Hi,
I’m Meg Gates, not that Gates, and I live on Bainbridge Island in Washington over my aunt’s garage. I was born here (on the island, not the garage), but escaped to go to college in Seattle. Then I left college to work at a startup where I met my fiancé, Romain. The startup failed, and Romain called me from the airport to dump me before taking my bridesmaid on our Italian honeymoon.
My mom, my aunt, my brother, his best friend – Dalton, and my best friend-Natasha, came to my rescue, moving me and my few possessions back home via the ferry boat of shame. It’s not a bad life here. I have my rescue Cocker Spaniel, Watson for company. And we can walk to most places. Mom lets me bring him to work with me at her bookstore. Aunt Melody got me what should be a sweet gig with author L.C. Astor who lives on the island in Summer House.
You know someone has money when their house has a name, right?
Anyway, I thought my job would be to sit and talk plots or look up exotic locations for her. Maybe even read her WIP when she’s stuck. But no. My first assignment was to find as many synonyms for a list of twenty-five words. At least she pays well.
Being a three-time loser has got me thinking about what I want to do in my life. I know I need to go back to school and finish the degree for anyone to take me seriously. But I’m not sure what major to choose.
Finally, the answer came to me. The only thing I was ever good at was solving mysteries. My friends used to call me Nancy Drew in middle and high school because if there was a mystery, I could solve it. I know, nerd alert. But it was fun and people paid me to find their missing dog and stuff. Enough money to send me to summer camp. I decided to write a book about how to be an amateur sleuth. A solving mysteries for dummies book. And my aunt, she used to be a literary agent, thinks that it might sell. If I ever finish. I have a less than stellar reputation of starting but not finishing, but those were things I didn’t want to do. I want to write this book.
I was just about to ask my uncle to let me follow him on a case and low and behold, a guy dies on the island. My author boss’s agent. He’s a scumbag, so I’m sure there’s a better suspect than the author who’s paying me so well for so little. At least I hope she’s not a killer since I’m counting on that money to get me through school.
I’d hate to fail at something else. Especially so soon after I returned the wedding gifts. At least my half. I bet that’s why Romain, back from my Italian vacation, keeps showing up on the island. He wants something. He’s just lucky he’s not the dead guy.
Just don’t tell my uncle I said that.
Meg
An Amateur Sleuth’s Guide to Murder – A Bainbridge Island Mystery, Book 1
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: June 2025
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase Link
New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon makes her hardcover debut with an irresistible new meta-mystery series about an amateur sleuth who doesn’t just solve crimes, she writes about how to do it . . .
TIP #1: WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU COUNTS AS WORK EXPERIENCE
Meg Gates could use a guidebook for life. Indeed, she’s faced some challenges. She dropped out of college to work for a tech startup that failed—and her fiancé just took her bridesmaid to Italy on what was supposed to be Meg’s honeymoon.
Now, at twenty-six, Meg has taken the ferry ride of shame from Seattle back to Bainbridge Island to live with her family. At least she has her rescue cocker spaniel, Watson, by her side. But it’s Meg who could use a rescue—and she’s hoping it will come in the form of a part-time gig doing research for a bestselling mystery writer.
TIP #2: WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW – OR WHAT YOU WANT TO KNOW
That’s when the lightbulb goes on: Meg will write her own guidebook—a manual on criminal investigation. But before she can impress her new boss with her pet project, the author’s manager is found dead on the rocks beneath the author’s Gothic mansion.
Now it’s time to put her guide to the test, as Meg sets out to clear her employer of suspicion and solve the crime. But there’s one important caveat she’ll have to add to her guide—
TIP #3: BEWARE OF UNKNOWN DANGERS
About the author
Anthony-award nominated, New York Times and USA Today best-selling author, Lynn Cahoon, pens several cozy mystery series including The Tourist Trap Mysteries, The Kitchen Witch Mysteries, Survivors’ Book Club Mysteries, The Farm to Fork Mysteries, The Cat Latimer Mysteries and the Bainbridge Island Mysteries. Readers can expect a fun ride no matter where the mystery is set. She lives in a small town in Eastern Tennessee like the towns she loves to write about with her husband and two spoiled Keeshonds. Find out more and sign up for her newsletter at www.lynncahoon.com.