The Antique Store Detective: A completely unputdownable cozy murder mystery (A Bella Winter Mystery Book 1)
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(as of Oct 22, 2024 06:59:23 UTC – Details)
‘Fantastic… I loved this from cover to cover… I am officially a Bella Winter devotee!… My favorite… Nailed it… Had me hooked right from the start… An outstanding mystery. I loved it!’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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!
See what everyone is saying about The Antique Store Detective:
‘Absolutely brilliant… Clear your schedules as once you’ve picked this up you won’t be able to put it down!!… absolutely compelling, addictive and page-turning… fantastic!’ bookwormwhitlock86
‘Brilliant!… I highly recommend.’ Spellbinding_reviews, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Brilliant… I found myself hooked from start to finish… I absolutely adored it!’ Baker’s Not So Secret Book Blog
‘Loved this one!… Highly recommend.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Drew me in from the very first page… delightful… really did keep me on my toes throughout… I loved it.’ Cal Turner Reviews
‘Clues that keep circling around, leaving the reader guessing until the end… a quirky cast of characters readers will truly enjoy… Five stars out of five.’ Semmie’s Space, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Antiques, archaeological finds and a mystery to solve? What’s not to love?… kept me guessing throughout. I look forward to more of Bella Winter’s adventures… and her vintage style!’ Goodreads reviewer
‘I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Bella Winter. I loved the friendship she has with John and the Jenkses!… I highly recommend.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Pace that kept me wanting to keep reading like crazy.’ Goodreads reviewer
‘My expectations were high… and they were met perfectly… red herrings, clues deftly placed, and excellent characterisation – Bella’s confident, full of curiosity and creative. Thoroughly enjoyed this.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
ASIN : B0CT45DTC8
Publisher : Bookouture (August 7, 2024)
Publication date : August 7, 2024
Language : English
File size : 1183 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 328 pages
Page numbers source ISBN : 1837901961
13 reviews for The Antique Store Detective: A completely unputdownable cozy murder mystery (A Bella Winter Mystery Book 1)
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cynthia d. –
The Antique Store Detective is a future classic.
It is the best mystery I have read in years. I loved all the English trappings and local references. The reference to antique collectibles was delightful. I hope that book 2 will also be in paperback.
E.Koz –
Cute cozy mystery
A fun cozy mystery that will satisfy that mystery itch without feeling overwhelming or dark.Bella Winter owns an antique shop in the UK. One night she stays with some family friends and the next morning as she sets out to leave she basically trips over a body in their garden. Once the body is identified, Bella feels drawn to investigating and solving the murder. Armed with her godfather and her parting father’s investigative wisdom, Bella sets out to solve the murder.Cute, easy, fast…all words that come to mind when thinking about this novel. When you need a break from traditional thrillers, this book fits the bill. Bella Winter is fun and lovable. Can’t wait to read book 2 in this series!
Kris Anderson, The Avid Reader –
Not my cup of tea!
The Antique Store Detective by Clare Chase is the first A Bella Winter Mystery. The author takes her time in setting the scene describing the village, the antique store, the manor home, and Bellaâs apartment. We get to meet a host of characters when Bella goes to the pub or people come to her antique shop. I like that Bella is now living in the same apartment where her father resided. You can tell how much Bella cared for father. Bella finds a man dead who was nighthawking on the grounds of the local manor house. I had not heard of nighthawking previously, and it was interesting to learn about this practice. Bella along with her employee, John Jenks, dig into whodunit. Bella, of course, does not believe the police are up to the task. There are several suspects who have a motive. John seems to be related to over half the village, which helps in obtaining information as well as questioning suspects. Of course, Bella retires to the pub to share the information she has learned with her friends. This leads to repetition of case details. While parts of the mystery were interesting, the solution was simple. There was a lack of action, suspense, and excitement. The ending felt incomplete. The story moved at a slow pace (snailâs move faster), and it was too long (375 pages). As the saying goes, The Antique Store Detective was not my cup of tea!
Kindle Customer –
The Antique Store Detective
Bella Winter owned an antique store and had a great partner named John. John had previously worked for a museum and was very knowledgeable. One of the local large homes owned a Roman Ruin on the property. A friend, A college professor, was found murdered in the ruin by Bella. An assortment of friends helped her figure out the killer. See if you can guess who did the deed! It’s very complicated with another body and lots of suspects.
L. Hayes –
Roman ruins, murder and a detectiveâs daughter!
Having enjoyed the Eve Mallow series by this author, I was looking forward to this start of a new one, Bella Winter is a new resident of Hope Eaton, where she has opened a vintage and antique store. She had spent time as a child here with her late police detective father, a man she loved and learned from. When Bella stumbles across the body of a local professor she feels compelled to investigate herself when the local police believe the death was an accident, not murder as Bella believes. Using the lessons she learned from her father and the wide ranging family connections of her employee, John, Bella and crew sift through the lies and omissions of a whole cast of suspects before the last plot twist reveals the killer.Overall I did enjoy the book, it was a bit slow and repetitive sometimes with a lot of characters and speculation as to their motives to keep track of, but the storyline of night hawks and how they worked kept me interested, as did Bellaâs flair for vintage clothing (more of this in the next book please!), and the resolution was well done. Now that weâve gotten to know Bellaâs large group of fellow crime solvers Iâm hoping the next in the series will move along a bit more quickly, Iâll be looking forward to it as I enjoyed Bella as a character. Sheâs intuitive, strong, principled and kind, a great combination. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance copy.
taking.mytime –
geat book
First in a series – great book – have you got a copy yet? Well why not?
Norma Den ð¿ð¦ –
Good first in series
Iâm sure this series will grow on readers as the characters become familiar. First not too bad but so far not as good as Eve Mallow series. Will probably give better reviews in future.
Kindle Customer –
Too drawn out
The story was simply too drawn out I skipped three or four times. I suppose if one was very relaxed and interested in ‘working it out’, one may enjoy it but i did not.
Rhonda –
A nice read.
Elizabeth Sirett –
Bella Winter has left her busy life in the city to open an antique shop in the small Shropshire village of Hope Eaton where she grew up. Her hopes for a quiet life renewing past friendships and establishing a new business are soon shattered when she discovers the body of one of her father’s friends, an eccentric local historian, Professor Oliver Barton in the ruins of Raven Hall. The local police think Oliverâs death was an accident, but Bella is unconvinced. Her friend and assistant in the new shop, John Jenks tells her that Oliver gave him an ancient coin that appears to be part of treasure trove. Was Oliver killed when he was out at night illegally digging for treasure in private grounds? To add to the mystery, John tells Bella about a strange rhyme that Oliver mentioned concerning four suspicious women he called the queens of hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades.Bella and John feel compelled to investigate. Who has a motive to want the professor dead, who are these suspicious women and are they connected to his death? There are suspects aplenty.This is the first book in a new mystery series by prolific author Clare Chase. I have read a couple of her Eve Marlow mysteries and thoroughly enjoyed them.Clare Chase always has a large cast of characters. Apart from a raft of suspects, there are numerous members of Johnâs family keen to help with the investigation. Bella is an engaging character keen to adopt the methods of her much-missed deceased policeman father. One of my favourite characters is John who is much more reserved than his new employer.The background is well researched, and I enjoyed delving into the world of antiques and learning more about nighthawking.The twists and turns of the complex plot kept me guessing right up to the end. An enjoyable read, The Antique Store will appeal to anyone who loves a fast-paced, cosy mystery.——Reviewer: Judith CranswickFor Lizzie Sirett (Mystery People Group)
LindaR –
That made good reading, Am quite fond of these quaint village type murders, everyone knows everyone else along with their business, so can make it doubly hard to discover the culprit and hard to believe it of someone you know. Shall try the next in series.
S F Canfield –
I enjoyed it but I could certainly put it down.
Pamela Brooks –
I’ve enjoyed Clare’s Eve Mallow series, so my expectations were high for this one – and they were met perfectly. Bella Winter owns an antiques shop in the village of Hope Eaton, working with her friend and assistant John. Oliver, one of her father’s friends is found dead among the ruins at the local stately home; the local police think it’s an accident, but Bella’s dad was a detective and she thinks there’s more to it than that, especially when John tells her that Oliver gave him a coin… When she investigates, she discovers that Oliver wasn’t just a respected professor but a nighthawk with a huge collection of stolen antiquities – and there are several people with motives to want him dead. But the investigation places Bella in danger, too…Lots of red herrings, clues deftly placed, and excellent characterisation – Bella’s confident, full of curiosity and creative. Thoroughly enjoyed this and am looking forward to the next in the series.