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!