Occupation: Estate Sale Maven by Trade, Amateur Sleuth by Accident

You can tell a lot about a person based on the contents of their medicine cabinet.

I’m not talking about snooping on someone while using their bathroom at a dinner party. It’s part of my job. My name is Emma Stewart, and I’m an estate sale organizer.

I didn’t start out as an organizer. Before it became my career, I was a shopper. I’d see a sign on the corner in a residential area announcing, “Estate Sale Today!” and I’d make that turn faster than you could say “half-price Sunday.” It wasn’t just about shopping, though. Often, I didn’t buy a thing. I’ll admit it—I was snooping.

I’ve been inside some eye-popping homes in the exclusive beachfront communities of Costa Verde, Florida, but the real story lives in the things people leave behind. Like a flashback montage, you see the souvenirs they bought on vacations, the books they read, and the music they listened to. You can tell if they fancied themselves a gourmet chef based on the number of small kitchen appliances and gadgets, spattered cookbooks, and twelve-place dinnerware. It’s a person’s entire life, laid out and priced to sell.

Before I turned my hobby into my vocation, I used to be a cubicle-dwelling tech worker. I put those days behind me when my best friend, Laura Benton, came up with the idea to start a venture together. Our business is called “Estate Liquidations by Laura and Emma,” or “Emma and Laura’s Liquidation of Estates,” depending on which of us you ask. For the sake of simplicity (and harmony), we call it ELLE.

Since then, my days look quite different. I’m an introvert and a nerd, so all the technical tasks fall to me. While we’re preparing for a sale, I spend the day photographing and uploading everything to an online estate sale listing service. When it’s time to set up, Laura arranges everything in an aesthetically pleasing manner. She has an eye for that sort of thing (as she’ll be the first to tell you). But first, we have to empty every cabinet, drawer, and, yes, medicine cabinet.

Sometimes, in the process, we uncover a mystery. Recently, we found a knife block in the home of a murder victim—minus one knife. You never know what you’ll come across when it’s your job to sort through people’s belongings, and some of those people happen to be dead.

DYING TO LIVE HERE
Series Name: An Estate Sales Mystery, Book 1
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: February 2026
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

When tech burnout Emma Stewart follows her best friend’s advice to view a quaint beachside home in Harbor Shores, Florida, she expects palm trees, sea breezes, and maybe a fresh start. What she doesn’t expect is to stumble into a murder scene—and become a prime suspect.

With the HOA president lying in a pool of blood and her bestie splattered with the evidence, Emma suddenly finds herself knee-deep in neighborhood secrets, rivalries, and a suspiciously missing knife. Armed with nothing but her dry wit, a talent for digital sleuthing, and an adorable bulldog named Hopper, Emma must navigate a world of nosy neighbors, passive-aggressive happy hours, and one dangerously charming lawyer.

In Harbor Shores, the homes are charming—but the secrets are deadly.

Meet the author
Shelley Marsh is an author whose upbeat, character-driven mysteries celebrate the eccentric charm of Florida’s First Coast. Her upcoming debut, DYING TO LIVE HERE (Fawkes Press, Feb 10 2026), launches the Estate Sale Mysteries starring Emma Stewart, a former tech worker turned estate-sale sleuth whose knack for unearthing heirlooms (and clues) keeps neighbors and readers guessing. Shelley spends her time “researching” at estate sales, combing beaches, and bookstores for seashells and story sparks. She is the current vice-president of the Northeast Florida chapter of Sisters in Crime. Sneak peeks and reader bonuses live at ShelleyMarsh.com and @A1ABeachwriter.