Bella Winter’s father was a police officer and she has inherited his love of investigating. She is first on the scene when a local man is found dead next to his metal detector and she is convinced the death was murder…
The Antique Store Detective is the first book in a new series of amateur sleuth cosy murder mysteries.
Bella is sure that Oliver Barton’s death is suspicious but the local police believe it was accidental. She takes it upon herself to investigate alongside her friend/colleague John who was given a precious coin by the victim. Did Oliver find treasure, could money be the motive, or was there something else behind the murder?
There are lots of characters and relationships to establish as this is the first in a new series. Bella’s character didn’t really stand out despite being the lead and she certainly doesn’t have the charisma of Eve Mallow, the lead in this author’s other cosy murder mystery series. Hopefully this will develop in future books. Her forceful, eccentric mother did make me smile though!
I thought the pace of the book was quite slow. There are several strands of investigation for our amateur sleuths, many characters and motives to explore. Bella and John work their way through their investigation and there are plenty of twists to keep the reader guessing.
The Antique Store Detective has a good mystery and I look forward to getting to know the main character as she develops.
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 else: 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 suspects: 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?
A delightful cozy mystery introducing your new favourite amateur sleuth. Fans of Fiona Leitch, Faith Martin and Agatha Christie will love The Antique Store Detective!
Author Bio
Clare Chase writes classic mysteries. Her aim is to take readers away from it all via some armchair sleuthing in atmospheric locations.
Her debut novel was shortlisted for Novelicious’s Undiscovered Award, as well as an EPIC award post-publication, and was chosen as a Debut of the Month by LoveReading. Murder on the Marshes (Tara Thorpe 1) was shortlisted for an International Thriller Writers award.
Like her heroines, Clare is fascinated by people and what makes them tick. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked in settings as diverse as Littlehey Prison and the University of Cambridge, in her home city. She’s lived everywhere from the house of a lord to a slug-infested flat and finds the mid-terrace she currently occupies a good happy medium.
As well as writing, Clare loves family time, art and architecture,
cooking, and of course, reading other people’s books.
