Killer Keepsakes

Josie Prescott hired Gretchen to be the assistant at Prescott's Antiques and Appraisals some time ago. When Gretchen doesn't show up for work one day, Josie becomes concerned. When a dead man is found in Gretchen's house, Gretchen becomes the prime suspect. Josie is certain Gretchen isn't a killer. But as she begins to investigate, she realizes she doesn't know much about Gretchen and even less about Gretchen's past. She is more determined than ever to find Gretchen and help prove her innocence. Some of the information she turns up does make her begin to question where Gretchen could really be the killer. I love the characters and settings of these books. Josie and all the people working with her are such a great group. The plots are so well-written. The characters are three-dimensional and I often forget this is fiction. I am not a big fan of antiques, but I learn a lot from each book in this series. And I love the New Hampshire setting. While Josie often gets herself into some jams, she is a very smart woman and always finds a way to get out of these tight spots. I highly recommend this series and book.

Among her peers, antiques dealer Josie Prescott is known for her intellect, keen business sense, and most especially her superior judgment of character. Nothing gets by this savvy business woman which is why her store is one of the best antiques and appraisal firms in New Hampshire. From one-of-a-kind gems to cutesy knick-knacks, Josie delivers what her clients have come to expect, sheer perfection. As with any business venture, it takes more than one person to make a company successful. Luckily for Josie, she has her faithful assistant Gretchen by her side. Josie's fortune took a turn for the better when Gretchen unexpectedly walked through her doors. From the get-go, she has been a hands-on employee who consistently goes the extra mile. Without a doubt, Gretchen always gets the job done. So imagine Josie's surprise one morning when Gretchen is a no-show at the office. Things go rapidly from bad to worse when the police inform her that a dead body has been discovered in Gretchen's apartment and that her devoted employee is the number one suspect. How can this be? And more importantly, where is Gretchen now? Realizing that her friend may be in over her head, Josie decides to make it her personal mission to prove Gretchen's innocence. With the help of her faithful staff, they stumble upon some disturbing news concerning their friend's mysterious past. As the uncertainty mounts, the group begins to question how well they really know their co-worker. And, is it worth risking Josie's stellar reputation to help save Gretchen, who could potentially destroy it all? KILLER KEEPSAKES is the fourth installment in the highly acclaimed Josie Prescott Antiques Mysteries. With each page, Cleland uses her expertise to create a superb storyline filled with lively characters and suspenseful drama. Entertaining and insightful...KILLER KEEPSAKES is Cleland at her best.

This year, I keep running across great books that either keep me up until the early morning hours or prevent me from doing tasks on the to-do list, and this was one of them (Yawn...) I'm certainly not yawning from boredom because I was caught up in the characters' lives, and I also enjoyed the interesting facts about antiques. Thank you, Jane Cleland, for another excellent book in the series!

Gretchen Brock is missing. She was due back to work at Josie Prescott's antiques business in coastal New Hampshire two days ago, after a two-week vacation in Hawaii. Josie is understandably concerned about her employee; and so she gets permission to check Gretchen's condo. Imagine her shock and surprise when instead of finding her friend, she discovers the body of a strange man, shot dead. And that's just the first in a series of disturbing events that take place in this small town outside of Portsmouth. Josie is not only an antiques expert. She's also an amateur detective who has been successful at conducting a few previous investigations and solving local murders. She is nothing but tenacious when she feels the need to get involved. And she almost *has* to help here, because Gretchen and her well-being are important to her. But as the search gets underway, Josie and her workers realize that they know very little about their co-worker. She showed up four years ago, seemingly out of nowhere, and so impressed Josie with her knowledge of antiques that the woman hired her on the spot. She never dropped any clues about her background, her childhood, or where she came from. Now it looks as if Gretchen re-invented herself seven years ago by getting a new Social Security number and a new identity. Why? Was she on the run from committing a crime? Or was she being pursued by a criminal herself? And what connection does she have with the man found dead in her condo? And where *is* Gretchen, anyway? While this plot is plausible and reasonably intriguing, I found this particular installment a bit tedious in the unraveling. Josie's diligence in investigation borders on obsession, and I think her behavior is getting a tad far-fetched, even if we keep in mind that she's a fictional character in a cozy mystery series. Her continual questioning and dogging of Gretchen's friends Mandy and Lina left me as exasperated as it left them. And I've never been too terribly comfortable with her working relationship with local reporter Wes Smith, who has so many magical resources that he can track down any tidbit that eludes Josie. Why in the world would she give Wes objects carrying the fingerprints of possible suspects, when a sensible woman would be trotting them off to the police station instead? Even Jessica Fletcher would know better. Detective Claire Brownley gives Josie a brief lecture near the end, telling her that "One of these days you're going to get yourself in a boatload of trouble going off on your own." I think she needs a firmer reprimand than that. She digs too deep for a private citizen. She needs to work more with the local authorities and leave the media alone, in my opinion. The cops may just get so annoyed with her one day that they fail to rescue her from herself. Still, "Killer Keepsakes" has a satisfying resolution and is an entertaining read for most mystery lovers, even if they know nothing about antiques or about coa

Portsmouth, New Hampshire antiques dealer Josie Prescott becomes concerned when her always responsible assistant Gretchen Brock fails to come to work two days in a row and does not call. This is so out of character for the reliable Gretchen, an extremely concerned Josie goes to her assistant's apartment to see if she is all right. Instead of finding Gretchen, Josie finds the corpse of an unknown thirty something bloodied male lying on the sofa. Josie believes Gretchen is innocent of at least the homicide though she wonders about a missing valuable vase no longer in the apartment; but also realizes she knows very little about her assistant who has worked for her for four years. The police consider the vanished woman as the prime suspect in the murder. Adding to the mystery is Josie's two friends deny knowing where she is or much about her past and the missing Meissen vase appears in the shop's safe. Finally reporter Wes Smith claims Gretchen obtained her current Social Security number four years ago. As she traces the vase back to a Denver homicide and robbery, Josie realizes who the victim was, how that person was related to Gretchen, and who her assistant was prior to her hiring her. However, if Gretchen did not commit the homicide who did remains out of Josie's reach. The latest Josie Prescott Antiques mystery (see ANTIQUES TO DIE FOR and DEADLY APPRAISAL) is a superb amateur sleuth invigorated by who is the focus of the heroine's inquiry. As always readers obtain an interesting look at antiques interwoven into the exciting story line. Josie is at her best as she believes deep in her soul that Gretchen is no killer, but the evidence is damning. As Josie connects the dots between the Meissen murder and the current homicide, readers will enjoy a strong brisk New England cozy. Harriet Klausner