Dolled Up for Murder

February 20, 2012
In Cleland’s winning seventh Josie Prescott antiques mystery (after 2011’s Deadly Threads), someone guns down Josie’s friend and client, financial adviser Alice Michaels, outside Josie’s Rocky Point, N.H., shop, Prescott’s Antiques and Auctions, shortly after the two women examine a valuable collection of dolls that Josie just bought for resale. That Alice “was being investigated for running a mega-Ponzi scheme” may suggest a motive for murder. When Josie’s loyal shop assistant, Eric, disappears, kidnappers demand the prized dolls as ransom. Meanwhile, Josie finds rare Civil War currency inside a vintage Chatty Cathy doll with the miniphonograph removed. Working with Rocky Point’s limited police force (no FBI wanted for this homespun case) and amid eager reporters, Josie once again proves an adept sleuth. The action builds to a seamless and fitting conclusion. Author tour. Agent: Cristina Concepcion, Don Congdon Associates.

March 1, 2012
What could be more natural than a New Hampshire antiques dealer becoming a magnet for crime? Perhaps because she handles many expensive objects that sometimes bring out the worst in people, Josie Prescott has gotten a reputation as an amateur sleuth. So it's appropriate, if horrifying, that she's on the scene when one of her clients is shot dead in her parking lot. Alice Michaels was a doll collector and a financial advisor who was about to be arrested for an alleged Ponzi scheme. She'd just put down a deposit on a doll collection Josie had agreed to appraise for the two sisters selling it. When Josie's helper is kidnapped on the way back from collecting more of the dolls, the ransom demanded is the collection itself. Although the dolls are valuable, Josie is sure that there's more to them than meets the eye. Sure enough, X-rays reveal wads of bills hidden in some of their heads--perhaps rare and valuable Civil War notes, which would be well worth the kidnappers' efforts. There are plenty of suspects in Alice's death, starting with all those who lost money in her scheme. Even the dolls themselves may have had motives for murder. The police chief is a friend who's not about to turn down Josie's help when it comes to solving antiques-related crimes, even when it puts her in danger. Cleland continues to offer clever mysteries (Deadly Threads, 2011, etc.) studded with enough information on antiques to keep collectors coming back for more.

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April 1, 2012

Someone wants an antique doll collection enough to kill for it. Antiques dealer Josie (Deadly Threads) must solve this quickly to save her kidnapped employee. The seventh in a winning cozy series. [See Prepub Alert, 11/14/11; library marketing.]

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2012
In the course of running her own auction house in Rocky Point, New Hampshire, Josie Prescott acquires an antique doll collection from the heirs of a longtime resident. Even before she and her staff can appraise the collection, Josie has an offer from a local stockbroker to buy it. As the stockbroker prepares to leave Prescott's, a TV reporter waylays her to ask questions about her upcoming indictment for fraud. Then, as Josie is finalizing details with the broker, and they walk to their cars, shots ring out, leaving the purchase in limbo. Within hours, Josie gets word that her truck, which was dispatched to pick up the rest of the collection, has been hijacked, with the driver missing and all the dolls in the truck smashed. Did they contain treasure or contraband? The descriptions of the dolls, and the explanations of the inner workings of the art and antiques auction business, add texture to a well-told mystery.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)