The Antique Store Detective by Clare Chase [review]

The Antique Store Detective is the first book in the Bella Winter Mysteries, a new cozy mystery series by Clare Chase, set in Hope Eaton, UK and featuring antique store owner, Bella Winter.

Title: The Antique Store Detective
Author: Clare Chase
Series: Bella Winter Mysteries, Book 1
First Published: August 7, 2024
Publisher: Bookouture
Genres: Mystery
Acquired: from the publisher via Netgalley

*** Thank you to the publisher, Bookouture, for providing me with an e-copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes. ***

Bella Winter moved to charming Hope Eaton for some peace and quiet after quitting her busy city job. She delights in spending time in her little antique store on top of the hill, hunting for bargains at auctions, and getting to know everybody – because if there’s one thing Bella’s good at, it’s solving other people’s problems. But her peaceful life is overturned when she finds eccentric local historian Professor Oliver Barton dead in the ruins of Raven Hall, a trowel lying near his outstretched hand. At first, Bella is like everyone – saddened by a tragic accident. But then her colleague John asks her to dig deeper because the dead man gave John an ancient coin he should never have had, and John thinks he was murdered.

It turns out the professor was hunting for buried treasure in the middle of the night. But who would have wanted him dead? And who are the four suspicious women he told John about, calling them the queens of hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades…? As Bella delves into the case she uncovers a hoard of the lord of the manor, a secretive group of treasure hunters, the dead man’s desperate niece and her no-good son. And when another local historian takes a fatal tumble, she is certain that the answers lie in the antiques the professor stole. But can she solve the crime before someone tries to bury her?

A fun cozy mystery with an interesting cast of characters

I know absolutely nothing about antiques, and yet cozy mysteries dealing with antiques and antique shops have been among some of my favourites in the past year (maybe it’s a growing sub-genre?) In any case, while I love the idea of antique and vintage furniture, and the excitement of auctions and hunting down treasures, this is one hobby I’m definitely going to enjoy from afar. So, I was definitely interested in starting this new series by Clare Chase.

Bella is very content with life in her small village and her little antique store. I loved meeting the people of Hope Eaton, including all the members of the Jenks family, like Bella’s employee John. While there were quite a few “regular” characters introduced, but they all had pretty distinct personalities and it was never hard to keep track of everyone and what their roles were.

And they definitely had their roles. Whether due to their occupation or their village connections, Bella puts all her friends to work solving this case. I found it really fun to see them all get in on the action. Usually the amateur sleuths in mysteries work alone, or with one other trusted person (sometimes from the police force), but Bella definitely has a whole crew along for the ride! While Bella is still the “main sleuther”, many of her circle provide valuable clues or insights as well.

Which is probably just as well, since the local police force seems to be too distracted or busy to bother solving not one, but two, suspicious deaths! It was almost funny how non-existent they were as Bella dug up all the clues, narrowed in on the suspects, and solved the murder. Maybe next time they’ll be more involved?

In any case, there was plenty of action to keep things moving along and it did take me awhile to hone in on who I thought the murderer was. There were lots of great clues, red herrings, and misdirects to keep the reader guessing and the conclusion and reveal was quite satisfying.

Quote from The Antique Store Detective