There's A Murder Afoot (Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery #5) by Vicki Delany

Just in time for Sherlock Holmes's 166th birthday, the fifth installment in national bestselling author Vicki Delany's Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery takes Sherlockania to the max with a Holmes convention and historic 221 Baker Street.

Gemma Doyle and her friends travel to London for a Sherlock Holmes convention--but will Gemma's father take the fall for a felonious forger's fatality?

The 6th of January is Sherlock Holmes's birthday, and lucky for Gemma Doyle, January is also the slowest time of the year at both the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, and Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room. It's a good time for Gemma and her friends to travel to England for a Holmes Convention. For Gemma, the trip provides an opportunity to visit her parents, Jayne Wilson is excited about seeing all the sites London has to offer, and Ryan Ashburton just wants to spend some time with Gemma. But the trip is immediately derailed when Gemma's father Henry recognizes his brother-in-law Randolph Manning, who disappeared more than thirty years ago on the night he stole a valuable painting from his own parents.

Henry, a retired detective with Scotland Yard, has been keeping tabs on the man's career as a forger of Old Masters and he warns Randy to stay away from his family. Randy is at the conference selling his own art, a series of sketches inspired by the Holmes Canon. The ever-observant Gemma notes that he isn't exactly popular with some of the other conference attendees, but when Randy is found dead after the banquet with a dazed and confused Henry Doyle standing over him, the police leap to assume his guilt. It's up to Gemma, with the help of her friends, to plunge into the "lowest and vilest alleys" of London to save her father from prison.   (Summary via Goodreads)


I love picking up a book in a series and as soon as you start reading you feel like you are back with some old friends......that is exactly how it felt when I picked up There's a Murder Afoot by Vicki Delany.  There's a Murder Afoot is the fifth book in her Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series and having read the previous four, I am a fan.

Main character Gemma Doyle co-owns a Sherlock Holmes based bookshop with her uncle Arthur and she is also part owner of the adjoining business, Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room with her best friend, Jayne.  As in the previous books, Gemma and Jayne seem to get themselves in the middle of a murder investigation where Gemma's boyfriend Ryan who is a police detective doesn't like.  However in There's a Murder Afoot Gemma, Jayne, Ryan and two other friends are traveling across the pond to England to attend a Sherlock Holmes convention, visit with Gemma's parents and sightsee......how could anything go wrong ??

Well if author Vicki Delany has anything to say about it, which obviously she does, something is definitely going to happen....and as a reader I could not turn the pages fast enough.  And boy oh boy where does she come up with these ideas ??

While out for drinks and dinner the very first night they are in England, the gang along with Gemma's parents and sister, Pippa run into Gemma's mum's long long brother.  Unfortunately the reason that he is long lost is because he stole a valuable painting from his parents and disappeared many years ago.  Before the family can come to terms with his reappearing, he is murdered, Gemma's dad is found standing over his body unable to remember what happened, the Inspector assigned to his case doesn't like him, and Gemma's sister's job is very important with the govenment but that's all we know about it.....  So yes even though the are far from home, Gemma is right at home in her hometown so she has no problem jumping into proving her father's innocence and everyone in the gang is all for it, some more readily that others !!!

There's a Murder Afoot was so much fun to read especially with it taking place in England and away from the bookstore and tea room.  Don't get me wrong... I love hanging around with Gemma, Jayne and crew when they are in Cape Cod but to go to England and not even leave the comforts of my couch, that was an awesome treat !!  I'm sure you will agree.....


Review by Missi M.

Remembering Lea Wait : Interview with her daughter Ali

Author Lea Wait

 Author Lea Wait's passing last year affected me in a way that is hard to put into words.  I did not have the pleasure of ever meeting Lea but I loved her in her books.  How can a person that you have never met have such a hold on you ?  Well if you have ever read a book by Lea, then you already know.  Actually that happens more than we know....when an author, musician, actor, sports player, etc. that we follow, their death can truly hurt.  Luckily we are able to "keep them alive" in our hearts by re-reading their books, listening to their music, watching their movies.....

I read all of Lea's books (her for adult books) and with Thread and Buried, the 9th book in her Mainely Needlepoint book, her very last book, I wanted to do something special.  So I reached out to her daughter Ali and some other people that knew and loved her.  Below is my talk with Ali and at the end of my thoughts on Thread and Buried you can read what some others had to say about Lea Wait.


How does it feel to be adopted by a well-known, well-loved author ?

It is very humbling to be adopted by a well known and well loved author.I didn’t  think it was a big deal to be adopted by a single parent growing up. My mom was a big executive in the corporate world (35 years) and didn’t start writing until she retired. I never really knew the extent of it and how she impacted so many people until her passing. She has left a legacy with her books and I’m so proud of her.

Have you and your sister's read Lea's books ?

I haven’t read all of her books, but I have read a few. I’m determined to read most, if not all, by the end of this year.

Lea's two series focus on murder (obviously) but also needlepoint (her Mainely Needlepoint Mystery series) and antique prints (her Antique Prints Mystery series), do you or your sister's share these hobbies and interests ?

 I’m honestly not a big murder mystery book reader and I’m definitely not into needlepoint. But, my grandmother had an antique print business when I was growing up that I helped with over the years. Antiques and prints have always been a big part of my younger years, so I’d say that sort of thing does interest me. Although it is not something that is a big part of my life now, it was growing up.

Lea's Antique Print Mystery series talks about a relationship that was long distance with the two characters going in different directions as well as main character Maggie working on adopting a child......there seems that that kind of "shadows" what your mom went through.....What can you tell us about that ?

 Being adopted, along with all of my sisters, was very prevalent in my life. Adoption is something very near and dear to my heart. So it makes sense that my mom would write a book that pertains to that subject, as she had first hand knowledge on it.

What was it like having a mom whose job was being an author ?

 Having a mom that was an author was something I thought was pretty cool. She did so much research and worked so many hours. She traveled and had many speaking engagements as an author and it made me really proud of her. I always knew her as a hard worker but being an author was so different than working a corporate job. And she was very talented and she was well networked. Her work ethic was high and she was very determined. 

Do you or your sisters have the writing gene ?

I can’t speak for my sisters, but I can say for myself, I’m not a writer, I guess I don’t have a writing gene. The only thing I can relate to that is growing up, I was an avid writer of journals. I wrote my life in journals and I also wrote a few poems. I’ve never had anything printed or never thought I’d get anything published like my mom. But, as far as writing goes, journaling was something I did for many years.

How old were you when you were adopted ? Your sisters ?

Lea with 3 out of 4 daughters

My mom had four daughters. I was the second oldest, but I was the first one to be adopted. I was 4 years old when my mom adopted me. I was an only child for a couple years, then she adopted my older sister, then my two younger sisters. So to clarify, I was 4 years old, and all my sisters were 8 years old when they were adopted. I was an only child, then I was the youngest (my older sister and myself) then I was an older sister when my two other sisters were adopted.

Being adopted can be rough/difficult like we see in your mom's last book in her Antique Print Mystery series, Shadows on a Morning in Maine....but add to it being adopted from Thailand, Korea, Hong Kong or India, how was that ?  

What did your mom do to make it special/easier ?

 Well, with my sisters and I all having been adopted from different countries (Thailand, Korea, China and India) my mom used to joke it was the United Nations at the dinner table when were growing up. She made it special by celebrating for all four of us, individually, the day we were/came home/adopted. My mom also made it important for all of us to know all about our native countries. It was very important to my mom that we all knew our background and celebrated where we all were born. Adoption was always a huge part of our upbringing. All four of us knew we were adopted from day one. Although we might not have known all the details, we did for sure know we were all adopted from different countries and embraced it.

In your moms final book, Thread and Buried, before the book begins, in her acknowledgments she writes "with all thanks, joy and no regrets" (yes I read everything and yes I cried) those words speak volumes, like it could be a motto for your family ?

In her acknowledgements when she writes, “with all thanks, joy and no regrets” in her final book, that does seem like a motto for our family. Although it wasn’t always talked about, I know she was thankful and I would like to think she wanted to live her life with no regrets. I believe joy comes from within. The great thing about writing, is you can express yourself on paper when otherwise it’s more difficult to say or put into words when talking. 

Your mom wrote a non-fiction book, Living & Writing on the Coast of Maine and she talks about her relationship with her husband Bob and their journey, her life before becoming an author and raising 4 daughters as a single parent, your mom said she loved every aspect of a writer's life.....does that motivate you to be your best ? Do you feel like you have a lot to lie up to ?

Ali with Lea's husband Bob

 I feel like I do have a lot of firsthand knowledge about her relationship/marriage to her husband Bob. I knew him most of my life and I believe I was the closest to him, then were my sisters, I think she had two different aspects of her life. One was as a single parent, working a high level corporate job. Once her daughters were all grown up with their own families and lives, she had a life as wife and author. I know she loved her life as a writer. She was living her dream. I feel she did the best she could as a single parent and having to work as a corporate executive. Her book, the non-fiction, Living & Writing on the Coast of Maine, reflected her life as an author. I know she loved it. What motivates me about that book was that she was living her life to the fullest. The way she had wanted and what she really had aspired to be.The impact she has made, is something I for sure would want in my life and I know I have a lot to live up to.

Lea being grandma

Your mother mentioned that she is a grandmother and I believe you are a mother yourself, did you read your mother's historicala for young children to your kids ?

 My mom was a grandmother of 8 grandchildren. I am a mother of three. When my kids were younger, I had read a couple of the historicals for young children to them. All of my kids were given autographed copies of my mom’s books for their collections (including myself).

Is there anything you want your moms devoted fans to know about her ?  Anything you want to say ?

Lea and Ali

To my mom’s devoted fans, I just want to personally thank you. So many of you have shown so much support and love through these past months. Without you, I honestly would have never known the impact she had in the writing community, She was a very strong woman, with a great work ethic and she was determined. Although she and I had very different personalities and beliefs, I loved her tremendously. I can’t thank you enough for reading and continuing to purchase her books and give reviews for them. She knew I was proud of her and all of her accomplishments. And I know, if there was at least one person she had impacted, she did her job. Every day, I miss her so very much, but I am so grateful for the outpouring of support. Everyone who knew her, whether in person or through social media, knows what a great person and writer she was. She is greatly missed and I appreciate all new readers, as well as, the ones who have already read all of her books and series. Her devoted fans are what and who help keep continue her legacy in the many years to come.

WOW !!  Thank you Ali for taking the time to talk to me and to share your life with your mom.  She was and always will be one of my favorite authors and I intend to visit her books regularly.  (Living and Writing on the Coast of Maine is in a special spot near me where I read daily so that I can look at it and pick it up whenever I need a boost....that book is very inspiration and I encourage everyone to add it to their books.)

To know more about Lea, please check out her website :  https://www.leawait.com/

Thread and Buried (Mainely Needlepoint #9) by Lea Wait

Haven Harbor is an authentic coastal Maine town--which makes it the perfect location for a new film production. But now it's become the scene of a crime . . .

Needlepointers Angie and Sarah are helping with set design for the movie being shot in their little New England hometown--but as the lighthouse and the wharves bustle with activity, a real-life drama is about to unfold. The producer, Hank Stoddard, has been harassing the pretty young female lead, and the two exchanged heated words at a lobster bake. Now someone's lowered the boom on him . . .

After a wayward piece of sound equipment sends him to his death, theories fly about who went off-script. Meanwhile, a local woman's tragic story about a true love lost at sea, which originally inspired the film, may lead to murderous revelations from long ago. Angie's got to unravel these mysteries, and may need to give more than one killer the hook . . .    (Summary via Goodreads)



Seeing as Thread and Buried, the ninth book in the Mainely Needlepoint Mystery series by Lea Wait, is Lea's very last book I tried to read it slowly.....but I failed miserably.

I have been a fan of Wait's (since her other series the Antique Prints Mysteries)  and her Mainely Needlepoint series since Twisted Threads, the first book in this series. I fell in love with main character Angie Curtis, her hometown of Haven Harbor, her friends and their lives.  Every time I open one of these books, I know I am going to get swept away and travel to that little coastal town in Maine and never want to leave.

Even when Angie is trying to just go about her life working on her Needlepoint making business, hanging with her friend Sarah or her boyfriend, Patrick or even her grandmother, she always finds herself in the middle of a mystery......  In Thread and Buried Patrick's mother is back in town and she has brought a whole lot of Hollywood people with her....they are making a movie and not just any movie, they are making a movie from one of her dear friend Ruth's books.  Ruth helps out with the needlepoint orders when her arthritis isn't acting up but her main source of income has been by writing books, mainly erotica.  However the book that the movie is based from is one of her earlier books, before the erotica started.  There is a lot of tension with the making of this movie.....the writers are constantly getting asked to make changes to the script, the producer is yelling at everyone.  Before even one scene gets finalized, Hank, the producer, has an "accident" and dies.  A lot of people saw what happened and felt that it was in deed as accident, however the local police and homicide detectives do not agree.

Can Angie figure out what happened to Hank and keep the movie going ?  Even though she was right there and saw everything unfold, she herself has a kot of unanswered questions......

One of the things that I love about Wait is that she can capture the readers attention as soon as they open the book and keep you captive even after your finish the story and close the book.  The reader will feel like they are a part of Angie's life and will never want that feeling of belonging to end. 

It has been a treat and an honor to have read all of the books in this series and to be able to share my thoughts with other readers.  I sincerely hope that my thoughts have encouraged others to pick up this series and get to know Angie, her hometown and friends as well as the author.  Wait's ability to take the reader to this little town and make you feel like a part of something is an amazing gift and I am so honored to have taken the ride because of her.


Review by Missi M.


Some final thoughts on Lea Wait.....


Friend and Author Kathy Lynn Emerson / Kaitlyn Dunnett 
 "Lea and I were corresponding by email all the while she was writing Thread and Buried and undergoing chemo. She worried that it was too short, that it was too different, since she wrote some scenes in a different point of view, and that she’d miss some continuity problem as she tried to proofread for errors. What she managed to do, in spite of everything she was going through, was write a terrific book. She was a true professional as well as a wonderful, giving person."

Friend and Author Barbara Ross 
"Lea and I became good friends because we were neighbors. My husband and I had a house in Boothbay Harbor, Maine and Lea and her husband, Bob Thomas, lived in nearby Edgecomb. They were not much older than we were, but they had moved to Maine earlier, left their day jobs for creative pursuits earlier, and Lea was well ahead of me on her writing and publishing journey. They gave to us to generously. They gave us their friendship, they gave advice about living in Maine, and most of all, they mentored both of us as we tried our hands at writing and photography respectively. They will forever be in my heart."

Larissa Ackerman (Kensington Publishing)
"I am so lucky that I had the chance to work with Lea Wait—she was such a lovely, appreciative, and kind person. Words cannot express how great she truly was! Both she and her wonderful series will be deeply missed."

Kate Flora (Manages Maine Crime Writers) and Friend
"I always use to give Lea rides when we were going to the same place because her converstion was fascinating.  She loved research, and knowing things, and her life story was dramatic and brave. I don't know if she was an optimist, just that she was endlessly determined and brave.  Also such a kind friend.  When I was nominated for a Maine Literary Award and my husband was busy, she and Bob came to be my family.  I have a great photo Bob took of the two of us with my blue award balloon."

Shadows on a Morning in Maine (Antique Print #8) by Lea Wait

Maggie Summer is making big changes in her life. The antique print dealer has taken a sabbatical and moved to Maine to run an antiques mall with Will Brewer, her significant other. And she will finally adopt the daughter she s been longing for. However, the troubled girl doesn t want any part of the plan, showing affection only for the harbor seals, which remind her of her real mother. But someone starts shooting the seals and a young fisherman is murdered. Then Will confesses a secret from his past, and Maggie begins to wonder if this is the biggest mistake of her life."   (Summary via Goodreads)



Shadows on a Morning in Maine, the eighth and final book in the Antique Print Mystery series by Lea Wait is the BEST !!  Wait knows how to wrap a present, tie it up with a big bow and present it nicely !!  I cannot stress it enough or say it enough.....if you haven't read this series, I HIGHLY encourage you to !!!  I took the time to read all eight books in a row and I know it may seem like a lot but once you pick up the first book, Shadows at the Fair and read it, you will want to pick up the next book, Shadows on the Coast of Maine and so forth until you get to this last one.  Once you meet main character Maggie Summer and start hanging around with her, you will want to stay with her.  You will want to be there for every body she encounters, dead and alive, and you will want to get to know her better and everyone that she meets.  You will want to travel with her to the Antique shows and when she goes to visit her main man, Will Brewer and his Aunt Nettie and her best friend Gussie.

As you read this series you will feel like you are growing along side Maggie and everything that she does, you will feel like you are accomplishing things as well and in Shadows on a Morning in Maine, you and Maggie will be tested like you've never been tested before......readers this is your final exam !!!

In Shadows on a Morning in Maine Maggie has made the biggest sacrifice ever !!!  She has taken a leave of absence from her job as a professor at Somerset County Community College, leased her house to the professor that is taking her place, and has moved to Maine to be closer to Will.  Will purchased an old Victorian house that was an antique mall and is renovating it to be an unscale antique business and Maggie is going to be living on the third floor as well as working downstairs.  While they are working on getting the building finished and preparing to open, Maggie is also meeting Brooklin, a nine-year old that she hopes to adopt.  As in all the other books, Maggie and now Will have a lot going on but when seals are being found shot to death and a young lobstermen is found dead, (say it with me.....) Maggie has to see what is going on and find out why.

Wait clears a lot of things up in this final book (thankfully !!) and she leaves the reader satisfied.... Well I was anyway,  We are left with an understanding of how Maggie's life is going to go moving forward and even though dead bodies and murder are a part of her life, the reader is left knowing that Maggie and whoever is in her life are all going to be okay......and Maggie will continue to do what Maggie does best !!!
Yes I know I am talking like this is a letter from a friend and that Maggie and everything is real but that's the way it feels when you read a series, enjoy it and look forward to the next book.....you become a part of the story and you develop feelings and such for the people and places you visit.  

I encourage you to read this series as well as Wait's other amazing series, The Mainely Needlepoint Mystery series..... Two great series to get lost in and find new places and people to love !!!!



Review by Missi M.

Shadows on a Maine Christmas (Antique Print #7) by Lea Wait

Antique print dealer Maggie Summer has come to Maine for a storybook Christmas with her beloved Will Brewer and his Great-Aunt Nettie, who has gathered together her longtime friends for holiday celebrations. Maggie and Will love each other, although Maggie is determined to adopt children and Will has misgivings. But this problem is put on hold when Maggie hears cryptic references by Aunt Nettie s old friends to buried secrets from their youth. One elderly woman suffers from dementia, remembering those past events better than the gifts she just opened. Will she blurt out information about an old crime so dangerous that someone would commit murder to prevent its being revealed? Blackmail and murder are only the beginning. It may be a Merry Christmas but who will still be around to see in a Happy New Year?"  (Summary via Goodreads)



Adrenaline rush !!!  That is what the reader will feel when they are reading Shadows on a Maine Christmas !!  Shadows on a Maine Christmas is the seventh book in Lea Wait's Antique Print Mystery series and it will blow the reader's mind !!  If you are a fan of this series, which by now I seriously hope that you are, you know that when you pick up one of the books in this series, you are in for a crazy ride and Wait does not disappoint....if anything she goes way above and way beyond !!!

When you start to read Shadows on a Maine Christmas you may be a bit sad..... Main character Maggie Summer is going to Maine to spend Christmas with her love Will Brewer.  Will has moved to Maine to live with his Aunt Nettie and help take care of her while Maggie has been working on getting her adoption process moving forward.....both Maggie and Will are moving in very different directions and are planning to discuss their futures over Christmas.  That is why you begin reading this story feeling sad because you know in your heart that things could be ending for these two.  However before they can even open presents on Christmas morning there is a murder and the local police, State Trooper Nick Strait, who is a friend of Will's, looks to Maggie to help ask questions.

There is a lot going on in this story but Wait writes it so well that it is like a smooth jazz....flowing gracefully across the pages......until, of course, when the reader gets to a certain part in the book where you cannot stop reading !!  You will not want to stop....some may not be able to fight the urge.....  

The Antique Print Mystery series by Wait is a powerful series.  It has a powerful cast of characters and the way that Wait intertwines the story and the people and places, past and present, is an absolutely amazing talent and gift !!  I could stay in this series forever !!!!


Review by Missi M.

Shadows on a Cape Cod Wedding (Antique Print #6) by Lea Wait

October on Cape Cod is always beautiful, and antique print dealer Maggie Summer is happy to visit there to help with her best friend's wedding preparations. Maggie doesn't anticipate the murder of a neighbor, nor being called into service as a counselor and interpreter. Is she really essential to the investigation, or is she avoiding a critical discussion with the man she loves? Before she knows the answer, there's another murder...and a hurricane...and then Maggie herself becomes a target.  (Summary via Goodreads)


I am so glad that I decided to read the books in Lea Wait's Antique Print Mystery series back to back in a row.....the way she wrote this series and the way she ends each book, you do not want to wait !!  Every time I finish one of the books, I think to myself that that book was the best one....and it is until I start reading the next one.  With every book Wait draws the reader deeper and deeper into the story and wraps you into Maggie's life and makes you want to stay there as long as you can.

Shadows on a Cape Cod Wedding is the sixth book in this series and main character, Maggie Summer, is going to the Cape to help her best friend Gussie as she moves her home and business and gets married....all within 2 weeks !!  And if that isn't enough when Maggie gets into town, she takes a walk on the beach to stretch her legs and comes across a dead body !!  In Shadows on a Cape Cod Wedding it doesn't take Maggie that long to get herself in the middle of a murder investigation ..... and I think I liked it that way !!!  I mean on Page ONE the story starts "The body was bloated...." you know you are in for a dangerous ride after that !!

No matter what Maggie is doing she is always too busy but it wouldn't be her if she wasn't.  While helping
Gussie and her fiance, Jim, pack and unpack Gussie's old home and old business and move to her new home and business, prepare for their big wedding day, she finds time to get in the middle of not one, but two murder investigations and an old drug related death of a teenager.  She also finds herself helping Diana whose father is one of the people murdered....which this is the second time that she has had to face her father's death..... WHAT ???   See....book six and Wait is still finding ways to shock her readers !!!

Shadows on a Cape Cod Wedding has a lot of shock factors in it !!  Wait grabs the reader on the first page by starting off with Maggie finding a dead body and keeps you reader rapidly throughout.  There is never a dull moment when it comes to Maggie and her life and we LOVE it !!  (If she were a real person, she may disagree with us, but she's not, so she can't)  This is one book that had my anxiety rising at points and one spot in particular that I wasn't sure if I was going to like the outcome.....but I powered through and was able to breath normal a few pages later........


Review by Missi M.

Shadows of a Down East Summer (Antique Print #5) by Lea Wait

In the summer of 1890, two young women posed for artist Winslow Homer on the coast of Maine. What happened that summer, the secrets the women kept, and the lies they told, changed their families forever. Now, more than a hundred years later, one of their descendants has been murdered, leaving to antique print dealer Maggie Summer the family papers that may finally reveal the truth. Maggie's vision of a relaxing vacation in Maine- antiquing with beau Will Brewer and visiting his Aunt Nettie- turns into a murder investigation. Maggie must discover which of the family myths are based on reality, before someone she cares about becomes the next victim. With the centennial of Homer's death in 2010, there is renewed interest in his work and in the renovation of his studio in Prouts Neck, Maine, where some of the novel's action takes place.   (Summary via Goodreads)




What fun it was to read Shadows of a Down East Summer.... I love when main character Maggie Summer is hanging around with her new love Will Brewer in this series !!  The Antique Print Mystery series follows Maggie while she is a college professor and antique print dealer and all the fun and murders that she stumbles across and this fifth book in the series will have the reader on the edge of their seat....just like when reading the other books in this series.

In Shadows of a Down East Summer Maggie is heading to Maine to spend some time with Will and enjoy some beach and seafood eating time together.  Maine is where Will's Aunt Nettie lives and he goes back there every summer to help her around the house. Maggie and Will figure they can help Aunt Nettie, spend some quality time together and then go to an antiques show at the end of Maggie's visit.  Little did they know that Maggie would end up right in the middle of a murder investigation.....well if you are a fan of this series by Lea Wait, you now that that is exactly where Maggie is going to end up !!

Wait puts an extra twist with this story by bringing in a journal and paperwork from the 1800's linking the town to famous artist Winslow Homer who Maggie is a big fan of his work.  Maggie has a lot on her plate when an old journal is given to her to read then the owner ends up dead and it looks like the killer will stop at nothing to get their hands on it !!!  

I probably say this with all of the books in this series by Wait but it rings true with them all..... These books will have the reader on the edge of their seat holding their breath turning the pages so fast they may end up with a paper cut....So grab a drink and a snack, sit back and maybe, have some band aids near by........



Review by Missi M.

Shadows at the Spring Show (Antique Print #4) by Lea Wait

She's an antique print dealer, a college professor, and now...a parent? Maggie Summer is considering adopting a child from the New Jersey agency Our World, Our Children, and she has happily agreed to stage a benefit antiques show on their behalf. With her dealer friends, her college, and her lover, Will Brewer, all donating their time and support, everything is falling into place. But someone is harboring a vicious grudge against Our World, Our Children. The adoptive mother of thirteen children is the first victim, and then Maggie begins receiving threats. With the crowded benefit set to open and hundreds of innocent lives at stake, Maggie races to preserve the future with a clue hidden in her prints from the past....   (summary via Goodreads)



When you pick up Shadows at the Spring Show by Lea Wait, please be advised you will want to clear your immediate schedule.  Once you pick up this fourth book in her Antique Print Mystery series, you are not going to want to put it down !!

If you have read the previous books in this series, you cannot help but be a fan of Maggie Summer.  If you haven't read them and are picking up this book first, you are going to fall in love with her and put the previous books on your to read list.

In Shadows at the Spring Show Maggie is home trying to decide if she is ready to be a parent and is looking into adoption.  She is also very involved with Our World, Our Children, an adoption agency.  She is so involved with them that she is organizing a fund raiser for the agency......an antique show !!

Unfortunately when the organization and Maggie start to receive "hate mail", there is talk about cancelling the show.  Maggie does not want to back down and let the person or people behind the threats win but she has to think about the safety of all involved.......

Maggie has a unique talent of working things out no matter how busy she is and boy is she busy in this book !!!  It is nice to hang out with Maggie at the college and at home with her cat, Winslow, and see her organizing the show....we even get to see her "boyfriend" Will and friend Gussie.  And Lea Wait has that awesome knack of keeping the reader interested from the first word until the very last and all that adds up to is a HUGE win for the reader !!!!



Review by Missi M.

Shadows on the Ivy (Antique Print #3) by Lea Wait

Maggie Summer has three loves: her antique print business, Shadows; her career as a community college professor in Somerset County, New Jersey; and the new man in her life, Will Brewer. Her biological clock is pushing her to decide whether she's ready to add a fourth love: an adopted child.Although Will is on the road just now, Maggie's life is full. She uses prints by Currier & Ives, Thomas Nast, and William Ludwell Sheppard to illustrate her lectures on American cultural history, and Oliver and Dorothy Whitcomb, a wealthy couple who are on the college board, are two of her best customers.

When the Whitcombs design and dedicate a special dormitory for single parents and their children, Maggie is thrilled to become the faculty adviser to the young parents. Her new assignment gives her plenty of time to think about what single parenthood would mean for her. Plenty of time -- until one of the young mothers is poisoned, and the web of danger at the dorm threatens to encircle Maggie.

There is a killer on campus. Is it an outsider or someone Maggie knows and trusts? Does someone want to destroy Whitcomb House or the college? And is Maggie in as much danger as her students?

As always, Maggie finds the answers to her questions in the antique prints she knows and loves. And this time, torn between her own needs and those of her students, the most important discoveries Maggie makes are about herself.

Rich with appealing characters and fascinating insiders' lore about antique prints, "Shadows on the Ivy" is the best yet in this award-nominated series from an author who brilliantly brings together her knowledge of prints and her love of storytelling.  (Summary via Goodreads)




I cannot get enough of the Antique Print Mystery series by Lea Wait !!  I fell in love with Shadows at the Fair, the first book in this series and was hooked when I read the second book, Shadows on the Coast of Maine and now after reading the third book, Shadows on the Ivy, I am a CRAZED fan !!

In Shadows on the Ivy we are hanging out with main character Maggie Summers in her hometown.  Things in this book allow the reader to get up close and personally with Maggie as she goes to Somerset Community College where she teaches as well as advises a house of single parents who attend the college under scholarships.  Even though Maggie is preparing for an antique show later in the week, that is not her main focus and this side of Maggie will have the reader loving her even more.  We found out in the second book that Maggie is feeling the tug of wanting to be a parent but no one would have thought that might happen when one of the single mothers in the Whitcomb House is poisoned !!  

Maggie is pulled in so many directions as she tries to find out who poisoned Sarah and why....and when another resident at the Whitcomb House is found dead in the kitchen, her need to help and protect goes full force !!!

Again author Lea Wait will have the reader on the edge of their seat turning the pages so fast, they may get a paper cut....but if they do, it will be well worth it !!!  Readers will love everything about this series and will want to continue hanging out with Maggie until the end !!  And after reading the LAST page, there will be no stopping !!!!


Review by Missi M.

Shadows on the Coast of Maine (Antique Print #2) by Lea Wait

"Maine. Antiques. August." That's all Maggie Summer requires for a guaranteed fun getaway. But there is an unexplained urgency behind the invitation from her former college roommate, Amy Douglas. The eighteenth-century house Amy and her husband Drew are restoring in tiny Madoc, Maine, is perfect -- or it will be, once Maggie supplies just the right antique prints. But Amy's type A personality is bordering on hysteria: could her desperation to get pregnant explain the sound of the crying infant that haunts her nights? Perhaps the hostile neighbors -- resentful of transplanted New Yorkers Amy and Drew -- have Amy on edge. But when the body of a missing teenaged girl turns up on their land, Maggie knows the threat is authentic. Now everyone, even Maggie's antiques-hunter friend Will Brewer, is cast in a suspicious light -- as she scratches beneath the surface of small-town New England life, and blows the dust off secrets hidden inside a grand Maine home for generations.  (Summary via Goodreads)




Shadows on the Coast of Maine by Lea Wait is the second book in her Antique Print Mystery series and I was on the edge of my seat !!  I totally LOVED this installment in this series.  

Main character Maggie Summer goes to Maine to visit her college roommate, Amy,  and her husband, Drew.  They recently purchased a house there and Amy is uncomfortable because she is hearing things and "seeing" ghosts.  Maggie is a little intrigued by the long history of the house and when she finds out her friend Will from the antique show circuit is a distant member of the family that owned the house years ago, he is also quite interested.  Things go downhill real fast when a local teenager who was helping Amy around the house doesn't make it home one night and when her body is found behind a barn on the property, Maggie steps in to get to the bottom of things......little does she know what she is getting involved in !!!

It seems that everyone in this coastal town know each other and a lot of them are related in some way or another....which makes things very interesting and uncomfortable at the same time !!!

Like I said I was on the edge of my seat reading this book !!  Wait has such a knack of drawing the reader deep into the story.  I was so engrossed in the story that when Maggie approaches the murderer I was completely in shock !!!  Never, never, never, ever would I have guessed that that was the direction the story was heading !!!  I cannot wait to dig into the third book, Shadows on the Ivy.

Review by Missi M.