The hurricane barreling up the East Coast wouldn’t bother me in the least, except for the fact that I’m staying on a friend’s vintage sailboat docked at the East End Yacht Club and there is an evacuation order for Montauk. The reason I’m living on a sailboat in the Hamptons with my curmudgeonly adorable cat, Jo, is that I’m waiting on zoning approval for my new oceanfront cottage. Jo’s not a fan of staying on a boat moored at the yacht club, maybe because she can’t partake in the Top Chef worthy gourmet meals and daily massages.

If I’m honest, the Malabar X’s owner, Cole Spenser, is more than a friend. Yes. Definitely, more. But between Cole’s schedule and mine, we haven’t spent much time together. He’s been sailing his antique boats, I mean “yachts,” as I was told to call them, to far off ports, accompanied by his three-legged dog, Tripod, while I work on decorating the author suites at the Victorian Bibliophile Bed & Breakfast in Sag Harbor. Each room is filled with antiques and vintage items that coincide with the time the authors were alive. I think rare book collector and owner of the inn, Franklin Hollingsworth, is going to be very pleased when he sees what I’ve done in the Edgar Allan Poe suite. That’s if he has time to check it out, because he’s been so busy coordinating the first annual Sag Harbor Book and Ephemera Fair, not to mention, the kick-off Gatsby-esque cocktail party where he’ll read from his recently acquired The Heiress and the Light unpublished manuscript written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The book takes place at my favorite spot on earth, the Montauk Point Lighthouse, and I can’t wait until it’s published.

Back to the issue of here-again, gone-again, Cole. Perhaps, due to Cole’s lack of commitment, I’m also spending time with Byron Hughes, Hamptons’ Landscape Architect extraordinaire. Do I feel guilty, I am staying on Cole’s yacht, while occasionally dating Byron? You betcha, but that doesn’t stop me from having feelings for both men. I’m only human and they both have a lot to offer. I’ve promised myself I will choose one guy or the other by Labor Day. I just hope whomever I pick, picks me back.

Jo’s in her crate and the waves are starting to get rough. It’s time to hit the road and make the trek to Sag Harbor, it’s only thirty miles away, but I’m sure it will take us hours to get there because of the evacuation. Brenna Hollingsworth, Franklin’s niece, has kindly offered Jo and I shelter from the storm. Pets aren’t usually allowed at the inn, so I’m hoping Jo behaves herself in the attic space, soon to be the Emily Dickinson loft. Jo has a penchant for getting in trouble—kind of like her owner. . .

You can read more about Meg in Ghostal Living, the third book in the “Hamptons Home and Garden” mystery series.

In the latest mystery from the author of Better Homes and Corpses and Hearse and Gardens, Hamptons interior designer and antiques picker Meg Barrett uncovers a veil of spooky goings-on. . .

The first Sag Harbor Antiquarian Book and Ephemera Fair is right around the corner, and interior designer Meg Barrett has her hands full decorating rooms at the Bibliophile Bed & Breakfast for wealthy rare book collector Franklin Hollingsworth. Rumor has it Hollingsworth is in possession of an unpublished manuscript written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. When the Fitzgerald manuscript’s authenticator is found dead at the bottom of a cliff, Meg suspects a killer is on the loose.

Rare books start disappearing from the B & B and Meg sees a connection between the stolen books and the deceased authenticator. With the fair looming, she finds herself caught up in catching a killer and thief before another victim is booked for death.

Includes Recipes And Decorating Tips

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About the author
Kathleen Bridge, National bestselling author of the Hamptons Home and Garden Mysteries Hearse and Gardens and Better Homes and Corpses, started her writing career working at the Michigan State University News in East Lansing, Michigan. She is the author and photographer of an antiques reference guide, Lithographed Paper Toys, Books, and Games. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America, and has taught creative writing classes at Bryant Library in Roslyn, New York. Kathleen is also an antiques and vintage dealer and has contributed to Country Living magazine.

Connect with Kathleen at www.kathleenbridge.com, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram and on her Amazon author page.

All comments are welcomed.

Ghostal Living is available at retail and online booksellers or you can ask your local library to get it for you.