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COZY/ANTIQUES MYSTERY
SHADOWS AT THE FAIR
Just as John Dunning combined the rare book world and murder in Booked to Die, this debut mystery series brings together antique prints and unexplained homicides.

Six antique print dealers have died recently under suspicious circumstances, so it’s no surprise security is high when recently widowed Maggie Summer arrives Friday afternoon to set up her booth of antique prints at the Rensselaer Country Spring Antiques Fair. But despite the precautions another antique dealer dies mysteriously that night, and a young friend of Maggie’s, who has Down Syndrome, becomes the prime suspect.

With the fair closing Sunday, Maggie has only 48 hours to find the real killer. In the meantime she has prints to sell, relationships to uncover, and even a possible new romance to savor.

Maggie can’t shake the feeling that her prints contain an important message. They depict fascinating images of the past, but do they offer a window to the present as well?

Maggie soon discovers she’s not just an expert on prints; she’s a pretty good detective, too.

Lea Wait, a fourth generation antiques dealer, has written a book crackling with suspense, intrigue, and authenticity.
Read A Review:

Recently widowed Maggie Summer is participating in the Rensselaer County Spring Antiques Fair. She owns Shadows Antiques.

There have been some deaths of antique dealers, so everyone is on edge. Security has been hightened for the show as well.

Many of the same dealers who were at the show where John Smithson died of a poisoning last week are at this show. The dealers make the identical circuit each year and seem to know each other well. But do they really?

On opening night there is another death. The show goes on, but Maggie spends almost as much time investigating as she does selling antiques. She is determined to help prove that her friend Gussie’s nephew Ben, who has Down’s syndrome, is not the killer. Hardest part is trying to prove who is. She can’t believe any of these people that she knows could be a killer.

I really enjoy this series. Maggie is such an enjoyable character. The interspersing of information about antiques really moves the story. I found myself having trouble putting the book down. I’m not an antiques enthusiast, but the way she weaves the story and the antiques information together really makes it interesting.

I highly recommend this book and the whole series.

Dawn Dowdle


The first in the Maggie Summer Antique print Mystery series! Maggie and her friend Gussie are doing an antique show in New York State when, unexpectedly, one of their fellow dealers is killed. Gussie's nephew, Ben, is blamed, and Maggie steps in to prove he is not the killer. Details about antiques and antique dealers are combined with clues...and Maggie must find the killer before the antiques show closes Sunday afternoon, and everyone goes home. "The fairground setting beckons like a weekend in the country."

The New York Times Book Review