Taylor Aaronovitch sits down for a question-and-answer session with dru’s book musings so that we can learn more about her. Let’s get to know Taylor.

What is your full name?
Taylor NMN Aaronovitch. When I was a kid, I thought the rapper was called “No Middle Name”.

How old are you?
Turning thirty and now in the same decade as ma honey, Lexy Campbell. It bothers her. It doesn’t bother me.

What is your profession?
I’m an ornithologist, wetlands specialist, for the state of California and county of Beteo.

Do you have a significant other?
I already gave that away, didn’t I?

What is their name and profession?
Lexy – it’s really Leagsaidh but can you imagine that in the USA? – is a marriage and family therapist, but she’s Scottish. Scottish therapists tell you to walk it off a lot more than local ones, I think.

Do you have any children?
We’re working on it!

Who is your best friend?
Lexy! She’s head and shoulders above the rest but I wouldn’t be without the rest, who are a bunch of guys who love birds as much as I do and don’t ever get tired of talking about them and looking at fuzzy phone pics of disputed sightings. I married into a lot of friendships too.

Do you have cats, dogs, or other pets?
We don’t own any animals, but a neighbor kid Diego has two cats, a rabbit, and a lot of fish that we help look after.

What town do you live in?
Cuento, CA, home of UCC, the Casual Browser Bookstore, Ovie’s Ovens pizza joint, The Lode market, Swiss Sisters coffee and more. The wetlands are pretty close too. Opening hours for visitors are posted on the website. No dogs, obviously. No radios. I’d prefer it if there were no people. But . . . try telling that to Visit Beteo!

What type of dwelling do you own or rent?
I’m now the co-owner of what was Lexy’s houseboat, which is moored in the Last Ditch slough, behind the Last Ditch Motel where most of our couple friends live. Todd and Roger, Kathi and Noleen, Devin and Della. And little Diego, with the pets. Plus his baby sister.

What is your favorite spot in your home?
One end of the houseboat is a deep, wide porch with steps down to board from the bank. It’s pretty sweet in the evening, out of mosquito season, when the all the tits and wrens and finches and starlings are settling down for the night.

What is your favorite meal and dessert?
I’ve got a weakness for barbecue so long as someone else is grilling. I’m not one of those guys who needs a sauce mop to feel like a real man. Dessert? This is going to sound disgusting but trust me. Cake – any cake, ice-cream – any ice-cream, berries – any berries except strawberries, crushed KitKat bar, a little honey, a little yoghurt, a handful of peanut M&Ms, enough heavy cream so the cake floats. Dig in with a spoon.

Do you have any hobbies?
I like to go birdwatching when I’m not at work.

What is your favorite vacation spot?
It always used to be wherever the chat boards were saying the birds were. But we spent the holidays at Lexy’s parents’ place in Scotland last year and you know what? The weather was horrible and man those Celts can drink! But if you like castles and Roman walls and old stuff in general it’s kind of nice.

What is your idea of a really fun time?
Me and a couple of guys in the hide, total silence, thermos of coffee, and just when we’re about to call it a night, at dusk, right in front of our eyes . . . a great gray owl. I never saw one. Yet.

If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
Flying High!

Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
I’m an amateur. I’m not even an amateur. Lexy’s an amateur. Kathi is the licensed PI. But we do seem to get caught up in stuff. No wonder the local PD think we’re a nuisance.

What is a typical day in your life like?
I wake up to Todd bringing coffee. It seemed weird at first, a guy breaking into our bedroom with take-out coffee and striking up a conversation. But you know what? It seems even weirder now. I pack my sandwiches, swallow some toast and it’s off to the wetlands. Rain or shine, baking heat or damp chill, it’s my happy place. I spend too much time in the office but funds won’t raise themselves. I always make time for at least an hour with the birds – the wild birds out on the reserve, I mean. I try to make myself pay frequent visits to the treatment and rehab facility on-site too, but it’s heartbreaking to see those injured birds. I could never be a veterinarian. After work, I have a shower – marriage is about compromise – and usually there’s someone else besides Lexy on the porch, shooting the breeze, roasting each other, making wild plans, abandoning them, drinking Noleen’s famous margaritas. It’s the exact opposite of quality time. Trash time, I call it. It feeds the soul. The one drawback is it’s too noisy for the birds to get close. But hey – I’m not one of those birders who goes overboard. Balance is key.

Giveaway: Catriona has generously offered to give away one print copy of SCOT’S EGGS. To enter, please leave a comment below and tell us what do you like about the holiday season. One entry per person and the giveaway is limited to U.S. residents only. Giveaway ends December 5, 2025. Good luck everyone!

SCOT’S EGGS – A “Last Ditch” Mystery, Book 8
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: December 2025
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

It’s egg-hunt season, but Lexy’s spending Easter hunting a killer!

Not even Cuento’s Easter bonnet parade can distract Lexy Campbell from fertility woes and missing tourists Bill and Billie Miller. The Millers’ vintage Mustang has been abandoned, its interior covered in blood.

Is this a double murder, and if so, where are the bodies? Why were the Millers spending the night in their car? Did they pitch up at the Last Ditch Motel only to be turned away? Are they really dead? Trinity for Trouble are on the case!

As they start to identify the guests staying at the motel the weekend before Easter – including a Goth and a barbershop singer on stilts – disturbing evidence comes to light. Can Lexy see though all the deception to unmask the truth and save the Last Ditch?

Kirkus said: “a loopy, lovable Northern California crew … a baffling double murder … a brisk, clever whodunit”

About the author
Serial awards-botherer, Catriona McPherson (she/her) was born in Scotland and immigrated to the US in 2010. A former linguistics professor, she is now a full-time fiction writer and has published: preposterous 1930s private-detective stories about a toff; realistic 1940s amateur-sleuth stories about an oik; and contemporary psychothriller standalones. These are all set in Scotland with a lot of Scottish weather. She also writes modern comic crime capers about a Scot-out-of-water in a “fictional” college town in Northern California sneezedavissneeze.

Catriona is a proud lifetime member and former national president of Sisters in Crime. Connect with Catriona at www.catrionamcpherson.com.