Last year, I picked up a copy of CL Miller’s The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder. I was expecting a gentle cosy mystery, and that’s how it started out. Protagonist Freya Lockwood is called back to where she grew up, as her Aunt Carole’s best friend, Arthur Crockleford, has been found dead.
What starts out with a dead body in a village antiques shop leads to uncovering a massive international black market antiques operation. In doing so, Freya rediscovered her independence and strength and begins to rebuild her life post-marriage. Now the joint owner of Crockleford Antiques with Aunt Carole, Freya also decides to return to investigating missing antiques; work that she used to do decades ago with Arthur, before they became estranged.
This second book in the series sees Lockwood Antique Hunters Agency pick up their first case, with a painting stolen from a small Lowestoft museum (the dead body found behind the museum is of lesser concern to the curator!). The painting is tracked down to an exhibition on an exclusive antiques cruise through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea, where Freya secures an invite onboard as an antiques expert, accompanied of course by Aunt Carole.
We’re taken on a high-stakes adventure at sea and through historic sites on land, as Freya and Carole find more evidence of shady antique dealing and art theft, and the sinister mastermind behind years of high profile thefts could be on board the ship.
I love that Freya is slowly regaining her confidence, and Aunt Carole is just a fabulous character – providing light relief and wise counsel in equal measure.
Part mystery, part adventure, fast paced and twisty – I found myself completely immersed in this book, stopping only to web search images of the antiques and places mentioned. I always feel I’ve learned something after I’ve read one of CL Miller’s books; she hooks the reader into wanting to know more, giving key information without overwhelming and slowing down the story.
I recommend reading the first book before diving into this one – it sets up the premise of the series and introduces all the characters, and is a great read in itself. This second book sees the series really hit its stride, making me hungry for more adventures.
The Antique Hunter’s Death on the Red Sea by C L Miller is out on February 13th.
Thank you to Pan MacMillan, NetGalley and the author for an advance eARC for review.
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