cover image Antiques Flee Market: A Trash 'n' Treasures Mystery

Antiques Flee Market: A Trash 'n' Treasures Mystery

Barbara Allan, . . Kensington, $22 (216pp) ISBN 978-0-7582-1195-8

At the start of Allan's lively third antiques mystery (after 2007's Antiques Maul ), divorcée Brandy Borne and her eternally glamorous if somewhat annoying mother, Vivian, are busy preparing for the Christmas rush in the small Midwestern town of Serenity. Then Walter Yeager, a fellow antiques dealer, dies of cyanide poisoning soon after it becomes public knowledge that the WWII veteran owned a valuable first edition of Tarzan of the Apes , which disappears from the crime scene. Walter's 20-year-old British goth granddaughter, Chaz, becomes the top suspect due to her prison record, but Brandy and Vivian believe she's innocent. Told primarily from Brandy's viewpoint with Vivian sneaking in quips for extra pizzazz, this bubbly tongue-in-cheek cozy also includes flea market shopping tips and a recipe. Allan is the pseudonym of the husband-wife writing team of Barbara and Max Allan Collins. (Sept.)