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 thoughtful reveal 