Meg Barrett sits down for a Q&A with dru’s book musings responding to ten or more questions so we can learn more about her. Are you ready? Let’s get to know Meg.
What is your full name?
Megan Elizabeth Barrett.
How old are you?
Do I really have to say. Ha, ha. I’m 36 years old—she said, grudgingly.
What is your profession?
I am the sole owner of Cottages by the Sea Interior Design. I decorate small cottages in the Hamptons using a mix of vintage and contemporary décor. I love using antique and vintage items in my cottages because they’re one a kind and I’m recycling at the same time. But that’s not all I do—I also work as an assistant to the set decorator on Mr. & Mrs. Winslow, a 1940’s streaming mystery series similar to the old film noir movies like the Thin Man and The Maltese Falcon. My boyfriend is the series screenwriter—Go Patrick!
If you have a significant other, what is their name and profession?
Boy, do I! As mentioned above, Patrick Seaton is a screenwriter, the author of numerous NYT’s bestselling thrillers and lastly—a poet. How lucky am I?
Do you have any children?
No. But it is in the realm of possibilities. You see, four years ago Patrick lost his wife and daughter in a tragic car accident involving a drunk driver, so it’s a subject I’m sure we’ll discuss in the future—when he’s ready.
Who is your best friend?
My best friend, partner in crime in all things vintage and my co-worker on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Winslow is Elle Warner Shoner. We met in Manhattan when I was the Editor in Chief of American Home and Garden Magazine. Elle was our Antiques and Collectibles editor. After we both moved to the Hamptons we reconnected. Now you couldn’t tear us apart!
Do you have cats, dogs, or other pets?
Yes! I have an incorrigible one-eyed Maine coon. Someone had left her in a beer crate in the lobby of the East Hampton Town Police Station. Because of her feistiness, the officers at the station couldn’t get close enough to find out if she was male or female so they called her Joe. At the time, my bestie, Elle, had just begun dating the chief of the East Hampton Town Police. I promised that in exchange for some inside info on the murder of Carolyn Spenser, I would adopt Joe. Joe turned out to be Josphine, and even though Jo’s the fattest, brattiest cat imaginable, I now know I can’t live without her. My boyfriend Patrick owns a beautiful, rescued greyhound called Charley. Believe it or not, Jo and Charley get along like they are siblings.
What town do you live in?
I live in the hamlet of Montauk, located at the easternmost tip of Long Island. It’s considered part of the Hamptons, but because of its untamed beauty, water views and small-town vibe. I personally think of Montauk as the unHamptons.
What type of dwelling do you live in.
I am the lucky owner a vintage oceanfront cottage overlooking the Atlantic—only a stone’s throw away from the Montauk Point Lighthouse.
Do you have any hobbies?
I love fixing up vintage furniture, and if you could call shopping a hobby, then you could say I’ve become an aficionado at thrifting and scouring garage and estate sales. Maybe that’s not a hobby—more like a passion. Reading mysteries and classic poetry (I am a member of the Dead Poets Society book club). I am also trying to learn to knit, but you’d have to check back with me next year when I finish the sweater for Patrick that I started last year.
If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
My Cozy Dangerous Life.
Are you an amateur or professional sleuth and who do you work with?
I would consider myself an amateur sleuth, but I do have a superpower when it comes to solving murders—I have a profound hearing loss starting from when I was a preteen, and I’m able to read lips, which sure comes in handy when I find myself in sticky situations. As for who I work with, that can vary. My father is a retired homicide detective on the Detroit PD who also lives in Montauk. Elle’s husband, who’s on the East Hampton Town PD has been known from time to time to share inside info with me. And of course, Elle and I have been known to work together, but I think she’d rather leave the sleuthing to me or her husband.
THE CORPSE AT THE COTTAGE
Series: A Hamptons Home & Garden Mystery, Book 9
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: June 2026
Format: Print, Digital
Amazon | Barnes & Noble
When the patriarch of an old-money Hamptons family is found dead, interior decorator Meg Barrett discovers that some family secrets are better left buried . . .
It was big news when Roland Whitney bankrupted his family’s media empire amid rumors of fraud. Now he’s lost their Hamptons estate, and Meg finds herself in the middle of the turmoil. She’s been called in to collect the furnishings used in the streaming mystery show that was filmed there, and she wants nothing more than to finish the job and be done with the troubled family. Then she stumbles upon Whitney’s dead body, the victim of an apparent suicide.
All the evidence suggests that Whitney couldn’t live with the shame of his downfall and took his own life. But Meg is convinced the suicide was staged, and as she begins looking into the secretive family, she discovers bitter conflicts and a history of resentment for the victim. With each of them a suspect and tension growing over who stands to inherit the little remaining wealth, Meg realizes too late that if money’s behind the murder, she may end up paying the biggest price of all . . .
Includes tasty recipes and simple decluttering tips!
About the author
National Bestselling author Kathleen Bridge started her writing career at the Michigan State News in East Lansing, Michigan. She is the author of the Hamptons Home and Garden Mysteries and the By the Sea Mysteries.