Meet Bella Winter. Antique store owner, snazzy dresser and… amateur sleuth?
Bella Winter loves her little antique store in the charming town of Hope Eaton. She gets to hunt for bargains and meet her neighbours, hearing about their lives and solving their problems when she can. But finding eccentric local historian Professor Oliver Barton dead in the ruins of Raven Hall is a bigger problem than she could have anticipated!
At first, Bella is like everyone else: saddened by a tragic accident. But then her colleague John asks her to dig deeper. Because it turns out the professor was hunting for buried treasure in the middle of the night, and John thinks he was murdered.
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 fall, Bella 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!
The Antique Store Detective and the May Day Murder
(A Bella Winter Mystery Book 2)
by Clare Chase
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?
A completely delightful English mystery, full of cozy charm and cunning clues. Fans of Agatha Christie, Faith Martin and Betty Rowlands will love The May Day Murder
My Rating:
Favorite Quotes:
The Antique Store Detective – Book #1
She looked wrung-out, like a pretty cloth that had been washed over and over and been through the mangle a hundred times.
She looked like just the sort of person she was, with her sharp eyes, sharp bone structure and expensively dyed blonde hair. Bella almost expected her to have fangs when she opened her mouth.
She hated guilt. It was unproductive and offered no escape.
Your Scooby Doo methodology sounds less than professional.
‘Sorry your date didn’t work out,’ Matt said, stroking the cat. She sniffed. ‘How do you know I went on a date? And what makes you think it didn’t work out?’ ‘You left looking like a million dollars. As for the end result, you came back early, slammed the door, and sang “moronic” to Blondie’s “Atomic”.’
I was at school with Rupert… He always was an idiot. All smart trousers and no substance.
The Antique Store Detective and the May Day Murder – Book #2
She flicked John a small I-told-you-so smile and took out her diary. It was a thing of beauty with gilded pages, decorated with tiny hummingbirds. It made every entry feel important, which was just as it should be. You only got one life, after all.
Her clothes weren’t usually expensive or new, she just made sure they had that certain something.
Life was for living, you might as well do it like you meant it.
I’d settle for Leo just looking at me with the same adoration he has for an Eaton sausage sandwich. Though I suppose I can just about put up with him.
His sigh sounded like air leaking from a leather sofa.
My Review:
I have always enjoyed picking up anything Clare Chase chooses to write. Her stories are well-polished and colorfully detailed, and while her tales are amusing and easy to fall into, I can never seem to fully solve the mysteries or ferret out the culprits on my own. I had fun getting to know the characters in her new series and am already looking forward to reading more of this sneaky snoop. Bella is tenacious and quite handy at stretching and acquiring resources. I admire her moxie.
Clare Chase writes classic mysteries. She aims 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.
