Silent Auction

February 8, 2010
Cleland once again smoothly blends antique lore and a plausible whodunit in her delightful fifth mystery featuring antiques dealer Josie Prescott (after 2009’s Killer Keepsakes
). When Josie shows up for an appraisal at the Rocky Point, N.H., lighthouse, she stumbles on the body of someone she knows on the kitchen floor. Frankie, the lighthouse caretaker and her good friend Zoë’s nephew, has “a ghastly dent in his skull.” The theft of a valuable scrimshaw tooth from the lighthouse owner’s vast collection may be connected to the murder, she concludes, as she lends her antiquing expertise in the subsequent police investigation. Series fans will enjoy getting reacquainted with familiar characters and meeting new ones. Everyone will learn a lot about the arcane art of scrimshaw.