I like the characters and the recipes but I had a really hard time getting into the story maybe just not for me

I am hooked on this series! This is a fun, compelling mystery with a wonderful cast of eccentric characters. The mystery was phenomenal, and I was captivated throughout the entire book.

Evil by the sea put me in a mood for a trip! A great cozy mystery by the sea what can go wrong?? I didn't see the end coming and loved the characters! Definitely recommend this book! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

It was the 1st book in this series I’d read. It was a good book. Good plot and played out well. Well written and interesting to read

Evil by the Sea by Kathleen Bridge is the fourth book in the By The Sea mystery series.

This book was such a fun, lighthearted read. I love how it takes place in Melbourne Beach, Florida.

In Evil by the Sea, Liz 's great-aunt Amelia is hosting an old friend and psychic, Dorian, at the Indialantic for Dorian's wedding. Dorian's husband-to-be, Julian, is an unsavory character who ends up being poisoned at the rehearsal dinner.

All of the main characters are extremely likable - Liz, Aunt Amelia, and Ryan. I love Aunt Amelia's stories about acting in the old days. I like how solid Liz and Ryan are in their relationship and how seamlessly they work together to try to solve the case.

However, many of the secondary characters are an unlikeable bunch, including Julian, Wren, and Dorian's children.

It was fun to read about the Mystical Mermaid festival and mermaid folklore woven throughout the book.

I thought the killer was pretty straightforward, but the path to the reveal was entertaining.

If you haven't read any in the series before, it is easy to get caught up. It is a great read for the summer.

I received this book as an advanced copy from the publisher through NetGalley, but all opinions are my own.

Fun beach setting. Interesting characters and intriguing mystery. It's book 4 in the By the Sea Mystery series. I haven't read the books in the series, but I was able to follow along without any problems. I very much recommend.

Thank you to thepublisher, Kensington/Lyrical Press, and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor.

Evil by the Sea by Kathleen Bridge is the fourth book in the By The Sea Mystery series. Liz is all set to help her great aunt host the first event at the hotel - a wedding for a medium and a white warlock. The bride is a good friend to Liz's great aunt. The groom seems to be a controlling person that no one really likes. When he dies at the rehearsal dinner, no one is certain if the groom or the bride was the intended victim. As the bodies pile up, Liz realizes she may be too close to the truth for her own safety. This is a great series as I love the setting and the quirky characters. While this book can be read on its own, it is best read after the other books to get the full effect.

Evil by the Sea, the fourth in the By the Sea Mystery series, is a great addition to this series that is fun to read with the coastal setting on the barrier island of Melbourne Beach on the Atlantic coast side of Florida. Author Liz Holt grew up living the at Indialantic by the Sea, a closed old resort owned by her great-aunt Amelia Holt, former television and commercial star from the mid 20th century. She moved back to the resort a year ago after living in Manhattan. Amelia is just one of the interesting and colorful characters who live in the old resort on the beach. Amelia's close friend and famous psychic, Dorian Starwood, is engaged to a much younger man, Julian Rhodes, a white warlock/witch and the wedding is to take place at the resort. But the wedding didn't take place because the groom was poisoned by someone. There is a pool of possible suspects, including Dorian's two adult children, her accountant, Julian's "cousin," and others. Liz and her PI boyfriend work together with her attorney dad and his Sheriff Detective fiancee' to find who could be the killer. With the setting and great characters, including Amelia's Macaw, BB, this is a fun story to read, especially for a beach read.
I received a complimentary ARC from Kensington Books through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine only.

Evil by the Sea earns 5/5 Mermaid Tails...Engaging Fun!

I am a fan of Kathleen Bridge’s A By the Sea Mystery series, and book four with its mermaid legends, solstice celebration, and Wicca wedding was way too fascinating to pass up. Newbies can start her, but do ready the rest of the series to see how characters have evolved and predicaments are solved. Liz and the staff at the Indialantic by the Sea Hotel and Emporium are all excited and very busy with the annual Mystical Merfest approaching and Aunt Amelia’s long-time friend Dorian Starwood’s Wicca wedding. Mermaid folklore makes it the perfect theme for wearing costumes and reveling. Dory is a very famous, and wealthy, psychic who is set to marry the much younger Julian Rhodes, a white warlock and Wiccan leader of the Sunshine Wicca Society. They met only a few months ago, and his preference for a small, intimate ceremony isn’t quite what Dorian wanted. But her vision, or dream, has her more anxious than the proverbial “pre-wedding jitters.” It’s the least of everyone’s worries with the appearance of an uninvited guest, a dark figure skulking around the property, Dorian’s son and daughter far from best friends, and then...at the rehearsal dinner cruise, the groom ends up dead!

The drama is well-written in a third-person narrative filled with descriptive language creating marvelous images and entangled in secrets, family issue, greed, and several business issues. Although the murder mystery occurs later than I prefer, it was excellent fun to try and weed through all the suspects...with an ultimate surprise ending! It’s the characters about whom I look forward reading. Liz is great, bruised a bit from her past, but she’s strong, clever, and a realistic lead. Family is fun, (I love Aunt Amelia). The “fur” and “feather” friends play prominent roles, too, whether to assist, rescue, or just mess things up; they are lots of fun, especially Barnacle Bob! Great tale with a karmic twist! Bonus! Kathleen Bridge provides a delicious bonus with three easy-to-follow recipes. It’s exciting that the recipes aren't random, but actually connected to Sam’s Island Eats Food Truck: Savory Grilled Cheese, Chicken Sandwich, and Apple Pie Fries.

It's always great to be back to Indialantic hotel and meet again the cast of quirky characters.
This was a gripping and highly entertaining read, full of twists and turns.
The plot is complex and well told, the characters are as interesting as usual, the mystery is solid and kept me guessing.
I strongly recommend it.
Many thanks to Kensington Books and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Who wouldn't like to attend a Mermaid Festival, or better yet, a wedding at the Indiatlantic Hotel during the Mermaid Festival. Novelist Liz Holt's Great-Aunt Amelia is all ready to give her tarot card reading, ferret loving, well to do friend Dorian a wedding to remember. It will surely be one for the books as Dorian is set to marry a Wiccan man whom she has only known for 6 months. HMMM you say? I agree, there is bit more going on than just a May-September romance. Dorian's adult children are not to keen on the idea, although her son did introduce the lovebirds. Dorian's long time financial advizor is aslo a bit scepticle as well. One this that stands out the Liz is that white warlock Julian Rhodes is not very nice and seems down right rude. Which is probably why he ends up dead. So many people to suspect and all Liz wants to do is help poor Dorian, long time family friend and bestie to Aunt Amelia.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Liz, best selling author, is doing well settling back into island life at her family’s Indialantic hotel after her harrowing and high publicized life threatening attack. She is surrounded by people who love her but this idyllic scene is once again disturbed by murder.
This time it is the groom to be of a long time family friend who happens to be a psychic. The pre-wedding luncheon is where the white witch groom meets his maker. With the multi-decade difference in ages, there are members of both sides of the bridal party who have reasons for not wanting the marriage to take place. Who had the motive and means and the knowledge to carry out this complicated and deadly scheme?
As the story evolves, it is not what the reader suspects in the beginning and the motives turn out to be highly complex and decidedly twisted. There was this aha moment close to the end when the connection becomes clear but it was unexpected until then. I loved it.
Five purrs and two paws up.

Lee lives in a quaint coastal town, surrounded by her eccentric family and quirky friends, centered on her family's historic hotel. It's the perfect setting for the wedding of a professional medium and a Wiccan warlord. The plans for the wedding, which takes place during a special mermaid-themed festival, are excitingly special.
But as the big day approaches, Lee becomes less comfortable and more fearful. It seems as though secrets from the past may threaten the future.
The story is filled with brisk action and intrigue, There are a lot of threads, lots of intriguing details, and plenty of local color. The series continues to develop the community of continuing characters.

Liz Holt, a writer, is living in Melbourne Beach Florida at the family run hotel. Her Aunt Amelia is here at the Indialantic Hotel. Liz loves her. When her Aunt's psychic,Dorian Starwood, and her Wiccan fiancée decided to hold their nuptials at the hotel, Aunt Amelia is thrilled. It will be a very special event. However, plans change when the groom-to-be is murdered. The police are at the hotel investigating the crime. Liz wants to help her Aunt so she and her PI boyfriend start looking into Julian's murder. Did someone want the white warlock dead or were they trying to kill Dorian? All the suspects were at the hotel. Liz knows that she can help by questioning those people with motives. Ryan is there to assist and keep Liz safe. I liked all the characters especially Aunt Amelia. Her stories about being a character actress in 1960s television kept me entertained. I remember the shows she mentioned which brought back happy memories, but the mystery kept me reading. The twists were plentiful and so were the suspects. I didn't know until the very end who committed the crime. Kathleen Bridge has a fast paced and exciting writing style that I enjoyed. The setting was beautiful, the hotel enchanting and the mystery puzzling. I couldn't ask for more.
I received a copy of this book which I voluntarily read and reviewed. My comments are my honest opinion.

Liz Holt is a novelist and amateur sleuth who works at her family's hotel and emporium. In this book, a Wiccan wedding is planned at the Indialantic by the Sea. The rehearsal dinner starts off with an unwelcome relative, the groom reporting allergies and some uncomfortable comments to the bride. Unfortunately or fortunately depending upon what you think about the groom, he dies at the rehearsal dinner. Liz investigates to find the killer.

I recommend reading this series in order, because there are a number of characters, and their relationships progress through the series. Each mystery starts and ends in each book, so they can be read as standalone books. Liz is a smart lady who works with her boyfriend, a private investigator to solve the murder. Other friends help out along the way. I enjoy the regulars in this story, some of them quite quirky and eccentric. Each book has additional characters who are involved in the mystery. This was a quickly paced story, with several suspects. There were a few twists and turns that lead to a dramatic reveal and conclusion. There is some humour in this story such as the Mermaid Parade and I love the references to old television show that Aunt Amelia played in, especially Dark Shadows, one that I used to watch afterschool each day. Overall an entertaining cozy that is a quick read with an interesting mystery.

My first read by this author. I really enjoyed it and found it a fun read. I also liked the characters. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

This is such a fun read and series. With a cast of quirky characters it's hard not to love the book. A psychic, a mermaid parade, a Wiccan wedding, and murder. How much more fun can you ask for?!

At a small barrier island in Florida, Liz and her great-aunt, and an assortment of miscellaneous characters live. This weekend is a psychic-wiccan wedding and a mermaid festival. As you can see life isn’t dull. The bride and groom seem to have issues. When there’s a murder at the rehearsal dinner, everyone is busy trying to find the killer.

This is the second book I’ve read in this series. I enjoy the characters and love the setting.

What can be more fun than to escape to the Indialantic Hotel on Melbourne Beach, Florida and spend time with Liz and her great aunt Amelia plus a wonderful cast of hotel residents and locals. Just what I needed in these trying times. Liz is working hard to make the Mermaid Parade and festival a roaring success and one of her great aunt Amelia's long time friends is going to have her wedding there. Sounds normal but, in the world of the Indialantic Hotel, normal takes a back seat. The bride is a psychic senior citizen who is going to marry a white warlock, leader of the Sunshine Wiccan Society. Oh and he's twenty-five years her junior. What could possibly go wrong? Plenty. The list of people who have a beef with him is longer than Barnacle Bob's tail feathers. (I love that Macaw) The soon to be dead groom is hiding something - he's insistent on having a very small wedding, that only a tiny group join them for their night before the wedding boat cruise and even his bride is being controlled. There is something fishy going on and it comes as no surprise that he dies at dinner.
There are a lot of characters but it's not hard to keep them straight. The puzzle is wonderfully intricate with twists and turns and blind alleys to stumble down in the readers quest to figure out who dunnit. It did take the first 25% of the book to get to the killing but there was a lot to set up and I was fine with that.
This is the fourth book in the series and I would say it can be read as a stand alone but a new reader would get much more out of the connections between the characters if they start with the first book. I already have a spot on my TBR list for book #5.
My thanks to the publisher Lyrical Press and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

"Evil By The Sea” the 4th instalment in the (A by the Sea Mysteries Series) by Kathleen Bridge. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and plan on reading the complete series. Even though it can be read as a standalone I do recommend reading in order.

Even though this is the first book I have read in the series I was able to follow along easily and having the character list in the beginning really helped. I really enjoyed it and practically read in one sitting and have since purchased the other books in the series.

The protagonist Liz is really likeable and the rest of the eccentric family characters at the Indialantic were fun, plus I loved all the fur babies. The barrier island of Melbourne Beach, Florida and the Indialantic seemed fun and an interesting place to visit or even live.

There are plenty of twists and turns in this story, and I kept guessing and second-guessing myself on whodunnit right to the very end. The story moves at a steady pace, and I had a hard time putting it down.

I recommend this book to all my cozy lover friends, and fans of Kathleen Bridge’s A Hamptons Home & Garden Mystery series.

I requested and received an advance reader copy of this book from Lyrical Press and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.