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Loading... Shadows at the Fair (Antique Print) (original 2002; edition 2002)by Lea Wait (Author)
Work InformationShadows at the Fair by Lea Wait (2002)
![]() None No current Talk conversations about this book. 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. 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 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. no reviews | add a review
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Local antiques dealer, dead in a one-car accident on his way home from an antiques exposition in Columbus, Ohio Two Scranton, Pennsylvania, antiques dealers dead of smoke inhalation Massachusetts antiques dealer dead of substance abuse at an auction in Sharon, Connecticut Antiques dealer dies in his booth at the Westchester (New York) Antiques Show Ignorance is truly bliss for recently widowed Maggie Summer, owner of Shadows Antiques, when she arrives at the prestigious Rensselaer County Spring Antiques Fair. Sadly, she won't remain ignorant of the suspiciously high mortality rate among her fellow antiques dealers for long. Rumors are everywhere. The most recent victim, John Smithson, died of poison at a show just last week, and many of the same dealers are here at Rensselaer. They make the identical circuit year after year, so they know each other well. Or do they? Murder is still far from Maggie's mind as she arranges her Shadows booth: some Currier & Ives prints here, Winslow Homer wood engravings on the hack wall, other prints arranged on tables and easels by category. With eleven years' experience, she knows her stock. So far the worst thing that has happened was putting the wrong price tag on a Homer engraving and having to sell it for $170 instead of $1,700. Maggie doesn't intend for that to happen again, and she doesn't intend to worry about murder. This show's security is tight. But she can't help observing her colleagues with fresh eyes. Some, Eke Gussie White in the booth next door, are dear friends, and Gussie's assistant, her twenty-year-old nephew, Ben, who has Down's syndrome, is a delightful new acquaintance. Others, however, even people she's known for years, suddenly seem suspect. The opening night wine has hardly stopped flowing when death claims another victim. Maggie will still sell a few antique prints, but she'll spend most of her time looking for a killer and trying to save a vulnerable young friend. Will Maggie herself become a potential victim? The answer may be in one of Maggie's prints, but she has hundreds in her booth. Where should she begin? With its riveting behind-the-scenes glimpse of antiques shows and its revealing data on antique-print values, Shadows at the Fair introduces a captivating new series that unveils the powerful mysteries of antique prints even as it entertains. No library descriptions found. |
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![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
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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 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. (