I write cozy mysteries under the pen name Ella Reid. MURDER AND MUGWORT, the first novel in the Moon & Mugwort Apothecary Mystery series, was self-published in October 2025.

The charming coastal town of Baluster Bay, Oregon, is the perfect place for a cozy fall vacation, and the last place you’d be murdered in cold blood.
When intuitive herbalist Kat Callaghan finds a dead body on the floor of Moon & Mugwort Apothecary, she’s determined to protect her new life and business by not getting too involved.
But when a friend is wrongly accused of the murder, she can’t sit idly by while the sheriff and his surfer dude deputy miss the mark. And when a former flame walks out of her past and onto the case, dredging up the life she left behind, she has to work even harder to separate fact from fiction.
Relying on her gut as much as the clues, Kat’s quick-paced investigation is aided by her two closest girlfriends (journalist-turned-chef Nyomi Miller, and artistic sailor Jo Larsen) and her intrepid calico cat, Mr. Wentworth. But with fake identities, family secrets, and financial ruin amongst their neighbors, whom can they actually trust?