Consigned to Death
Jane Cleland
Reviewed By Diane Kasperski
Ms. Cleland’s first cozy mystery is a winner. The story line keeps
moving from the first few pages all the way till the end.
Josie
Prescott has her own antique auction business after moving from New
York. However, a prospective client is murdered the morning Josie has
an appointment with him. She wondered why he didn’t answer his door
when she arrived for the appointment which she thought was to close the
deal.
Josie seems to be the prime suspect.
After all, rumor has it that the client was thinking about giving his
million dollar business to a competitor. There are not too many
suspects other than Josie and she doesn’t want to go to jail for a
crime she didn’t commit. Sure that the police are not investigating
other possibilities enough, Josie decides to launch her own
investigation.
Stolen paintings are
discovered amongst the estate holdings. Not just any stolen paintings
but 3 paintings that were stolen by the Nazi’s from Jewish families.
These paintings are worth a fortune. It is possible that one of the
families the paintings were stolen from discovered who had them and
wanted their painting back. The victim’s granddaughter who has a severe
drug problem wants to sell them quickly for fast cash. Even though
Barney Troudeaux, the competitor, has a solid reputation he has
problems of his own and desperately needed this business.
The
further the investigation gets the murkier it becomes. It keeps your
turning pages all the way through to the end when the real culprit is
caught in a trap.
Update: This book has been
nominated for an Agatha Award.
Congratulations!