Josie Prescott left her high-paying job in a New York auction house somewhat disenchanted, having discovered a fraud and done the right thing, and then found herself shunned for doing it. She has moved to the New Hampshire coast and set up her own antiques auction business. She is slowly getting things together when a client from whom she was going to earn a great deal of money is found murdered. As she had an appointment with said client on the morning of his death, things don’t look that good for Josie.
Investigating the death is the local police chief Alverez, who is eligible, gorgeous and distant, and thinks Josie is the prime suspect. Being new to the locality, Josie doesn’t have that many friends, just business acquaintances, and they seem keen to ensure she remains the prime suspect. She retains the services of lawyer Max Bixby, who seems to be the only one on her side.
The friends she does have consist in the main of her employees, Gretchen, Eric and Sasha, but what does she actually know about them? Can she trust them?
A good mystery with the addition of some interesting information on how an auction house works in the USA which I found very interesting and informative. I liked Josie finding her character that is both independent and Vulnerable, very believable, and I also enjoyed the sexual tension which is handled really well.
I liked the book so much I went onto the internet to see if she had written any others, and discovered that Consigned to Death was nominated for an Agatha Award, as the Best First Novel in the tradition of Agatha Christie! She has a new book Deadly Appraisal due out in 2007. I look forward to it.
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Lizzie Hayes