Melissa Ferguson’s New Rom-Com Takes Cues from Clue — Read an Excerpt! (Exclusive)

What do you get when you combine romance and a cozy mystery? The clues are adding up in Melissa Ferguson’s upcoming rom-com-meets-whodunit novel, Without a Clue. 

“Without a Clue was inspired, in large part, by my own reading habits as I was finishing up my last published romantic comedy —The Perfect Rom-Com — about another aspiring writer,” Ferguson exclusively tells PEOPLE. “At the time, I was so thoroughly enjoying reading mysteries, but the trouble was that it was hard to find a full-blown rom-com full of laughter and butterflies — with a smattering of mystery — that kept the pages turning while also keeping the overall emotions light.” 

When she tried to find a novel that fit the bill, Ferguson found herself coming up short. “So, I decided the best way to dive into the world I wanted was just to create it myself,” she adds.

Ferguson pulled from several famous mystery tropes to help craft her latest romance story. 

“I thought it would be tremendously fun to throw a Clue-like mix of stereotyped famous writers of various genres on a boat together, and out of that, ‘Would it be funny if…?’ thought came the pages of Without a Clue,” she explains. “I do so hope people have as much fun reading this cheery, romantic comedy mystery as much as I did writing it.”

The cover, which PEOPLE can exclusively reveal, features the two main characters — Pip and Nash searching the high seas for a murderer as six other mysterious authors wait in the shadows. 

Without a Clue follows Penelope Mae Dupont (a.k.a. Pip), the personal assistant to “renowned mystery author” Hugh Griffin. 

“But when Pip organizes a luxury book cruise featuring The Fabulous Seven — a glittering cast of seven bestselling authors known for both their brilliance and their drama — her trademark composure starts slipping,” the synopsis reads. “One boat. Seven egos. Hundreds of fans. What could possibly go wrong? Well … murder, for starters.”

After Hugh is found dead, Pip decides she has to be the one to solve the case. 

“And so, with her friend and ally Nash, the dreamy Western author who’s just as rugged as the cowboys he writes about, she puts her amateur sleuthing skills to the test,” the synopsis continues. “As Pip and Nash navigate an ocean of secrets, shocking twists and one too many red herrings, she’ll have to decide whether she’s meant to stay behind the scenes — or finally step into the spotlight … and maybe, just maybe, find love along the way.”

Ferguson, who is the bestselling author of hits like The Perfect Rom-Com, How to Plot a Payback, Meet Me in the Margins and Famous for a Living, bends genres in this “rom cozy” new book, complete with a cowboy-adjacent leading man. 

Read on for an exclusive excerpt from Without a Clue. 

“I have reason to believe someone is trying to murder me. And it’s one of The Seven.”

I pause from reaching into my pocket for my phone. Squint at him.

“Hugh,” I say again. “Come on. What’s this really about?”

“I’m serious, Pip. I think my life is really and truly in danger.”

The idea is so preposterous, so out-of-nowhere, that I laugh. And yet he doesn’t chime in, and after a few seconds, my laugh dies out.

“You can’t be serious,” I say.

He brushes a hand over his face, looking away to the left, somewhere in the distance. “I am,” he says, more to the drapery than to me. “Incredible to believe, but I am.”

I sit back, leaning against the upholstered pinches in the couch. Cock my head. Sit in silence for some moments.

“No,” I say at last.

Can’t be. Not them.

“You have been working too hard, Hugh,” I continue. “That’s my fault a bit. I haven’t been as attentive the past couple weeks and you’ve gone . . .”

Mad is the word I want to say. Manic. Because that’s another thing with Hugh. I learned early on that part of my job is to keep him from spending both too little and too much time writing. It’s a thin line to balance and a long fall on either side if he missteps — and with Hugh, he tends to fall off the line every time without me.

Too little writing and pushing too far past the deadlines and the publishers come threatening. Too much writing and escaping into his little office hole and he forgets to eat, sleep, bathe and comes up with the most insane conclusions and ideas.

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And the past six weeks, well, I’ve been chasing a rabbit down my own little rabbit hole. I reach forward. Pat his knee and move to standing. “Come on. Let’s do this recap and go straight to bed. You’ll feel better in the morning—”

“I found a note.”

That’s when I notice Hugh’s hands. Are they shaking?

“What did it say?” I ask.

“I went out yesterday from the office. Left my door unlocked as I always do.”

Sure. And probably wide open.

“And when I came back, I saw the other door was open.”

“What other door?” I say, brows rising.

“The secret door,” he says, as though this was obvious. “The one we don’t talk about.”

“Wait. There is actually a secret door?”

“Have you not found it by now?” he returns, with a mild look of disappointment in me.

“The point is, it was open. And on the round table—”

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

There’s a round table? The gang meets up around a round table like medieval knights?! There is so much to unpack here!

“—was my book. With a knife stabbed right through it. And a note.”

A chill runs up my spine. “What did it say?”

“OFF TO SEA BUT NEVER STAY, YOU WILL GO HOME ANOTHER WAY.”

Okay. That is terrifying.

But.

BUT.

“But, and to go back to that note in a moment, that could be written by anyone—”

“It was signed. ‘OF THE SEVEN.’”

I stare at him.

“Where’s the note?”

“In my top desk drawer.”

“Did you take a picture?”

“No.”

I rub my face. Rub my face again. He’s expecting me to say something.

“Hugh …” I begin. “I don’t know what to say. Maybe it wasn’t one of them. Maybe it was someone else—”

“Who knew about the secret room? Come now,” Hugh says, hands outstretched, “even you didn’t know.”

“But why would they do something like that? It makes no sense.”

Warnings in mysteries, for that matter, never make sense. If you wanted to kill someone, go on and do it.

“Someone must’ve found out I know their secret.”

Without a Clue. Copyright © 2026 by Melissa Ferguson. All rights reserved

Without a Clue will be published on Feb. 17, 2026 and is now available for preorder, wherever books are sold.