Book Review: Antiques to Die For by Jane Cleland (Josie Prescott #3)

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Strong story keeps you guessing

Cons: "Wisdom" quotes, ending a little weak

The Bottom Line:

Engaging story

Couple with great characters

Equals fun cozy

Secrets and Hidden Treasure

After her professional life fell apart in New York, Josie Prescott moved to New Hampshire and opened her own antiques business. Trouble seems to have followed her north, since Antiques to Die For is the third time she's involved in murder in her new home.

When Josie and Rosalie met, they became instant friends. So when Rosalie turns up dead one January morning, Josie is naturally upset. The fact that it was murder makes things even more upsetting.

Rosalie was a woman of many secrets. She had a secret lover, a secret admirer, and a secret treasure. She'd just told her younger sister, Paige, about a treasure that would set them up for life. But what is it?

While Josie tries to find this secret item, Rosalie's secret admirer seems to be transferring his interest to Josie. Is Josie in danger? Who is the secret admirer? Where is the treasure? And who killed Rosalie?

My life has been very busy over the last couple weeks, and occasionally I went a day or two without getting back to this book, something I hate to do because I often feel I lose the flow of the story. Even with all the balls in the air, that didn't happen here. I was able to keep all this and more (there are a couple sub-plots involving Prescott Antiques) straight. And if something did confuse me, rereading the last couple pages brought me back up to speed.

Of course, part of this is because of the characters. They are memorable in their own way, so if a name didn't ring a bell, their actions always brought them back to me immediately. While the series regulars are well rounded, the characters introduced for this book are a bit two dimensional at times. Still, they work well for this book.

The plot flows well. With all the different threads going on here, it's easy to see why. We are always getting a clue or red herring on one aspect of the story or another. And then we get to try to decide which aspect actually led to Rosalie's death.

The ending left a little to be desired, in my opinion. While the clues and threads came together logically, drama was sacrificed for realism. I'm sure that what happened here is more realistic then most of the books I read, but I prefer having the main character be more involved at the end. And one or two things didn't quite make sense. It could be a result of me getting the timeline wrong, but I think it needed a very slight tweaking to work. Basically, I'm nit picking here. I doubt many others will have the same problem with it I did.

Having said that, it is refreshing to have the police be a strong presence in a book I read. Of course, it helps that Josie is dating the local chief of police. Even so, Josie is in constant contact with them and actually accepts their protection. At least most of the time. Occasionally, she did something stupid, and the fact that she normally behaved actually made it stand out more.

Speaking of Josie, she is stronger emotionally then in the first two books. She's not moping around feeling sorry for herself here, which is a very welcome change of character. The emotional meltdowns are reserved for Paige. But don't worry. They are never overly dramatic. In fact, these realistic scenes add texture to the story.

Josie has a habit of quoting bits of advice from her father constantly. At times it got annoying in the previous books. This time around, it really got on my nerves, and I'm not quite sure why. It didn't seem any more prevalent then in the first two in the series.

To be honest, I really don't care about antiques. So the fact that a mystery series about antiques could keep me entertained for three books tells you just how great the characters and stories are. Yes, Antiques to Die For has some flaws, but they are minor. This is a strong novel that will entertain those who enjoy cozy mysteries.