Book Review/Giveaway: Better Homes and Corpses by Kathleen Bridge

From the publisher: 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…

This book will definitely be included in my list of top debuts for 2015. The first in Kathleen Bridge's Hamptons Home and Garden mystery series, introduces readers to interior designer Meg Barrett, owner of Cottages by the Sea in Montauk. She's very excited to receive an invitation to her college roommate Jillian Spencer's East Hampton home where her mother is known as the Queen Mother of the Hamptons. What Meg finds is Jillian cradling her murdered mother's body. When her friend Elle is hired by the insurance company to inventory the estate, Meg agrees to help out in order to find out what sort of skeletons the Spencers have in their closet.

This book almost has a gothic feel feel to it with a sheltered young woman living in a creepy estate by the water. The killer's identity kept me guessing until the very end, and the revelation came in a very climatic scene. The precious pup on the cover is Tripod the 3-legged dog who plays a key role.

Any kind of home decorating is typically beyond my abilities, but I greatly admire those who do have that talent, especially when it involves visits to estate sales and flea markets for unique pieces. I'm eager to follow along with Meg's adventures as she renovates and decorates her dream home.

Giveaway: Leave a comment by noon eastern on Monday, August 17th for your chance to win a paperback copy of Better Homes and Corpses. (US entries only, please.)