LETHAL TREASURE

An antiques dealer uses her expertise to help solve yet another murder.

New York transplant Josie Prescott, always on the hunt for new items for her shop in Rocky Point, N.H., is bidding on an abandoned storage locker. The latest round brings some spirited bidding by Josie, an unknown man, and Josie’s friend Henri Dubois, whose decorating business always needs new finds. When Henri wins the auction, he asks Josie for help valuing some of his items, including a collection of old movie posters. Josie has befriended Henri and his wife, Leigh Ann, who are new to Rocky Point, and when a frantic Leigh Ann reports Henri missing, Josie’s eager to help. Leigh Ann finally gets the police to meet her to open the storage unit, the last place Henri was seen. To their shock, Henri’s battered body is inside. Of course Leigh Ann is a suspect, along with her guest from out of town, Scott, who turns out to be her ex-husband. Josie’s need to establish provenance of the valuable posters, coupled with her suspicion that they may have given Henri’s killer a motive, gives her a strong incentive to track down the person who rented the locker. Although Josie’s boyfriend, Ty, is always supportive, his job training Homeland Security agents can keep him from her for days at a time. While he’s away, someone breaks into Josie’s apartment during a big snowstorm and leaves without taking anything. When the police receive hints that Josie and Henri were having an affair, Josie, hurt and furious, resolves to use her skills to find a clever killer.

Josie’s eighth (Dolled Up For Murder, 2012, etc.) again provides a good mystery larded with antiques lore.