Wednesday, April 06, 2022

The Art of the Decoy by Trish Esden

 
First Line: The brrring of the phone bounced off the van's metal walls.
 
Now that Edie Brown's mother is in prison for art forgery, she heads back to northern Vermont to rebuild her family's antiques business. She's very optimistic about her chances now that her mother is out of the way. After all, her mother's bad business practices were responsible for a screw-up that landed Edie on probation for selling stolen property.
 
When she gets the opportunity to appraise a potentially priceless waterfowl decoy collection, she knows this could be her chance to bring in badly needed income as well as knock some of the tarnish off the family business's reputation. 
But the collection vanishes and Edie is accused of its theft. With the help of her Uncle Tuck and Kala, their new employee, Edie knows she has to work fast to clear her name. 

~

If you like your mysteries to have a background in the world of art and antiques-- like the books by Connie Berry and Jane K. Cleland for instance-- you should enjoy the first Scandal Mountain Antiques mystery, The Art of the Decoy by Trish Esden. 

Edie Brown and her mother are a bit unusual in the world of cozy mysteries due mainly to their both being in trouble with the law. Edie's mother-- now in prison for art forgery-- was responsible for Edie selling stolen property and being put on probation. And she's just the sort of mother that makes you want to roll your eyes: she refuses to admit that she's ever done anything wrong and is still full of hare-brained ideas for the business. Edie, on the other hand, has worked hard to become an expert in New England folk art and furnishings so that, if she can't revive her grandparents' antiques business, she'll still have a good shot at working for a top-notch auction house or museum.

Edie's family home was built in the 1830s, and its beautiful gardens are modeled after Monet's at Giverny. The mystery itself revolves around a legendary collection of waterfowl decoys that hasn't been seen for decades. With so many people either openly hostile or obviously up to no good, it takes Edie a while to sort them all out, and I appreciated learning about the antiques as the story unfolded.

Only two things bothered me. One, I don't care much for romance in my mysteries, and there was a bit too much burning and yearning between Edie and her Hollywood handsome ex-probation officer. (Aw come on... fall for a homely guy with sticky-out ears once in a blue moon!) The other thing that bothered me a bit was Edie and her mother's well-known tangles with the law. This is no secret, and I really can't see Edie being able to revive the family business. Also, I have a feeling that these troubles are going to rear their ugly heads over and over again in future books, and a little of that can go a long way.

So, although there's quite a lot of potential in The Art of the Decoy, I do have my concerns. I'll just have to wait and see what happens in the next book in the series.

The Art of the Decoy by Trish Esden
eISBN: 9781643859651
Crooked Lane Books © 2022
eBook, 336 pages
 
Cozy Mystery, #1 Scandal Mountain Antiques mystery
Rating: B
Source: Net Galley

8 comments:

  1. You know, Cathy, I was thinking the same thing about the whole romance angle. I'm generally very leery of a strong romance angle in a crime novel. I don't mind the characters falling, or being, in love, but I do like it to be more real-life (and there's nothing wrong with stuck-out ears!). That's interesting that they've both fallen afoul of the law; as you say, that's not usual for a cozy mystery. Hmmm......I'll be interested in what you think if you read more of these.

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    1. Yes, I would like to see how Esden deals with these things.

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  2. I do like mysteries that delve into the art world, and I don't mind if there's some romance there, too, so maybe I would like this one. :)

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  3. I just picked this up from the library! Like you, I really prefer there to be very little romance in mystery novels. I don't mind if there is some, but it should be in the background and not too much of it. We'll see what I think...

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    1. If I ever get my new laptop, I'll certainly be checking your blog to see your thoughts on it, Gretchen! I just can't spend much time at all sitting here at my desk anymore or I risk a flareup of cellulitis.

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  4. I read and enjoyed several books by Jane Cleland some years back during my "mystery" period so this might be something I need to take a look at. Although it sounds like you were not overly impressed with this particular entry in the series.

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    1. I enjoyed the bit about antiques more than some of the relationships between the characters.

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