Meg Daniels first appeared in Killing Time in Ocean City and one of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions, so let’s get to know Meg.

What is your full name?
Marguerite Patricia Daniels. Named after my two grandmothers. Besides the priest at my christening, no one has ever called me anything but Meg. (Terms of endearment and epithets excluded.)

Age?
Heading toward forty.

Hometown?
I grew up in Philadelphia and moved to New York after college.

Where do you live now?
In an oceanfront bungalow on a warm and sunny island in the Bahamas. It’s hard to think about leaving, especially because whenever I visit the Jersey Shore I end up involved in some investigation.

Are you a professional investigator?
No, I am an amateur. Lately, I’ve been working on cold cases. I tend to see myself as a historian, or, at least, that is what I tell witnesses to get them to talk to me.

How do you support yourself?
For the last few years, I’ve been working as a celebrity concierge at a resort. I don’t see the position as a career job but it pays the bills and includes lot of perks. Hard to give it up.

Do you have a significant other?
I met Andy Beck when he suspected me of killing my boss. He was a PI at the time but now manages Security at the hotel where I work.

Any family?
My parents died when I was in my early twenties. I have a sister whom I sometimes visit on vacation. She now lives in London.

Who are your best friends?
I don’t get to see my old friends from Philadelphia and New York very often, but I have made new friends through my investigations. George and Claude run a B&B in Cape May. Xander Frost is a rock star.

Any pets?
I don’t even have a houseplant. My lifestyle would not allow me to be a good plant parent, let alone an animal mom. When we are at home for a prolonged period, Andy and I foster dogs and are available for pet-sitting.

Do you have any hobbies?
I like to sleep late, avoid exercising and look for missing people.

Favorite music?
When I am working on a case, I listen to the music the missing person would have heard and liked. Andy was very relieved when I moved on from “Johnny Angel” to the Beatles. And, of course, I like anything by Xander Frost. Well, almost anything.

Favorite food?
Any dish I do not have to cook myself.

Favorite place?
Near any body of water with waves.

If you were to write a memoir, what you would call it?
Episodes. I am in the latter half of my thirties and I don’t see a through-line in my life story. At least, not yet.

To what do you attribute your success as an amateur detective?
I have one of those faces, the kind strangers approach to ask directions. Lately, I’ve been looking into older crimes. I find that people like to talk. If I can locate witnesses after many years, they might accidentally reveal something or purposely clear their conscience. Some folks have been waiting for decades for someone to ask the question and are actually relieved to tell their story. The challenge is discovering what questions to ask.

What does a typical day look like when you are on a case?
I sleep as late as possible. A sleuth needs to be well-rested and alert to watch for clues. Besides, you never know when you’ll need to stay up late working.

I have a morning shot of caffeine from Coke or Pepsi.

If the date is between January 1 and 14th, I may go work out. By the fifteenth, I’ve probably abandoned any New Year’s resolutions and reverted to my old habit of moving directly to breakfast.

If I am in a hotel, I can eat there. Otherwise, if I am in New Jersey, I can always find a nearby diner.

After breakfast, my day begins. I never know where it will take me. A sleuth must be flexible. My favorite days are full of new places and new people.

What is next for you?
I wish I knew.

Greetings from Ventnor City is the fifth book in the “Meg Daniels” traditional mystery series, released January 14, 2020.

Newly engaged Meg Daniels stays behind at the Artistical Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City while her fiancé returns to work securing their employer’s Bahamian property from Hurricane Frieda. But she’s not alone for long. The talkative stranger with skinny white legs sticking out of wide Bermuda shorts turns out to be Xander Frost, rock idol and frequent Artistical guest, traveling incognito as part of his quest to learn how ordinary people live.

A woman recognizes Meg as the amateur sleuth who recently solved a mysterious disappearance from the 1960s, and asks for help in learning the fate of the sister she last knew as a 19-year-old who ran away from her Ventnor home in 1968. Xander persuades Meg to take the case, and the unlikely duo travel up and down the Jersey shore and beyond to interview the people who had known Sarah Johnson best. As they retrace her steps and Meg gets a taste of the rock star life they discover that there might be a sinister reason the trail has been cold for so long. Was she a rebellious teenager who got swept up in the counterculture and broke free of her restrictive family? Or did someone want her out of the way. . . permanently?

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About the author
Jane Kelly is a native of Philadelphia, close to the Jersey Shore settings of the Meg Daniels mysteries available from Plexus Publishing. She earned an MS in Information Studies from Drexel University and returned to school as an extremely mature student for an MPhil in Popular Literature from Trinity College, University of Dublin. She is the immediate past-president of the Delaware Valley chapter of Sisters in Crime and serves on the board of the New York Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. Jane is also the author of the Widow Lady Mysteries and the Writing in Time Mysteries available for Kindle only.

All comments are welcomed.