Felicity Koerber’s bean to bar chocolate shop on Galveston’s historic Strand is hosting the friends and family coming into town for her best friend Autumn’s wedding. As matron of honor, Felicity has a ton of tasks to complete – including making chocolates for the gift bags. She doesn’t have time to solve another murder. But when one of the bridesmaids becomes a prime suspect in the death of a visiting real estate agent, Felicity has to put her detecting skills to use again to keep the wedding plans from getting derailed.

She’s already nervous about the impending deadline she’s given herself to finally choose between her two love interests – and figuring out where life goes once she makes her choice. But add in a missing Pygmy goat and a new coffee shop that wants to partner with her, and she’s frazzled.

She begins to discover that not everything is as it seems among the wedding guests. Can she handle the wedding preparations, pull off turning her shop into a concert venue, and unmask the killer before anyone else dies?

Top Ten Signs Your Best Friend Is an Amateur Sleuth

by Amber Royer

One of my favorite characters from my Bean to Bar Mysteries is Autumn Ellis, Felicity’s best friend.  In Something Borrowed, Something 90% Dark, Felicity is juggling her duties as matron of honor for Autumn’s wedding with solving a murder where one of the bridesmaids is a prime suspect.  It can be hard on a person when their best friend takes up sleuthing.  Autumn has been handling it well, in part because she’s a mystery writer, so she was adept on picking up on some of the signs, way back in the first book when they shared in an adventure together.

So here are the top ten signs YOU might have fallen into a scenario where your best friend has become an amateur sleuth:

1. Your friend starts asking seemingly random questions about your whereabouts at specific times on specific days. This is one to really watch out for, because it means your friend might suspect you of having something to do with the murder, and is just too tactful to right out ask.  Of course, I mean, your friendship is important to her, and she doesn’t want to ruin it in the likelihood that you are actually innocent.

2.Your friend takes up a new puzzle related hobby, such as crosswords or sudoku. Now, this one could be totally innocent.  After all, puzzles are known for helping the mind stay sharp, delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s, and providing a sense of accomplishment.  There are even competitions for puzzlers, if your friend is on the competitive side.  BUT – amateur sleuths have been known to search for clues inside codes and cyphers.  Your friend could be actively on a case – or just solving puzzles for practice.

3. Your friend starts going off on secretive errands. I know.  There are a ton of reasons your friend might have errands to run that don’t include you.  Some of them are bad, some are annoying, and some might even mean you’ve misjudged the status of your friendship.  But before you decide that your bff is out at happy hour with new, more interesting friends and that you need to change her name on your phone to Ghosty McGhostFace, consider – could she have become an amateur sleuth?  Maybe she’s afraid to tell you that she’s going to go break into a suspect’s house on the same night you were scheduled to go shoe shopping, because she’s afraid you wouldn’t approve.

4. Your friend finds a new love interest, and this person has something to do with law enforcement or some vague form of protective or security services. Remember, be happy for your friend.  Her love life is finally coming together.  But consider where she might have met her new love.  Could it have been because she accidentally got involved in a murder case, and now she’s interested in the lead detective?  This doesn’t necessarily mean she’s going to feel a need to solve the case herself – but it certainly does increase the probability.

5. Your friend just moved back into town after years away, and claims to be looking for a “fresh start.” I don’t know why, but people who are at a crossroads in life are especially susceptible to being drawn into solving a crime.  Maybe it’s because moving back home gives your friend a reason to interact with a whole set of new people, while at the same time trying to figure out where she fits in the social order.  She may be paying more attention to details.  She may also feel that she has something to prove, especially if she comes up against a cop or other person involved in the case who is a former rival.

6. Your friend randomly decided to start a cooking or crafting business, a quaint shop, or a blog. Now, I’m not talking about someone who has trained for years to become a Michelin star chef.  Though that person certainly could still become an amateur detective.  But if your friend has decided to chuck a corporate career to start selling cookies on Instagram, or to blog about dilapidated homes in your atmospherically gothic seaside town, chances are she’s trying to free up time for something.  And that something might just be sleuthing.

7. Your friend’s social media posts start getting cryptic. It’s possible that your friend is just going through something.  (In which case, you should ask her what’s going on and then be there for her even if it is boring or weird, since that’s what good friends do.)  But – it is possible that your friend is trying to lure out a killer, using herself and what she’s saying on social media as bait.  She could even be trying to get the killer to follow her somewhere.  This should be highly discouraged.  As a good friend, you may be able to reason with her.

8. Your friend randomly starts carrying an improvised weapon, such as a wrench she generally uses for house flipping, or an umbrella with an exceptionally sharp tip. This can be subtle, but it may be a sign that your friend is in way over her head.  After all, most amateur sleuths have no training in self-defense and it’s obvious at this point that she’s worried about confronting the killer, or that the killer will realize she’s investigating him.  This may be the time for a discreet intervention, though most amateur sleuths are so caught up in the case that they won’t listen.

9. Your friend asks you to go on mysterious errands with her. Congratulations!  You’ve been upgraded to sidekick status.  Statistically, this is the safest place to be, especially if you are plucky and prone to banter.  Contrary to all logical reason, most murderers won’t even notice a sleuth’s sidekick digging through garbage or peeking in windows.

10. Your friend winds up on the news. This likely means that your friend has unmasked a killer, and is clearly admitting to the world that she is an amateur sleuth.  No more wondering what’s going on with your friend, or being dragged on mysterious errands.  Now’s the time to make her promise that she won’t get involved in another case.  Though you both know she probably will.