I’m the “me” in A Macavity & Me Mystery. My full name is Bryn Geneva (my grandmother’s name) Baczek. My last name is Polish. I get tired of correcting the way people pronounce it, so I usually just nod as if they got it right. Unless I feel like being contrary or don’t care for the person mispronouncing my name. Then I get picky.

My day frequently begins with breathing difficulties. I’ll be on the verge of wakefulness, feeling like something is compressing my lungs. Then, as my mind emerges from the fog of sleep, I consider the possibility that I should put my cat, Macavity, on a diet. He likes to sit on my chest in the morning. It’s his way of telling me it’s time to get up and fix his breakfast. When I finally give in, he barely tolerates waiting for me to start my coffee before feeding him. But that’s where I draw the line with my demanding, cantankerous and charming companion. I love him, but coffee comes first.

My single cup Keurig dominates the galley counterspace of my sailboat home, like a Tiki god demanding adulation. I usually have to make several single cups to satisfy my caffeine needs before heading to my office where I have a second Keurig waiting in case I want more. I don’t have much of a commute since my cluttered office with its peek-a-boo view of the lake is on the second floor of an old wood building at the head of the dock. I share the small space with a succession of goldfish, reincarnated over and over again, all with the same name, Bubbles. It’s my way of avoiding having to admit to my niece that the original short-lived goldfish—and his equally short-lived heirs—have all been “buried at sea.”

Speaking of my family, like Macavity, they can be annoying. My mother insists we all have dinner together the first Sunday of each month. It’s mostly a pleasant event, but the adults have a tendency to gang up on me. They all have opinions on how I should conduct my life, and they don’t hesitate to make those opinions known. It isn’t as if I’m not critical of myself. But I like my lifestyle; my issues are with the physical “almosts” that define me.

I’m almost 6 feet tall. I’m almost 40. My red hair is almost strawberry blond, but coppery rather than the more desirable strawberry. My eyes are almost the same color—admittedly there isn’t that much variety of eye color, so they could hardly be too different. And I’m almost ambidextrous, although mostly left-handed. My mother considered this a stigma for a child and tried to break me of the “habit” of using my left hand for things. Maybe that’s why, on one level, I’d prefer to be right-handed. The same way I’d prefer to be petite and good looking like my best friend, Sophie. But I’m not, and most days I don’t give my looks a second thought.

So, how do I spend my days? Early on, I learned that being a management consultant involves dealing with overt or covert conflicts. No one hires me to confirm how well the company is doing. Even when they ask for something innocuous sounding like “team building,” what they are really saying is that there is some messy situation that needs to be addressed and they either don’t know how or don’t want to do it themselves. That’s how I earn my living, helping people solve problems and defuse misunderstandings and differences of opinion, sometimes huge misunderstandings or volatile differences of opinion. Unfortunately, several times there have been fatal eruptions before I was able to work my resolution magic. Like what happened after I recovered the marble statue of Aphrodite. But I explain all that in Who Me? Fog Bows, Fraud and Aphrodite.

Who Me? Fog Bows, Fraud and Aphrodite, A Macavity & Me Mystery #2
Genre: Cozy
Release: June 2021
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Bryn Baczek overhears a heated argument on a nearby boat followed by a loud splash . . .

Who, Me? Fog Bows, Fraud and Aphrodite is a mystery set in an urban boating community in Seattle. Bryn Baczek lives on a sailboat with her cat, Macavity, and a series of short-lived goldfish. When a neighbor she doesn’t like becomes the prime suspect in a murder investigation, she reluctantly seeks evidence to prove him innocent.

Bryn ends up being threatened by the victim’s abusive boyfriend, betrayed by a close friend, and can’t resist using subterfuge to enter a secured building to search the victim’s office. Although she shares what she learns with a charming detective whose manicured mustache she finds off-putting, she is one step ahead of the police in identifying the murderer . . . a step that puts her in a dangerous face-to-face confrontation.

About the author
In a world filled with uncertainty and too little chocolate, Charlotte Stuart has a passion for writing lighthearted mysteries with a pinch of adventure and a dollop of humor. She began her career in academia with a PhD in communications. Then, she and her husband decided to build a commercial boat and go fishing for salmon in Alaska. Currently she is the president of Puget Sound Sisters in Crime and lives and writes on Vashon Island in Washington State’s Puget Sound. She spends time each day entertained by herons, seals, eagles and other wildlife.

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