The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder

A cosy mystery centered around former antique hunter Freya and her aunt Carole, as they try to figure out who has killed Freya's former mentor. The reason they are hunting the killer? Because Arthur has asked them to do so - knowing he was betrayed and had made enemies, he set out a trail that would lead them to the truth, and that only they would be able to follow.

This story starts off strong, with Freya and Carole having to decipher hidden messages and meanings in the letter sent by Arthur Crockleford, and it's fun to see them figure it out step by step.

But then, the second half of the book is pretty much just a bunch of people sitting around in a house. I felt like it lost all momentum. I also didn't enjoy the perspective switching that happened occasionally, and I feel like it would have been better if we learned everything together with Freya, rather than getting exclusive information and insights from having chapters written from suspects' perspectives.

I did enjoy Freya as a main character a whole lot - she has a complicated relationship with Arthur, and we slowly learn more and more about what exactly happened that ended their mentor-mentee relationship - the way that Freya experienced it, and Arthur's side of the story. Arthur is truly the best character in this book, and I loved his little sayings that started off every single chapter. This is a healing journey for Freya on multiple fronts and I thought it was done very well.

Although this story and the culprit reveal weren't anything mind-blowing, I still had a good time and would recommend it to anyone into cosy mysteries!

I really want to like this but another sort of mid book for me, no love no hate.

I like the MCs aunt Carol more than Freya the MC but I also feel I have come across her before, the eccentric older relative, childless, carefree and young at heart.

The setting and the world of antiques is great and I really liked the idea of hunting for stolen antiques as a job, excellent choice for a cozy series.

But the stories never really comes off the ground, I don't care much for Frey which is very similar to other characters, her daughter is grown up, she's getting a divorce and she needs to get back to life again.

There's multiple POVs which I don't feel help the story much.

Oh but I do love Emilia Fox as a narrator, she's always good.

I heard an interview with the author, C.L. Miller on NPR's Book a Day podcast. The set up sounded great including an Agatha-Christie-style murder mystery and reveal based in the world of antiques. The author's mother was an expert in antique valuation, so I thought I was in for a real treat.

Sadly, the writing was very stilted and the characters were flat. I kept hoping the book would improve because the authors enthusiasm and ideas were so good, but she just wasn't able to execute.