Not as fun as I had hope. Very formulaic cozy. Setting is Montauk NY with a heartbroken amateur sleuth ready to start a new life and career in interior design. ( )

Meg Barrett moved to Montauk after she found out her fiancé was still interested in his ex-wife. Leaving her job as an editior for a home and garden magazine, she now lives in a cottage on the beach while offering her decorating services to people. After being approached by the mother of an old school friend to inventory her home for insurance purposes, she enters the home and finds that Caroline Spenser is dead, and her daughter Jillian is holding her in her arms.

After calling the police and being questioned, she finds that Jillian has developed amnesia about the event, and doesn't remember anything. To add to that, Jillian's brother Cole has returned after seventeen years away and is silent on the subject of why he left. While Meg is inventorying the home with her friend Elle, she also discovering that there might be more to the murder than what is known, and she's subtly looking into it.

But when she starts to become slightly involved with Cole, and all evidence points toward him, she refuses to believe he's a murderer. It's going to take a lot of work on her part to find out who's framing him, and it just might get her killed if she's not careful...

This is the first in the Hamptons Home & Gardens Mysteries, and I'm rather sorry I waited so long to read it. Having been disillusioned about another series of Ms. Bridge's, it took me awhile to take the time, but I'm glad I did. This book was delightful.

The plot is done very well, and the character of Meg is different in the fact that she's had a hearing loss as a child and depends upon hearing aids; this has also given her the ability to read lips, and she garners quite a bit of information this way. Meg's character is quite developed in this book, and she's intelligent and able to pick up clues without pestering people and accusing them of murder. It serves her well.

I do like the character of Doc, an ex-cop who's her self- appointed guardian, and also the fact that Tripod the dog, also another damaged being, becomes helpful to her, too. Her friend Elle is definitely different, but loyal, along with other friends of Meg's; although the rest of the secondary characters -- and there were plenty of them -- had their own secrets to hide.

It is these secrets that Meg must sift through to find the truth, and it leads her down a path no one quite expected. When she starts to put everything together, it's at the same point that we do, too, and it comes together seamlessly, giving us a satisfactory ending and bring the murderer to justice. I highly enjoyed this book and can't wait to read the next in the series. Recommended. ( )

A decent cozy mystery. I liked the setting and the storyline kept my interest. There were lots of twists and turns. I liked the reveal because I was definitely not expecting it. Something was just off about the main character. I didn't dislike her, but she seemed to always stumble upon everything accidentally. The stumbling didn't seem intentional by the author, though. I'll definitely continue the series. I'd like to see where it goes. ( )

Meg Barrett left her cushy job in New York City when she discovered her fiance-boss in a compromising position with his ex-wife. She moved to Montauk on Long Island and is building a career as a designer. When she is called by a college roommate Jillian Spenser to go through her wealthy socialite mother's attic, she walks in on a murder. The socialite,known as the Queen Mother of the Hamptons, is dead and the daughter has amnesia.

Meg gets involved in solving the case to help her old roommate. There are suspects aplenty from the estranged son Cole Spenser to the artist living in one of the cottages on the grounds. There are tangled relationships among the suspects too. Cole has been estranged from his family for seventeen years since he fought with his mother. Meanwhile, the son of one of the mother's confidants has moved into the role of son because of their shared interests in antiques and collectibles.

I liked the setting and the information about antiques and shabby chic decorating. I liked that Meg is trying to rebuild her life and career. The characters were all nicely developed and the mystery was twisty enough to keep my attention. Typical in cozy mysteries, the recipes in the back also looked interesting. They were supplied by Meg's dad who is a retired homicide detective turned gourmet cook since Meg's only culinary ability is doctoring up simple foods with herbs. ( )

This first novel in a new series shows much promise. Meg Barrett left a job and a two-timing fiancé behind for what she hoped would be a better life being an interior decorator. Searching through garage and estate sales for treasures can be fun, especially when you find an antique among the junk. But when Meg becomes ensnared in helping an old college roommate through the grief process when her mother is murdered, Meg finds that decorating morphs into detecting without much trouble. Just like decorating sometimes means stripping away the old layers, so must Meg strip away the obvious clues to find what lies beneath. Secrets abound, especially among the rich, and even Meg has trouble believing what she is finding. There are many twists along the way, because really, the road to truth is never straight. Many delightful characters people this story, and I can only hope that they find their way into the next novel as continuing characters in this enjoyable new series. ( )