ANTIQUES FIRE SALE

A new sheriff makes her mark with some decidedly unorthodox crime-fighting techniques.

Somehow Vivian Borne, antiques dealer, thespian, amateur detective, and all-around diva, has been elected sheriff of Serenity County on the banks of the Mississippi River. Her Prozac-popping daughter, Brandy Borne, and Brandy’s diabetic Shih Tzu, Sushi, have long been her partners in detective work as well as antiquing (Antiques Ravin’, 2019, etc.). When Brandy and Vivian visit James Sutter, owner of the Wentworth Mansion, which is being slowly restored to its former glory, a short tour reveals many valuable antiques, including a Tiffany lava vase. Oddly, though Jimmy owns the house, the Wentworth family still owns the furniture. When Vivian rushes into the house that night to save Jimmy—and the vase—from a fire, she finds that the Tiffany vase is gone. Brandy’s boyfriend, police chief Tony Cassato, suggests that Vivian stay out of his investigation, but soon she’s holding court in the hospital, insisting that she’s ready for the following night, when tryouts begin for the play she’s directing. Releasing herself from the hospital, she goes directly to the coroner just in time to save the already badly burned body that everyone assumes is Jimmy from cremation so that an autopsy can be performed. Her appearance makes her unpopular with both the coroner and Jimmy’s stepson, Gavin Sutter. Vivian’s hunch pays off when the autopsy indicates that the man was murdered by a blunt instrument. Insurance agent Cliff Reed meets with Sutter and Benjamin Wentworth, heir to the collection, who are shocked to learn that the insurance on the house has lapsed and some of the antiques may be missing. Something odd is going on that may be a motive for murder. Vivian, busy illegally rewriting the play as a musical, is flabbergasted when Sushi digs up a body, readily identifiable as that of Jimmy Sutter, not far from the playhouse garage and the trailer of missing janitor Leon Jones. Is the unidentified body that of Jones? And what could be his involvement with the Wentworth mansion?

The usual mix of humor, detection, and flamboyant personalities adds sparkle to an otherwise mundane mystery.