Shadows at the Fair

The first in the Antique Print Mystery series. The book takes place over a weekend at an antiques fair where two dealers, married but in the process of divorce, are murdered at different times. Maggie Summer deals in antique prints and has the booth next to them. She and her friend Gussie, also a dealer, get involved in the investigation. An average cozy with a few surprise elements. The writing can be stilted at times but the plot is good.

SHADOWS AT THE FAIR: AN ANTIQUE PRINT MYSTERY by Lea Wait is the first, introductory title in the series.
I was tempted to read this book because I liked Lea Wait’s other works so much, especially the new TWISTED THREADS: A MAINELY NEEDLEPOINT MYSTERY.

I did like the overall ‘feel’ of the book, but I didn’t have enough details to really like the main characters that much. The characters weren’t as ‘fleshed out’ as I would have liked. The Findley couple - I never did feel concerned about them and couldn’t understand their relationship. Is Will a good person or bad person? Gussie was all over the map and Lydia and Abe were very creepy. Joe - kind or silly? Only 3 pages were devoted to Maggie’s husband, Michael.

I did enjoy show more the theme of the book - antique prints. I liked the chapter introductions - information about various prints - descriptions, dates and details about the artists. The introductions were my favorite part of the book.

The mystery was plausible but I wanted more details.

I will read more titles in this series and hope they get better and better. show less

First in the Maggie Summers “antique print” cozy mystery series set on the east coast. Maggie is a college professor but also has an antique prints business called Shadows on the side. She does the antique show circuit, mostly during the summer months, and this story takes place at one such show. When one of her fellow dealers ends up murdered and her good friend Gussie’s nephew Ben, who has Down’s Syndrome, is accused of the crime, Maggie knows she needs to look more deeply at the situation than the police seem to be doing and sets out to ask a few questions of her own to clear Ben’s name. I figured out the bad guy way ahead of time and after a few clues were dropped, even figured out the motive well before the end of the show more book, too. This was an okay first entry in a series. I liked Maggie well enough, though I felt she rather two-dimensional. The dialogue was kind of stilted and didn’t seem very realistic, and the whole package just didn’t “jive” very well—something was “off.” I did enjoy learning about antique prints and the whole “antiques fair circuit” but it really wasn’t enough to maintain my interest; I highly doubt I’ll continue reading more in the series. show less