The name on my birth certificate is Lavender Lewis, but friends call me Lew. I grew up in a commune in Alaska with well-defined gender roles and lots of rules. It was probably inevitable that I would rebel. I escaped by joining the army at 17. When my enlistment ended, I went to college and got an MA in Human Resources management. Unfortunately, I had trouble adapting to corporate life, so I branched out on my own as an HR investigator. My clients don’t seem to mind that I tend to be direct, somewhat aloof, and have a dry sense of humor. They hire me because I’m good at my job.

When my best friend moved to Vashon Island – a place that has been described as Mayberry-meets-Burning Man – I decided to move there too. It’s only a twenty-minute ferry ride from Seattle, yet light years away in tempo and character. I love its relaxed, semi-rural atmosphere. And I love my tiny waterfront cabin where I live with my two food-obsessed cats, Dilly and Natasha. Since moving to Vashon, life has settled into a pleasant and predictable routine.

My day starts with coffee and my two cats demanding breakfast. They won’t let me sleep in because their day starts early. They have places to explore and dogs to antagonize. After coffee I usually put in some office time. Working on projects often involves time off island doing interviews and collecting evidence. But there’s always a lot of online research, report writing, and follow-up.

Late afternoons I often head into the trees behind my cabin for a workout in the form of woods parkour, a version of parkour that uses natural obstacles found in the forest instead of treating urban spaces like a giant playground. I like the combination of running, climbing, jumping and vaulting through an obstacle course. And I like the parkour philosophy, the idea that there is no obstacle in life that can’t be overcome. That there is always a “way through.”

Miles of sandy beaches. Sheep dog contests. A classic lighthouse. Wineries. Deer grazing in open fields alongside horses and sheep. A coffee shop roastery in a hundred-year-old building that sells coffee made in a local monastery. And farm stands where you leave money for your purchases in a glass jar. That’s Vashon’s version of Mayberry. But, people are still people, and tensions fester even in the most idyllic communities.

When I was asked to lead a group on a tour of an ancient bog on the island as a last-minute replacement for the regular guide, I was worried about getting my facts right, not about what we might find in the bog. It was a warm day, the sphagnum moss spongy underfoot and the carnivorous sundews busy trolling for unsuspecting bugs. The surprise came as we were walking single file on a rotting log that spanned a murky pond.

If you’d like to know what happened, I’ll tell you all about it in Bogged Down.

Bogged Down is the first book in the NEW “Vashon Island” traditional mystery series, released August 5, 2020.

This a mystery set on Vashon Island, a place that has been described as Mayberry-meets-Burning Man. Lavender (Lew) Lewis moves there because it is only a twenty-minute ferry ride from Seattle, yet light years away in tempo and character. She grew up on a commune in Alaska, joined the army at 17, does woods parkour for exercise and HR investigations to earn a living. Life in her waterfront cabin with her two food-obsessed cats is predictable and relatively stress free. Then she leads a tour group into an ancient bog on the island and discovers a body.

The victim is one of the island’s most passionate pro-wilding advocates. Unfortunately, neither the lone cougar nor the four packs of coyotes are interested in living in harmony with pets and livestock, and the issue has divided the island community. Threats made to get Lew to stop participating in a coyote count only serve to motivate her to keep on searching for answers when the official investigation gets bogged down.

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Meet 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. Her first discount detective mystery, Survival Can Be Deadly, was a Foreward INDIES mystery finalist. Why me? Chimeras, Conundrums and Dead Goldfish made the semi-finals for the Chanticleer Murder and Mayhem contest. Bogged Down is the first in her Vashon Island series. Charlotte is the VP of the Puget Sound Sisters in Crime. Visit her website at charlottestuart.com.

All comments are welcomed.