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Arthur and Janice Darnell were as close to family as Alicia Trent had and when Janice's estranged sister left her estate to Janice, Alicia was the first person she called to evaluate the antique jewellery. Antique Forgery is the second book in this series. On Alicia'a last business trip (to her home town) she had acquired what she called the future clock that told her what was going to happen on a specific day sometime in the future if she chose to listen to it. Only by listening to it could she listen to the next one. What she heard for the period of this business trip made Ali apprehensive about taking on this particular job even though she knew that she could not change events whether she was there or not. In the end, Alicia chose to go and help her long-time friends with their collection.

Nothing about this job went smoothly. Right from the beginning there were problems. The lawyers had given the key to the jewellery room, but nobody knew that a safe door with a combination lock had been installed and of course no one knew the combination. This kind of combination lock was like a bank safe, not crackable by your ordinary locksmith.

There were all kinds of twists and turns in this story leading it into a multiple murder investigation and artwork forgery. The question was, "Who was the killer - someone inside the house, or an outsider?"

I enjoyed the return of Nick, Ali's long distance boyfriend from New York, who happened to know the lead detective on the case. The romance in this novel was clean with sex only implied in one scene. The language was fairly clean as well with only a few of the milder swear words throughout the book.

I enjoyed getting to know Ali better as she displayed her loyalty to her friend Kendra through her tenacity in investigating Kendra's murder. Ali kept placing herself in harms way by doing her investigating and I'm sure made the police wonder a few times if she were the guilty party.

The story (except for the future clock) was believable and the characters seemed real enough. I very much enjoyed Antique Forgery and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys mysteries. I gave this novel 4 stars out of 5.

Thank you to the publishers for providing a copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.

This review is published on my blog Shelf Full of Books http://kathrynsshelffullofbooks.blogspot.com/2015/02/antique-forgery-blog-tour-w...
… (mere)
 
Markeret
KathrynSvendsen | 1 anden anmeldelse | Feb 19, 2015 |
The second of the Alicia Trent Mystery Series was a book I have been impatiently waiting to read and it did not disappoint. The first book in the series,Antique Magic, was excellent . I have been waiting on tenterhooks for book two to be available for review.

Eileen Harris has come up with a hook that grabs the reader and pulls them from one book to the next. In Antique Magic a prediction is made by the magical clock. It predicted that Alicia would discover the dead body of a friend. At the beginning of Antique Forgery Alicia is preparing to evaluate a jewellery collection. The collection belongs to Janice and Arthur Darnell who have known Alicia for many years. The collection is located in a part of the country Alicia has never visited. And where she knows nobody. Alicia feels she has beaten the prediction. Events conspire so that people who ought to be half a continent anyway at least turn up to visit. During one of those visit Kendra, who is one of Alicia’s closest friends, is found dead. Alicia is determined that there will be justice for her friend and that the killer caught. There is another death and this just makes Alicia more determined to find out the truth.

I loved most of this book. Eileen Harris has become one of my favourite writers. Addicted to her stories from the first of her books I read. I am glad that Antique Forgery lived up to my expectations of story and style.

The writing style of the author is simple and unpretentious. This makes it easy to read and propels you through the story at lightning rate. There was enough information at the beginning so that a new reader could follow what was going on but not so much a returning reader would be bored.

The writing leaves you thinking that you have been clever enough to spot the murderer and solve the crime. Then wham you are slapped around the face with a big Red Herring that makes you realise you have been completely duped. It is cleverly done.

Characters from the first book made a reappearance and it was good to see those characters being developed. New characters are introduced. I hope to see them again in future books.

Alicia is not a private investigator and does not go looking for adventure. She is one of the partners of an Antique Store in Scottsdale, Arizona and would be quite content if no adventure came her way. When she finds herself in situations where skill and determination and nerve are required she always steps up to the mark. Alicia is the type to take charge and not be frightened away by misfortune.

This book had two other future predictions for Alicia so I am hoping this means another book is on it’s way. Something I am looking forward to already.

So why after having been so fulsome in my praise have I only given this book a 3* rating. Because there is a fault in the resolution of the storyline. One that doesn't affect the story or the outcome but is about the wrapping up of loose ends.

Inheritance law simply does not work this way. It seemed to me that there was either a lack of research or a misunderstanding of the principles of inheritance law. Despite this I would recommend that everybody gives this Series a try. It is an enjoyable read and deserves to be much more widely known
… (mere)
 
Markeret
Prairieblossom | 1 anden anmeldelse | Feb 19, 2015 |
Antique dealer Alicia Trent has met Mrs. Hall, the woman in the huge house with the large hoard of treasures only once, many years ago when she was a teenager. Now, as an adult, she has been hired to appraise the collection after Mrs. Hall has died.

From the moment Alicia arrives, there is mystery after mystery. Alicia even suspects that Mrs. Hall did not die of natural causes. The mystery deepens when she finds a bottle with swirling colours and hidden passageways all throughout the mansion.

I loved the pacing of the book. It kept me on edge waiting for the next dreadful thing to happen or to be found. Mixed in to the whole story was a little romance to lighten things up a bit. It was a good balance.

I appreciated getting to know the characters. I think my favourite was Mrs. Baylor, the housekeeper with a flair for making wonderful meals and making the others feel better when tough stuff was happening.

I liked the determination in Alicia’s character to finish out the job even when it seemed like her life might be in danger. I especially liked the way the author was able to represent the characters in one light that made them possibly be threatening on one hand, or could take that behaviour and turn it into something positive so that it became just like a plot twist. You didn’t know if they were good or bad.

Lots of plot twists. Lots of fun. I gave Antique Magic 4 stars out of 5.

Thank you to the publishers for providing a copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.

This review was published on my blog Shelf Full of Books http://kathrynsshelffullofbooks.blogspot.com/2014/12/antique-magic-blog-tour-wit...
… (mere)
 
Markeret
KathrynSvendsen | Dec 19, 2014 |
Walking to her car after her bridge game, Amelia Armstrong discovered a small boy hiding behind a dumpster. Marc was hiding from two large men who had been holding him captive and abusing him. Escaping with Marc to safety, Amelia called upon her friends from the bridge club who rallied together to help Marc sets the lives of these women topsy-turvy and makes danger the name of the game.

I would classify this book as a cozy mystery type of book. Eight crime-fighting septuagenarians is a bit hard to swallow but wonderfully delightful to think about. Their backgrounds make the possibility of the roles they take on quite plausible, it’s the physicality of sleuthing at their age that is a bit hard to truly believe. A seventy-five year old grandma belly-crawling through the grass? Hmm…. I hope I have as much moxie as these women do at that age.

I liked that these women were not afraid to take care of themselves, but were wise enough to know when they needed help. They mostly did things in pairs so that they always had someone to back them up. I also liked that they didn’t just work with people of their own generation. Their receptionist was a young woman, someone that would seem like an unlikely fit with eight elderly ladies, but who in reality fit in very well even though on the outside she looked more like a punk rocker.

I didn’t find there was a great deal of depth to the character development, though there was enough for me to have the appropriate response to Marc’s soon-to-be-grandmother.

The Black Cane was an enjoyable light crime/mystery read. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to the publishers for providing a copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.

This review was published on my blog Shelf Full of Books http://kathrynsshelffullofbooks.blogspot.com/2014/09/book-review-black-cane-by-e...
… (mere)
 
Markeret
KathrynSvendsen | 1 anden anmeldelse | Sep 10, 2014 |

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Værker
12
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125
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#160,151
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½ 3.7
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5
ISBN
10

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