Today I am reviewing "The Antique Store Detective” the first instalment in The Bella Winter Mystery series by Clare Chase set in Hope Eaton, Shopshire England. What a great start to a new series.
Bella Winter moved to charming Hope Eaton for some peace and quiet after quitting her busy city job. She delights in spending time in her little antique store on top of the hill, hunting for bargains at auctions, and getting to know everybody – because if there’s one thing Bella’s good at, it’s solving other people’s problems. But her peaceful life is overturned when she finds eccentric local historian Professor Oliver Barton dead in the ruins of Raven Hall, a trowel lying near his outstretched hand.
At first, Bella is like everyone saddened by a tragic accident. But then her colleague John asks her to dig deeper. Because the dead man gave him an ancient coin he should never have had, and John thinks he was murdered. It turns out the professor was hunting for buried treasure in the middle of the night. But who would have wanted him dead? And who are the four suspicious women he told John about, calling them the queens of hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades…?
As Bella delves into the case she uncovers a hoard of the lord of the manor, a secretive group of treasure hunters, the dead man’s desperate niece and her no-good son. And when another local historian takes a fatal tumble, she is certain that the answers lie in the antiques the professor stole. But can she solve the crime before someone tries to bury her?
I really like the bond between Bella, and John Jenks it just felt real and the way they talk to each other and not strained in any way. Makes you wish you were part of their little community or the Jenks family. I learned about nighthawking which was interesting.
The mystery is interesting and well plotted, and had plenty of twists to keep engaged right to the very end. I kept guessing and second-guessing myself but I was right on who the killer was.
The mystery is interesting and well plotted, and had plenty of twists to keep engaged right to the very end. I kept guessing and second-guessing myself but I was right on who the killer was.
I recommend this book to all my cozy lover friends. I can’t wait for book two!
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All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thank you for stopping by and visiting my little blog!
I always love reading comments and getting to know my fellow cozy lovers.
Hugs,
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