Collecting Can Be Murder by Jennifer S. Alderson

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from Great Escapes Book Tours. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Collecting Can Be Murder

by Jennifer S. Alderson

Series: Carmen De Luca Art Sleuth Mysteries #1
Series Rating:
Published by Traveling Life Press on May 31, 2023
Setting: France
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 208
Format: Kindle, Paperback
Source: Great Escapes Book Tours
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon, Books-A-Million
Also in this series: A Statue To Die For

Coming out of retirement can be deadly…

After tragedy struck three years earlier, art sleuth Carmen De Luca vowed to never work in the field again. But fifty is too young to fill her days with water aerobics and bingo, so when her former partner calls and begs for her help, Carmen gladly agrees.

Yet after their first assignment – the recovery of a rare medieval prayer book from an eccentric collector living in rural France – goes horribly wrong, Carmen ends up in the crosshairs of both the local police and a murderer!

With her target dead and the stolen book missing, she and her partner will have to pull out all of the stops to sleuth out the true killer’s identity – before their stay in France becomes permanent.

Introducing Carmen De Luca, an art sleuth with a nose for mystery and the job of locating valuable artwork stolen from museums around the world. If you love strong and resourceful heroines, puzzling mysteries, and a dash of art history, pick up Collecting Can Be Murder now!

Collecting Can Be Murder by Jennifer S. Alderson is a wonderfully plotted mystery with exciting characters and fabulous settings.

Will Carmen and the Baroness find the stolen books and the killer? Are they one and the same?

Carmen De Luca

Our sleuth is Carmen. However, she is actually a fine arts and antiques recovery specialist. Ya, my first thought was like a Robin Hood spy. Not wholly incorrect, but still not right. She retired after her husband’s tragic death, but now she is back at it with her favorite partner Lady Sophie aka Baroness. We learn a lot about Carmen’s upbringing and past, along with who her best friend is and her professional history. All of that made me like Carmen. She is realistic, intelligent and is trying almost too hard to complete this mission and come out of retirement permanently.

Lady Sophie Rutherford

Carmen’s partner is Lady Sophie. Lady Sophie dropped Carmen as a friend after Carmen’s husband disappeared. Baroness has a title and money that allow her to be part of the wealthy class that purchases the fine arts and antiques. Although Lady Sophie assists in the cases, she is cautious not to let anyone discover her actions for fear of being ostracised from society. I like Lady Sophie too, but she seems to be hiding something. However, that could be her personality.

The Case

Go to the Villa Saint Marie in France and confirm Mr. Moreau has the stolen prayer book. This whole fine art thing is a popular subject right now, at least in the last couple of books I have read. I am not an art critic, nor do I claim to know the differences between the masters. But there has to be a huge black market with the different countries’ laws and how art is claimed. Value is deceiving at best; one man may pay way more than another that isn’t impressed with the art piece. Anyway, Carmen is given a chance to see the prayer book in question, but before she can get it to safety, she is injured and the current owner killed. There are so many things moving this story forward. The red herrings are numerous, and all with good motives.

Our victim isn’t an outstanding man. In fact, he is a putz who thinks only of himself. This man honestly shouldn’t have had children. He uses his money to control other people and doesn’t follow through with what he says. His word means nothing. He has always led a life of privilege and wants his name to stand out above the rest. However, he died as part of his collection.

Five Stars

My rating for Collecting Can Be Murder by Jennifer S. Alderson is five stars. Ms. Alderson brings it with this new series. I hope that she allows Carmen to uncover her husband’s killer. I highly recommend Collecting Can Be Murder to all you cozy mystery fans.

Carmen De Luca Art Sleuth Mysteries

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Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Collecting Can Be Murder by Jennifer S. Alderson.

Until the next time,

 

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• Jenz 2023 Beachcombers Mystery RC
• Jenz 2023 Cloak and Dagger
• Jenz 2023 CMRC Prompts
• Jenz 2023 Craving the Cozies
• Jenz 2023 Cruisin' thru the Cozies
• Jenz 2023 Goodreads RC
• Jenz 2023 Medical Examiner RC
• Jenz 2023 Six Shooter

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