Rumors are everywhere. The most recent victim, John Smithson, died of poison at a show just last week, and many of the same dealers are here at Rensselaer. They make the identical circuit year after year, so they know each other well. Or do they?
Murder is still far from Maggie's mind as she arranges her Shadows booth: some Currier & Ives prints here, Winslow Homer wood engravings on the hack wall, other prints arranged on tables and easels by category. With eleven years' experience, she knows her stock. So far the worst thing that has happened was putting the wrong price tag on a Homer engraving and having to sell it for $170 instead of $1,700.
Maggie doesn't intend for that to happen again, and she doesn't intend to worry about murder. This show's security is tight. But she can't help observing her colleagues with fresh eyes. Some, Eke Gussie White in the booth next door, are dear friends, and Gussie's assistant, her twenty-year-old nephew, Ben, who has Down's syndrome, is a delightful new acquaintance. Others, however, even people she's known for years, suddenly seem suspect.
The opening night wine has hardly stopped flowing when death claims another victim. Maggie will still sell a few antique prints, but she'll spend most of her time looking for a killer and trying to save a vulnerable young friend. Will Maggie herself become a potential victim? The answer may be in one of Maggie's prints, but she has hundreds in her booth. Where should she begin?
With its riveting behind-the-scenes glimpse of antiques shows and its revealing data on antique-print values, Shadows at the Fair introduces a captivating new series that unveils the powerful mysteries of antique prints even as it entertains. (Summary via Goodreads)
You will never guess who did it !! Never....never....never !!! And that is perfectly okay and normal for most readers. If you are like me, your main focus on reading a good cozy mystery is to just go along for the ride, hoping to not get in trouble, and enjoy the story....some readers are lucky that they can figure out the who and why.....but me, I'm good with letting the story grab me.
And in Shadows at the Fair, the first book in Lea Wait's Antique Print Mystery series, that is exactly what Lea does.....she GRABS you !!
In Shadows at the Fair main character Maggie Summer is participating in a very popular Antiques Fair and being that this is not her first, she has friends and knows quite a few of the other dealers so she is hoping for a good time. Unfortunately a good time is the farthest thing that she has. There is a cloud over the dealer circle because there have been a few dealers who have died during a few recent shows so there is a heavy police presence at this fair. That does not stop someone from killing one of the dealers that Maggie considers a friend......and when there is another suspicious death, Maggie takes it upon herself to find out what is going on !!
Lea will have you on the edge of your seat throughout this first book in this series and boy is it an amazing start to what can only be a memorable series. I, for one, cannot wait to dive into the next book and I hope you will follow me......
Review by Missi M.
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