Antiques Wanted

February 15, 2018
Can success at amateur sleuthing lead to the sheriff's office?Antiques dealers Vivian Borne and her daughter, Brandy, have had a great deal of luck solving a long string of murders in Serenity, Iowa (Antiques Frame, 2017, etc.). A former actress and continuing diva, Vivian's decided to run for county sheriff against Deputy Daryl Dugan now that the current sheriff is retiring. To stock her campaign chest, Brandy suggests holding a white elephant sale that draws on their expertise in finding good items. To that end they visit Sunny Meadow Manor, an assisted living and nursing home where many of the apartments are packed with items moved from much larger homes. Even Harriet Douglas, Deputy Dugan's aunt, gives Vivian a lovely lamp as she asks for a copy of one of her books. Running back in to deliver the book, Brandy narrowly escapes death when Harriet's apartment explodes, killing the older woman, perhaps because she was smoking despite her use of an oxygen tank. Vivian's gossip network is soon aflutter with rumors about Sunny Meadow: too many people dying, drugs that don't seem to work, and a general air of neglect. Never one to shirk an investigation, Vivian goes so far as to have bunion surgery so she can spend some time there undercover. Shortly after she gets a note asking her to meet an unknown informant in the garden, her wheelchair brakes fail, and she's lucky to escape with minor bruising and the conviction that her snooping has hit a nerve.Allan's heroine seems a cinch to become sheriff despite her wild flights of fancy and her dangerous tactics in tracking down a killer with a well-hidden motive.

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March 12, 2018
In Allan’s diverting 12th Trash ’n’ Treasures mystery (after 2017’s Antiques Frame), Vivian Borne, who co-owns an antique shop in Serenity, Iowa, with her mother, Brandy, decides to run for county sheriff against deputy Daryl Dugan and drafts Brandy as her campaign manager. The two go in search of donations to Sunny Meadow Manor, an assisted living and nursing-care facility, where Harriet Douglas, Daryl’s aunt, is a resident. Harriet of course is supporting her nephew, but she offers to contribute anonymously to the Bornes’ white elephant sale. Shortly after Vivian and Brandy leave with a replica Tiffany lamp and a signed photo of old-time cowboy actor Gabby Hayes, Harriet dies in an explosion in her apartment—which is just one of several recent suspicious deaths at Sunny Meadow. Vivian returns to Sunny Meadow as a patient seeking treatment for her bunions to investigate Harriet’s death. Allan (the pseudonym of Barbara and Max Allan Collins) may be too cutesy for some tastes, but most cozy fans will enjoy spending time with Vivian and Brandy and friends. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary Agency.

April 1, 2018
Brandy Borne is appalled when her free-spirited, bipolar mother decides to run for county sheriff. She couldn't possibly win, could she? After the two gather items from residents of Sunny Meadow Manor, an assisted-living facility and nursing home, for a white-elephant sale to help finance Vivian's campaign, Brandy just misses being killed by an explosion in Harriet Douglas' apartment at the facility. At first, it looks like Harriet was smoking while using her oxygen tank, but Vivian believes she was murdered. To prove her point, Vivian decides it's high time to have her bunions operated on, and she recuperates at Sunny Meadow to carry on a clandestine investigation. Combining first-person narration from both Vivian and Brandy, who love to squabble, the latest in Allan's Trash 'n' Treasures series has long-suffering Brandy trying to rein in her mother and includes well-drawn, sometimes quirky characters and an appealing antiques frame. And don't forget the tips for getting the most from a white-elephant sale.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)