Dead Men Don't Decorate
-
- $22.99
Publisher Description
Art, murder, and a secret dating back centuries collide in Cordy Abbott’s delightful cozy mystery series debut, perfect for fans of Jane K. Cleland.
Roberto Fratelli, proprietor of the antiques store Waited4You, is the meanest man in Marthasville, Virginia. So when he puts the business up for sale, the other merchants in town are overjoyed. And now the business has a prospective buyer: local resident and the newly elected mayor's mom, Camille Benson, who’s thrilled at the prospect of getting into the antiques business. During a celebration in honor of Camille’s new venture, her best friend, Opal, tells her about finding a letter, purportedly from Sally Fairfax to George Washington, dated 1756, hidden under a chair in the shop. When they return to retrieve the cache, they find Roberto’s lifeless body on the floor and no letter.
Police question Ella Coleman, Roberto’s ex-wife, and discover that her current husband supplied Roberto with oh-so-faux Victorian furniture. Did the two cheat the wrong customer? Or could the murder be connected to an earlier theft of rare books from the shop—a theft Roberto never reported?
As Camille prepares to confront these questions and investigate the murder, she knows she might become the latest knock-off.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Abbott debuts with a charming series launch set in Marthasville, Va., a stand-in for Alexandria, Va. At 55, Camille Benson wants a life change when she hears Waited4You, the antique store her parents used to own in Marthasville, is for sale. Camille jumps at the opportunity to buy the store from Roberto Fratelli, known as the meanest man in town. After a night of celebrating her first day of ownership, she and her best friend, Opal Wells, go back to the store only to find Roberto lying in a pool of blood and a valuable piece of inventory missing, a leather case that had been taped under a chair, in which Opal had earlier found a letter dating to the mid–18th century. Could it be a clue to the murder? More crimes ensue, including the kidnapping of a police detective, as well as revelations of a messy political entanglement involving the local newspaper and the town's police chief. Abbott lovingly depicts Marthasville and its appealing residents while keeping the reader guessing whodunit. Cozy fans are in for a treat.
