Antiques Foe by Barbara Allan

Available: November 7, 2023

Rating: 5 stars

Vivian Borne has been receiving threatening letters in the mail, she knows the letters are being sent locally but doesn't recognize the handwriting. But thoughts of threats are quickly swept aside when a famous podcaster reaches out to let Vivian know she's coming to Serenity to do a podcast on Vivian's amateur sleuthing and the oddly high murder rate in the small midwestern town. Unfortunately the podcaster has ulterior motives and when she turns up dead from a blow to the head Vivian is the one who seems most likely to want her dead.

This series is so much fun! I love the back-and-forth between Vivian and Brandy, how they each tell part of the story and how they play off one another using each others skills and eccentricities to solve the crime while also making the story very funny. Some characters we don't often see (and have never seen before) make appearances here, including Peggy Sue, Brandy's sister/mother; the Senator, Brandy's brother-in-law/father; and Otto, Vivian's brother.

Another thing I also love about this series is how they reference their other books (calling them true crime), recalling past adventures- which never fails to make me go "oh man, I really want to read that book again!"

This book gets a bit emotional and they tip you off right away about what's going to happen later in the book so you're kind of on your guard. I won't spoil it for you because everyone needs to read this book! I recommend this series even to people who don't normally read cozy mysteries because it's so funny I think most anyone who enjoys light, humorous books would really enjoy this. I don't know what happened that their American publishers stopped printing the series but their new publishers were brilliant (both American and British meaning) to have picked up the series to continue.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.