"A Design to Die For" by Kathleen Bridge

In Kathleen Bridge's A Design to Die For, decorator Meg Barrett is invited to participate in Montauk, New York’s first annual Designer Showhouse, and great fun ensues when some well-heeled women try to one-up each other on the project. One of the owners of the showhouse winds up murdered, and the race is on to find out which of the many suspects killed the unlikable man.

Bridge’s fast-paced cozy is fifth in a series, and while I haven’t read the others, I was able to keep up with the shenanigans but did end the book with a desire to go back and read all of the others.

I enjoyed the setting of the Hamptons, a departure from the Southern-themed cozies I usually read. I also enjoyed the fact that the main character is hearing impaired, a characteristic I don’t ever remember seeing in a cozy heroine before.

Naturally, a few scenes in the book had someone preparing a cup of tea—the norm in cozies. And one tidbit in the book was memorable in light of some intrigue recently discovered here on this tea blog. One question raised in the plot was whether the home being used for the showhouse was actually designed by architect Stanford White. I kept thinking his name was familiar, and then I came across this line: “The story of how he was murdered in 1906 by the jealous husband of his mistress, actress Evelyn Nesbit, had been one of the biggest scandals of the new century.” Yes! I knew that! This picture of poor Evelyn, by then operating a tearoom in New York, garnered some fun discussion here back in May, so to come across her in a cozy mystery a few months later was quite fun.

Bridges has well-developed characters and a lively writing style that kept things hopping. Also, Meg’s growing friendship with a neighbor who is a writer was one I particularly enjoyed reading about, and I hope it deepens in a future book.

If you, too, would enjoy reading a cozy mystery set in the Hamptons, I’m happy to recommend this fun book!

Review copy courtesy of NetGalley