The Antique Store Detective and the May Day Murder by Clare Chase

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing "The Antique Store Detective and the May Day Murder” the 2nd instalment in The Bella Winter Mystery series by Clare Chase set in Hope Eaton, Shopshire England.  I enjoyed book 2 much more than the first and will definitely continue with the series.

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May Day should mark the start of spring. But this year, it means murder… Fortunately antique store owner and amateur detective Bella Winter is on the case! 

Everyone in Hope Eaton climbs the hill to Sweet Agnes’ Spring on May Day, to greet the dawn and leave tokens among the flowers. Antique store owner Bella Winter grumbles about the early start, but she has to admit that watching the sun rise over the flower-strewn grove is worth it. And her interest deepens when she sees that one of the offerings this year is a little doll stuck all over with pins… a perfect replica of Mary Roberts, who lives nearby.

Determined to find out what lies behind this bizarre threat, Bella dives into a murky mess of strange events. Mary’s house is up for sale, but someone’s trying to wreck the deal, leaving rotting weeds on her front step. And Mary claims she’s seen a cloaked figure watching her from the woods…

Bella’s half convinced this is all nonsense, but then Mary is found dead, her prized carving of the spring stolen from her dresser. The police say it was a heart attack, but was she literally scared to death?

Soon Bella has uncovered a string of further mysteries. Why is Mary’s nearest neighbour missing? Who graffitied her boss’s house with a warning the night she died? And why would anyone want Mary’s carving?

All paths lead back to the spring itself… but does it hold answers or more danger?And can Bella track the killer down before she’s cut off at the source?

I really like how Bella and her circle of friends find out information and gather insights into the crime and the people involved. I thought it strange that Bella didn’t investigate why business at the store was so slow until nearly the end of the story as I thought it would be something she should care about more.  The story deals with trust issues, greed, local folklore, and community.

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 highly recommend this book to all my cozy lover friends. I can’t wait for book 3!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy from Bookouture and NetGalley. 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,

The Antique Store Detective by Clare Chase

Hello my cozy friends,

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.

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Meet Bella Winter. She loves vintage clothes, antiques and… solving crimes? 

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 enjoyed this story, and it has made me want to visit Shopshire on my next trip to England. Starts off slowly as the author is describing the village and feeding us background information but I’m sure book two will be better.

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.     

I recommend this book to all my cozy lover friends. I can’t wait for book two!

⭐️⭐️⭐️

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,

The Incident of the Book in the Nighttime by Vicki Delany

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing “ The Incident of the Book in the Nighttime” the 10th instalment in "A Sherlock Holmes Bookshop" Mystery series by Vicki Delany. It can easily be read as a standalone but I recommend reading in order.  

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Bookshop owner Gemma Doyle heads to London for a wedding, but when a body is found in connection with a rare book, Gemma sets out to sleuth the slaying in bestselling author Vicki Delany's tenth Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery.

Gemma Doyle and her friends have packed their bags and headed to London for her sister Pippa’s wedding. Waiting for her in the hotel lobby is none other than Gemma’s ex-husband, Paul Erikson. Paul has a rare book he wants her to see—calling it “the real deal”—so Gemma agrees to meet him at their old shop, Trafalgar Fine Books, the following day. But when Gemma arrives, accompanied by Grant, a rare book dealer, they find Paul dead in his office.

Paul had been down on his luck, but Gemma never expected this. Had he borrowed money from people he shouldn’t have? And where is the valuable book he was so anxious for Gemma to see? It’s nowhere to be found in the shop. Because of their previous relationship, Gemma feels she owes something to Paul and vows to find his killer.

As Gemma and her best friend Jayne Wilson follow Paul’s trail of friends, enemies, clients, and ex-lovers through London to Yorkshire, she realizes the puzzle of Paul’s last days is more twisted than she originally thought.

This mystery is anything but elementary, and Gemma and Jayne have to use all their wit to get to the bottom of it before their time in London—or in life—is over.

I enjoyed this mystery, thought it flowed well and kept my attention.  The setting of London England was a fun departure.  Gemma and her friends are there for her sister Pippa’s wedding, what could go wrong …

The mystery is interesting and well plotted, with enough twists to keep you interested.  I kept guessing and second-guessing myself on whodunnit right to the very end.   I recommend this book to all my cozy lover friends.

I requested and received an advance reader copy of this book from Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley. 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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