Confessions of an Amateur Sleuth
Bainbridge Island Mystery #2
By Lynn Cahoon
ISBN 9781496752123
Author’s website: lynncahoon.com
Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie
Synopsis:
Bainbridge Island bookseller, aspiring author, and amateur sleuth Meg (no relation to Bill) Gates investigates the murder of a crabby food critic in New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon’s latest Pacific Northwest-set mystery for fans of Kate Carlisle, Lorna Barrett, Jenn McKinlay, and Ellery Adams.
Twenty-something bookseller and sleuth Meg Gates has a confession: solving crimes may be easier than writing. She’s been working on a guide to becoming a detective—but she’s her own worst critic. She needs a how-to in order to write her how-to!
At the Bainbridge Island writers’ group, she meets freelance food critic Lee Anderson, who invites her to join him for dinner at the Local Crab so he won’t be suspected of reviewing the place. Lee is a bit of a crab himself and intends to do a hatchet job on the eatery.
Instead, someone does a job on the critic—he’s found dead by the marina. Now Bainbridge’s culinary elite are on the suspect list.
With help from her beau, Dalton, and the Mystery Crew at Island Books, Meg dons her sleuthing cap to solve the mystery du jour—before another murder is served cold . . . (from Goodreads)
Review:
This is a great second offering in its series, with the perfect blend of suspense, action, and wit. Bainbridge Island provided a beautiful setting! I enjoyed meeting Meg, her family, and friends. It had been less than a year since Meg returned to the island, and she was building a new life after breaking up with her cheating fiancé in Seattle.
Meg worked part time for Lilly, a local, best-selling author, and part time for her mother at her bookstore, Island Books. One of Meg’s goals was to write a non-fiction “how-to” guidebook about sleuthing. She attended a local writer’s group on the island. An advantage of the group was hearing speakers share information on various aspects of what a first-time author might consider, including writing, publishing, and marketing.
Meg arrived late to the group one evening, and sat in the back with a man she had not yet met. Lee was a free-lance food critic. They made plans for her to meet him the next evening at the Local Crab, where they would dine and he’d review the restaurant. Nobody would guess the real purpose of his visit if someone was with him. Meg and her boyfriend, Dalton, knew the chef there, Emmett, and was confident Lee would love it there. She looked forward to learning more about writing from him.
Meg told Dalton about dinner with someone from her class, and later gave him details. The experience was terrible. Lee planned certain “tests” to see how well the staff would respond, from their late arrival to other customer service challenges – one plate was too hot, one was too cold, and the like. Meg finally had enough, had several unkind words for Lee, and left.
The next evening, Dalton and Meg went to dinner in Seattle. Meg saw her mother at the restaurant – at a table with a man she had never seen before! Her mother had not dated since her parents divorced. Her mom texted her that they’d talk later. Meg and Dalton returned on the ferry to see police officers all over its parking area.
A man was found in his car, and was thought to have been asleep. He was dead, however, possibly by suicide. Later, his death was determined a homicide. And it was Lee! Uncle Troy, aka Police Chief Miller, wanted to know why she was in the Local Crab with him one night, stormed out on him, and the next night he was dead.
Meg had helped with one previous homicide on Bainbridge Island, that of her boss, Lilly’s, agent. This time, Uncle Troy didn’t want her involved so that she wouldn’t get hurt by a person desperate enough to have killed at least once.
Meg’s photo was in the news after marching away from Lee and out of the restaurant, so some thought her to be a suspect. Lee had left Meg a costly bracelet and note at the restaurant further linking them. Other suspects included the chefs for whom he left bad reviews, which was almost every chef on Bainbridge Island.
Meg couldn’t let it go. She, with either Dalton or best friend Natasha, visited people who might answer her questions rather than those by a cop. She found minimal background information at the college they both attended at different times. Meg shared what she learned with Dalton, Natasha, and Troy. Meg’s attention was split between the murder, her jobs, her mom, writing, seeing Dalton, studying for her college classes, even playing on a pickleball league. Whew! She committed to write for thirty minutes each day, and her book progressed. I loved the chapter names that correlated with the contents of each, as well as her current experiences.
The characters’ personalities were revealed through their conversations and behaviors. Written in first person, I got to know and like Meg quickly, then Dalton, Natasha, Meg’s mom, and others through their interactions with her. I liked Meg, Dalton, and Natasha the best, and look forward to seeing more of them and several others in the future.
There were excellent plot twists, often adding or eliminating suspects. Lee was not well-liked, but they could find no logical motive for his murder. Or for the special bracelet he bought for her. The killer was cleverly disguised to misrepresent their connection to Lee. The ending was excellent and more than satisfactory! I highly recommend this cozy mystery, and look forward to the next one!
