The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder

September 1, 2023

Former antiques hunter Freya Lockwood is estranged from her mentor, dealer Arthur Crockleford, and hasn't returned to her English hometown in 20 years. Now Arthur has died under mysterious circumstances, and Frey joins forces with offbeat Aunt Carole to find out what's afoot. Debuter Miller started her publishing career as assistant to her mother, Judith Miller, on The Miller's Antique Price Guide. Prepub Alert.

Copyright 2023 Library Journal

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2023

DEBUT Miller enters the cozy-mystery arena with this offering set amid the illegal antiques market. Freya Lockwood, feeling at loose ends with her life, is suddenly summoned by her Aunt Carole back to the quaint English village where she grew up. Arthur Crockleford, antiques dealer and Freya's former mentor, has died under mysterious circumstances. A trail of clues left by Arthur leads Freya and Carole to an old manor house filled with antiques and populated by various mysterious guests, all of them with hidden agendas and exuding varying degrees of menace. The author, daughter of Judith Miller (Miller's Antique Price Guide), draws on her own knowledge of antiques to develop the backdrop of the mystery. Though the plot and characters are a bit confusing at times, the overall storyline is solid. VERDICT Miller bears watching. Readers will look forward to more adventures with Freya and Carole in the intriguing world of antiques.--Sandy Knowles

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 11, 2023
Miller’s winning debut exposes the dark underbelly of the antiques trade. Forty-something Freya Lockwood is facing a personal crisis: her daughter has gone off to college, and her ex-husband has put the house where she’s lived for many years up for sale. While bracing for an inevitable eviction, Freya receives word that Arthur Crockleford, an antiques dealer in the English village of Little Meddington, has died and left his business to her and her aunt Carole. Twenty years earlier, Freya was Arthur’s partner in tracking down valuable antiquities, but an incident on their final trip together led her to break with Arthur and leave the profession. After Arthur’s funeral, Freya and Carole are given a cryptic letter in which Arthur asks Freya to track down an unnamed “item of great value.” If she does so, he promises, she will get her former life and career back. Following Arthur’s clues, Freya slowly comes to realize she’s also on the trail of his murderer. Miller nails the pace and mood of a good mystery on her first try, and Freya is a hugely appealing protagonist. Readers will be clamoring for a sequel. Agent: Hannah Todd, Madeleine Milburn Literary.

January 1, 2024
A murder in an antiques shop sends a woman back to her long-abandoned career as an investigator. Freya Lockwood's life in London has already been turned upside down--her beloved only child has left for college in the U.S., and her ex-husband is making her sell their house. Then comes the news that her former mentor, Arthur Crockleford, has died under mysterious circumstances in his antiques shop in the town where Freya grew up. He had trained her to follow his footsteps as an antique hunter: a detective who works for private owners or insurance companies to recover stolen antiques. The two have been estranged for 20 years, though, ever since her career ended in disaster. But Freya, who was orphaned young, was raised by her glamorous Aunt Carole, and Arthur and Carole were best friends. So Freya goes home to Little Meddington, and soon she and Carole find that Arthur has left a welter of clues indicating that he was murdered--and that Freya needs to hunt down not only his killer but an enigmatic object that will explain what really happened two decades before. They're off to a weekend retreat for antiques and antiquities collectors at a decaying mansion that was the home of a certain Lord Metcalf, an associate of Arthur's who also died recently. There they meet a contentious group that practically overflows with suspects who might have killed Arthur--and might be involved in the criminal side of the antiques world. Freya's instinct for investigation comes back to life, but she and Carole are clearly in danger. The book's setting offers interesting details about the antiques trade, but most of the characters are one-dimensional. And the overstuffed plot and frequent exposition drag down the pacing--at one point, a character says, "Shall we recap?" And does so, for several pages. A promising mystery setup gets bogged down in an overcomplicated plot.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2024
Freya Lockwood is devastated when her ex-husband insists on selling the house now that their daughter has left home, so she agrees to visit and assist her flamboyant retired-actress aunt, Carole. Then Freya's former mentor and Carole's good friend Arthur Crockleford dies a suspicious death. While Freya, a former antiques hunter, hasn't spoken to him since a job in Cairo that went horribly wrong, she agrees to solve the puzzles left by Arthur to find his killer and unravel the truth. The clues lead to a weekend at Copthorn Manor, where Freya and Carole trust no one and, still following Arthur's clues, uncover secrets that people are willing to kill to protect. Freya, who lost confidence in her abilities during and after her marriage, finds she still has her antiquing skills and love for the hunt. Told from multiple points of view, with well-drawn characters, this page-turning mystery is framed by details of antiques as Freya reimagines her life.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.