, it isn’t really anything major. 

Tara Gayle is one of those characters you just love to hate.  We all have a Tara somewhere in our lives and it’s just so fun to see her get hers. 

Best of all is the addition of Jo – the 35 pound Maine Coon cat who insists on dinner at the table at 5.  And any cat people among us can definitely relate to the “klepto-kitty” antics to get back at the human who doesn’t understand who is in charge. 

Once again the location of the story in Montauk adds to the story – it’s not one of those places you often find a cozy despite how great the location is.  Bridge makes good use of the ocean front and small town atmosphere throughout the book.

Books 1 and 2 are stand alones and you do not have to read them in order.  There is enough back story not to read book 1 – but if you want a good mystery, it’s definitely where you want to start.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

BETTER HOMES AND CORPSES by Kathleen Bridge

Publisher:     Berkley

Published:     August 4, 2015

ISBN:       978-0425276587

Genre:      Cozy Mystery

Format:    Print

Obtained via:  Publisher  

Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina  Ginalrmreviews@gmail.com

FOUR-1/2 HEARTS

 

Worse than finding your fiancé with another women is finding out he’s back with his ex-wife.  When this happened to Meg Barrett she packed up and headed to the Hamptons.  No, she doesn’t have one of those swank estates.  Rather she’s renting a quaint little cottage from where she runs her fledgling interior design business.  Off on what will be her first job she heads to the residence of the Queen of the Hamptons – Caroline Spenser. What she finds when she arrives is her college roommate, Jillian, holding her mother, Caroline, apparently in a state of shock.   It appears someone stabbed Caroline and fatally so.  Jillian, always fragile, is even more so and is diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and amnesia.  Jillian cannot remember how she came to be holding her dead mother or anything leading up to the murder.  With the family, including estranged son, Cole, gathered to pay their last respects mysterious things begin to happen around each member and Meg.  Pieces of furniture go missing, a truck tries to run Meg off the road and Jillian is once again attacked.  Can Meg find the killer before he can strike again?

When I first started Kathleen Bridge’s BETTER HOMES AND CORPSES I thought the author was working off a checklist of popular or inclusive issues such as having a token disabled person, a token gay couple, a token this and a token that.  I was more than pleasantly surprised when that wasn’t the case at all.  Meg does in fact have a disability, she is hard of hearing—legally deaf—but the way Bridge incorporates the disability into the story is really wonderfully done.  Bridge didn’t treat Meg’s deafness as a disability, but as something that made her stronger and more creative.  The way she used lip reading in solving the murder was a great twist.

You don’t find too many cozies taking place out on Long Island and the venue for Bridge’s series—the Hamptons and Montauk—makes for some interesting situations.  I had a sense of who the killer was before that character was finally revealed, but Bridge has some great twists and turns before that person is unveiled.  Mrs. Arnold, the housekeeper is rudeness personified—but she also provides some fun comic relief with her antics.

This is definitely one to add to your TBR.  I’m looking forward to book 2 in this fun, new series.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.