Lucy St. Elmo owns St. Elmo Fine Antiques, and one of the things she looks forward to is Brimfield, the largest outdoor antiques and collectibles show in New England. But just as Brimfield kicks off, one of Lucy's friends is killed. Montgomery "Monty" Rondo has been strangled with a strip of lace. Monty is well-known in the industry as a picker, and he tends to be a "love him or hate him" person. Lucy had a great relationship with him, and she's shocked by his death, and even more shocked when his business partner (known to everyone as "Silent Billy") is almost immediately arrested.

Although Lucy has helped solve a murder in the past, it cost her dearly. She was shot in the process and her husband made her promise to cease her sleuthing ways. Despite being a friend of Monty's, she's not particularly interested in trying to figure out who killed him, other than being sure that it wasn't Silent Billy. Besides, she knows that she'll be getting only a few hours of sleep each night for a week between trying to wheel and deal the good deals all day, every day.

But she gradually gets sucked into helping with the case. First, she finds a defense attorney for Silent Billy, then she starts asking questions about why he's a suspect in the first place. When people begin assuming she's digging around to help free him, they start freely giving her information, and she gradually begins investigating more until she eventually begins a full-scale investigation.

I found this to be a solid, entertaining mystery. Lucy's new friend Coylie was endearing, and it was enjoyable to watch their friendship form. I was uneasy, though, with Lucy's relationships with her friend Natalie and husband, which seemed off-kilter.

It was, nice, however, to see Lucy form a bond with her daughter-in-law, who divulged an interest in antiquing. It was through this that we got to see Lucy's expertise really come to life. We also got to see Lucy share her exuberance for the hobby, rather than see it through her eyes as merely a business, which changes the perspective. I would definitely read another book in this series, especially to see how Lucy interacts with other characters, who she may see on a more regular basis.

Book Summary

Treasure hunting is not for the faint of heart. Luckily, Lucy St. Elmo, owner of the Cape Cod antiques shop St. Elmo Fine Antiques, has more than enough heart. What she needs to improve are her tracking skills-or else the wrong man could be convince of a one-of-a-kind murder.