Shadows at the Fair: An Antique Print Mystery
Mar 2003 · Simon and Schuster
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About this ebook
- Local antiques dealer, dead in a one-car accident on his way home from an antiques exposition in Columbus, Ohio
- Two Scranton, Pennsylvania, antiques dealers dead of smoke inhalation
- Massachusetts antiques dealer dead of substance abuse at an auction in Sharon, Connecticut
- Antiques dealer dies in his booth at the Westchester (New York) Antiques Show
Ignorance is truly bliss for recently widowed Maggie Summer, owner of Shadows Antiques, when she arrives at the prestigious Rensselaer County Spring Antiques Fair. Sadly, she won't remain ignorant of the suspiciously high mortality rate among her fellow antiques dealers for long.
Rumors are everywhere. The most recent victim, John Smithson, died of poison at a show just last week, and many of the same dealers are here at Rensselaer. They make the identical circuit year after year, so they know each other well. Or do they?
Murder is still far from Maggie's mind as she arranges her Shadows booth: some Currier & Ives prints here, Winslow Homer wood engravings on the hack wall, other prints arranged on tables and easels by category. With eleven years' experience, she knows her stock. So far the worst thing that has happened was putting the wrong price tag on a Homer engraving and having to sell it for $170 instead of $1,700.
Maggie doesn't intend for that to happen again, and she doesn't intend to worry about murder. This show's security is tight. But she can't help observing her colleagues with fresh eyes. Some, Eke Gussie White in the booth next door, are dear friends, and Gussie's assistant, her twenty-year-old nephew, Ben, who has Down's syndrome, is a delightful new acquaintance. Others, however, even people she's known for years, suddenly seem suspect.
The opening night wine has hardly stopped flowing when death claims another victim. Maggie will still sell a few antique prints, but she'll spend most of her time looking for a killer and trying to save a vulnerable young friend. Will Maggie herself become a potential victim? The answer may be in one of Maggie's prints, but she has hundreds in her booth. Where should she begin?
With its riveting behind-the-scenes glimpse of antiques shows and its revealing data on antique-print values, Shadows at the Fair introduces a captivating new series that unveils the powerful mysteries of antique prints even as it entertains.
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5.0
2 reviews
About the author
Lea Wait made her mystery debut with Shadows at the Fair, which was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel. Shadows on the Ivy, the third novel in her acclaimed series featuring Maggie Summer, is forthcoming in hardcover from Scribner. Lea comes from a long line of antiques dealers, and has owned an antique print business for more than twenty-five years. The single adoptive mother of four Asian girls who are now grown, she lives in Edgecomb, Maine. In addition to the Antique Print mysteries, Lea Wait writes historical fiction for young readers. Her first children's book, Stopping to Home, was named a Notable Book for Children in 2001 by Smithsonian magazine.
Visit her website at LeaWait.com.
Visit her website at LeaWait.com.
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