⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – 5 stars
Butterfly House B&B owner and gluten free baker, Poppy McAllister, and her aunt Ginny, are at the Cold Spring village antique show. Poppy is interested in bidding on an armoire for the B&B. She’s also curious about the mystery antique piece that Auggie Whipple of Whipple’s Antique Emporium is supposed to present at the show. Rival antique dealer, Grover Prickle, claims the surprise piece was stolen from him. When the antique show gets under way a body falls out of the armoire that Poppy wanted for the B&B and she finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation once again to the irritation of her childhood nemesis, Amber, and Amber’s new colleague, Viola Washington, of the police department. Poppy feels an obligation to help solve the murder. But when an ominous warning is left at the B&B for all eyes to see, Poppy realizes she’d better get to the bottom of this murder mystery before she becomes the next victim.
I have to admit that I was at first a little intimidated by the length of this cozy mystery, 434 pages. I needn’t have worried. The hilarity of all the characters, including the furry ones, never stopped. For me it was all about the journey rather than the destination in this cozy mystery. The multitude of characters, including the B&B guests and employees, aunt Ginny’s friends, the resident cat Figaro along with the guests’ pets, the police department, Poppy’s Italian beau, Gia, and his family members…. all contribute to the laughs that easily propel the story towards the conclusion of the whodunnit. I don’t want to downplay the mystery aspect of this cozy. I was committed to finding out who killed the man in the armoire and that revelation did not disappoint.
I loved everything about this cozy. I laughed out loud so many times that I can officially say that this series is an absolute favorite of mine. Don’t let the length deter you, you will love every minute of this wild, hilarious ride.
AUDIOBOOK review (Tantor Audio) – Read by Callie Beaulieu – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – 5 stars
I did a read/listen of Antique Auctions Are Murder and Callie Beaulieu does a phenomenal job narrating this series. I admit that when I started this series I didn’t think the narrator’s voice matched the description I’d created in my mind of Poppy McAllister. However, over the course of the series she’s owned the Poppy character in my head, and in addition, her talent and skillful depiction of the secondary characters is incredible. Callie Beaulieu is able to imitate characters’ accents, their ages (young and old), mannerisms, audible gestures and everything in between. The audiobook was a definite enhancement to my reading experience.
I highly recommend this book and the entire series.
Thank you Kensington and Tantor Audio for a complimentary book and audiobook download of Antique Auctions Are Murder. In exchange I have provided a review in which all opinions are exclusively my own.
Cozynookbks 