Hi. I’m Mason Garrett. Detective Mason Garrett to people who run into me professionally.
I don’t usually do this kind of thing—write about myself—but Ditie asked me to. (That’s Ditie, long i, as in Aphrodite for Mabel Aphrodite Brown. I think it’s the perfect name for her).
Since Ditie is finally my wife, I could hardly refuse her request.
I’m an Atlanta homicide detective, and I try to keep a low profile—for obvious reasons. When you’re investigating a crime, especially murder, it’s better if people don’t recognize you immediately.
The idea of keeping a low profile flew out the window in the story I’m going to tell you about—thanks in part to Lurleen. Lurleen is Ditie’s best friend and she likes nothing better than an unsolved murder to investigate. According to Lurleen, “you have to give information to get information.’’ That meant she told a lot of folks who I was.
I was on vacation—at least that’s what I thought—when the trouble started. I was about to get married to the woman I loved in a place she adored—on the warm sands on the Gulf of Mexico.
Lurleen had gone down early to Cape Azul on the “forgotten coast of Florida” to get everything ready for our small wedding. That included preparing two rental houses right on the beach for us and for our guests. You can see the larger house on the cover for the book. Ten bedrooms and a covered veranda we could use for the wedding if it rained that day.
It didn’t rain, and it was a beautiful ceremony if I do say so myself. Any wedding to Ditie would have been beautiful, but honestly this was beyond expectations. Her kids, now adopted legally, stood beside us—Lucie, almost twelve and Jason, eight. Friends and family gathered close by.
I’d met Ditie a few years earlier when I had to tell her that her childhood friend Ellie, the mother of Lucie and Jason, had been murdered. Ditie handled the devastating crisis the way she handled life—without flinching. She seemed to know what to do for the kids. Maybe she learned that as a pediatrician, but I think it’s more likely she knew it instinctively.
When did I fall in love with her? Maybe when I saw how great she was with the kids, how smart she was about keeping them safe, how kind she was to me. It didn’t take long.
What took a lot longer was getting Ditie to say yes to marrying me. Not because she didn’t love me—that I never doubted—but because she looked out for what would be best for the kids.
The wedding was worth waiting for.
As I said it was wonderful, not a cloud in the sky.
The storm clouds came later with a downpour of unexpected disasters that almost upended our honeymoon.
All I wanted was a honeymoon without a murder investigation. That was my daily work, and I didn’t want a busman’s holiday. I’ve always known you can’t control everything, but that doesn’t mean I like it when things go awry—particularly if they might put people I love at risk.
The problem started when one of the owners of our rented houses disappeared. It got worse when his boat was found empty and adrift at sea. Then his body turned up steps from our house. I was still hoping it was an accident, but no—it was murder. We were in the thick of things whether we liked it or not.
Lurleen, of course, loved it— a murder investigation to her felt like a large serving of dessert after a terrific entree of one perfect wedding. Her boyfriend, Danny, didn’t mind either—he was a private investigator, always happy to take on new work.
I was the one who minded. Ditie sent the kids home with a friend to keep them safe, and she even agreed to drop all interest in the case if that’s what I wanted.
But by then I wasn’t sure I wanted that. I hated to see a case mishandled and I didn’t like the idea of a murderer going free.
If you’re interested, you can see how it all turned out in Sarah Osborne’s latest cozy mystery, Wedded to Trouble.
Wedded to Trouble, A Ditie Brown Mystery #5
Genre: Cozy
Release: September 2022
Purchase Link
Her wedding is in the works!
Pediatrician Mabel Aphrodite (Ditie) Brown has imagined this day since the first time Detective Mason Garrett kissed her. Her family will now be complete with her newly-adopted children, Lucie and Jason, and her soon-to-be husband, Mason, beside her. They will wed in the place she calls heaven—on the warm sands of Cape Azul bordering the Gulf of Mexico.
Lurleen, her best friend, will see to everything, so what can possibly go wrong?
The wedding happens on a glorious sunny day, but storm clouds arrive soon after. First, the owner of their rental house disappears. Two days later his body washes ashore not far from where they are staying.
Ditie isn’t one to leave a job half-done in her cooking, her care of her patients—or in this case an unsolved murder. But she will never put her children at risk or disappoint her new husband who only wants a quiet honeymoon on the beach.
About the author
Sarah Osborne is the pen name for a physician and writer living on Cape Cod. She grew up in northern California, went to school in Ohio and lived for many years in Atlanta before moving to the Cape. She writes cozy mysteries for the same reason she reads them—to find comfort in an often troubling world.
GIVEAWAY: Sarah has generously offered to give away one signed paperback of Wedded to Trouble. To enter, please leave a comment below and tell us about a wedding adventure. One entry per person and the giveaway is limited to U.S. residents only. Giveaway ends September 18, 2022. Good luck everyone!
All comments are welcomed.
When we attended my nephew’s wedding, we were surprised to see our niece officiating the wedding. She had applied for a license to perform the ceremony per our nephew’s request.
This has become such a popular idea–I have relatives who have perfomed half a dozen marriages for their friends.
We went to a wedding of my mother-in-laws co-worker. While at the reception, the bride got kinda drunk and was fawning over one of the guests who was also a doctor at the hospital she worked for and was madly in love with. The marriage did not last long after that.
This is a sad tale!
I ever remember stories or maybe I just don’t notice things. Maybe I’m just too normal. I just want to say I enjoy your series very much.
Thank you, Sue! Maybe it’s great you don’t have a wedding story to tell after the previous story.
I am a clergywoman so I could tell a couple hundred ‘gone-wrongs,’ but so many were sad (great-aunt dying in the narthex, natural causes), some too common (pulling my own rings off my hands because someone forgot to bring them, groomsmen passing out in the sun, etc), but the one that pops this morning is when the caterer lost his balance and sat on the cake and the wedding planner wanted to tell the bride when she was already lined up and on her father’s arm. Wedding planners are strong but clergy who work out at the gym can be stronger. She left to find a cake — any cake.
LOL! Great stories. Yes, I suspect clergy know when to drive home a point and when to let it rest (with another cake)
I got married at Snoqualmie Falls outside Seattle. Beautiful setting but what were the odds there would be no rain? It held off until right at the end of the ceremony; then the heavens opened up. However, one of our cutest wedding pictures shows us laughing under umbrellas, dashing for cover.
I love this story. Every wedding I know about has a mishap, and this one produced spontaneous, enduring memories.
My parents would tell the story of theirs and everything that could happen did. Found out a week before no one told the church ladies about doing a wedding reception, so grandma was throwing something together at the house last minute. Night before mom came out of dinner with dad’s parents to find a flat tire. Dad’s aunt was admitted to the hospital a a couple weeks before (cancer kicking her butt) and not allowed out for the wedding, morning of the wedding dad’s uncle had a heart attack at the breakfast table. And when they arrived at the church there was a casket in front. Luckily the funeral home guy saw all the cars and got the body moved downstairs so it wasn’t in the pictures.
Oh my goodness. I don’t think anyone an top that or would want to. Sounds as if they made it through OK. All the troubles in Wedded to Trouble happen after the even and not before.
Congratulations on the new book! I really can’t think of any wedding adventures. Maybe I’ve been too focused on the cake to notice.
Thanks. If you mean eating the cake, I’m with you!
The only thing that happened at my wedding is I was nervous and laughed through the whole ceremony.
I hope people appreciated your approach (not that it was under your control). Like you, when I get really nervous, I smile–often at the worst times.
I went to Australia to attend my nephew’s wedding. I had a lovely time with the family.
Hi Rita, I’d love to hear more about this and the ways an Austrailian wedding might differ from one in the US.
A wedding of a close family member was a complete surprise because the father who was unreliable had cancelled and the in-laws ended up footing the entire bill.
Whoa–I bet that made for some difficult times–although it sounds as if the in-laws came through.
I don’t have any wedding adventure to tell. It sounds like a really interesting book.
Thanks, Diana. If you like weddings or the beach or cozies, then I think (and hope) you’ll enjoy it.
The last wedding I went to was in downtown Chicago. Everything was first class, it was a beautiful day and having drinks before the reception on the rooftop and pizza before leaving made it a perfect day.
I wish I’d been there–sounds lovely.
The ring bearer in my wedding started to “dance” around as if he had to go to the bathroom! This was during the ceremony!
Ha ha–I hope he was under five, and I hope he managed to give you the rings!
When I got married in North Dakota in January it was 40 below zero with a wind chill factor of 70 below. As we formed the reception line, my new husband turned to my mother and said, “I always said it would be a cold day in hell when I got married, and it is!” He is now my ex.
**** WINNER ****
Wedded to Trouble is Anita Yancey
Congratulations!