Shadows at the Fair - Hardcover

Wait, Lea

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0743225538 ISBN 13: 9780743225533

Publisher: Scribner, 2002

Synopsis

When fellow antiques dealers begin dying under suspicious circumstances during the Rensselaer County Spring Antiques Fair, suspicion is cast on the young friend of Maggie, who struggles to find the real killer, sell her prints, and forge a new relationship before the fair ends. 12,500 first printing.

About this title

About the Author

Lea Wait comes from a long line of antiques dealers, including her mother, her grandmother, and her great-grandfather. She has owned her antique-print business for more than twenty-five years. The single adoptive mother of four Asian daughters who are now grown, she lives in Edgecomb, Maine, where she runs her antique-print business and writes historical novels for young readers as well as the Maggie Summer series. Her Web site is www.leawait.com

Reviews

Homicide and antiques combine smoothly in this well-crafted mystery, the first in a new series, from fourth-generation antiques dealer and children's historical novelist Wait (Stopping to Home). Since several antiques dealers have died lately under suspicious circumstances, the police are especially vigilant at the Rensselaer County (N.Y.) Spring Antiques Fair. Despite their precautions, recently widowed Maggie Summer, an antique prints dealer who calls her business "Shadows," has just set up her booth when she learns a fellow dealer has died after a scuffle. The police soon accuse Ben, the 20-year-old nephew of Maggie's disabled friend, Gussie White, who has an adjoining booth, but Ben has Down's syndrome and is unable to clear himself of the murder charge. A second death puts all the dealers under suspicion. Because the fair lasts only three days, Maggie and new acquaintance Will Brewer, a dealer in fireplace tools who has his charms ("Kindly women might have called him a teddy bear, complete with beard and slight beer belly"), must act quickly to help the police solve the murders before her colleagues (and the killer?) disperse. Full of fascinating information about antiques and antiques fairs (each chapter head includes a catalogue-like description of an antique print), plus helpful maps and careful directions for finding one's place in the crime scene, this solid debut will appeal to cozy fans who appreciate a realistic background.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Maggie Summer, an antique print dealer, is eager to set up her booth and peddle her wares at the Rensselaer County Spring Antiques Fair in New York. But another antique dealer dies mysteriously that night, and her friend's nephew, who has Down syndrome, is accused of the crime. Maggie has only 48 hours to find the real killer. An antique print dealer for more than 25 years, Wait seamlessly weaves information about antiques fairs, prints, and other types of artifacts into the narrative. Although this debut suffers from inane dialogue and a surfeit of cliches, the premise is intriguing and the mystery itself credible. There are also hints that Maggie, who appears to be an intriguing character--she has recently lost her husband, who died suddenly just after she discovered his infidelity--will be developed much further in subsequent titles. Lovers of antiques will want to give this mystery series a try. Sue O'Brien
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Maggie Summer, a recent widow, sells antique prints at antique shows. She attends the Rensselaer County show with some trepidation because a serial killer seems to have targeted the dealers. Sure enough, someone murders one of her friends, and police suspect the Down's Syndrome- afflicted assistant of another friend. Asked for help, Maggie begins sleuthing. Her discreet search for clues accompanies a similarly low-key dissemination of information about old prints and other antiques. Fans of John Dunning's mysteries about the rare book world (e.g., Booked To Die) may also enjoy this solid, middle-of-the-road start to a new series. Wait is a fourth-generation antiques dealer and has sold antique prints for over 25 years.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1

Snap-the-Whip, wood engraving by noted American artist Winslow Homer (1836-1910). The most famous of Homer's wood engravings, published by Harper's Weekly, September 20, 1873. Double page. Country boys playing a game outside their schoolhouse, with mountains beyond. Notable because it was the basis for two later Homer oil paintings also called Snap-the-Whip, often pointed to as most representative of Homer's accurate depiction of nineteenth-century American life. Price: $1,700.

"Booth number and admittance card?"

The man looking through Maggie's van window was a far cry from the student in faded jeans and Grateful Dead T-shirt whom Vince usually hired to check in vans at the dealer entrance to the Rensselaer County Spring Antiques Fair. This man was a cop.

"Booth two twenty-three."

He looked down at his clipboard. "Name?"

"Maggie Summer. Security seems a bit heavy this year." A brass nameplate was pinned on his chest. The chest's name was Taggart.

"Yes, ma'am. After that incident at the antiques show in Westchester last week, we wanted to make sure there were no problems here. Admittance card?"

Maggie reached into her worn red Metropolitan Museum canvas bag and pulled out a gray card tucked among rolls of masking tape, business cards, two small hammers, a portable telephone, and the latest Toni Morrison book. "What incident?"

"Dealer murdered. Poisoned. It was in all the local papers."

"I'm from New Jersey. I hadn't heard." Maggie swallowed hard. Was it someone she knew? A poisoning at an antiques show? Bizarre. "Has anyone been arrested?"

"Not that I know of. Westchester police are investigating."

"Why the concern here?"

"Just insurance. A lot of the same dealers who were in Westchester last week are here today. Don't want the public to be worried." He looked at her. "Or the dealers. Nothing for you to be nervous about. We've doubled security. Only authorized people are allowed in." He looked down at the paper she'd handed him. "Maggie Summer...Shadows Antiques. Do you have a picture ID?"

"They don't require photo licenses in New Jersey."

He waited.

"If I'd been heading for an airport, I'd have brought my passport. What about an employer ID with a picture?" She searched through her bag again. The ID was at the bottom. As she pulled it out, coins, tissues, and pencils fell onto the floor. A truck behind her beeped. "Just a minute!"

He looked at the photo, then at her, and grinned. "You've colored your hair. Looks good."

She smiled and reached for the card. Maggie's long, dark brown hair was her one vanity. She tucked back a strand that had escaped her braid.

"Decided to go back to school when your kids left home, Ms. Summer?"

"No kids. I teach at Somerset County College."

"That must be why it says 'faculty' on the card."

A droll fellow, Officer Taggart. The truck in back of her was beeping steadily now.

"Here's your entrance permit." He taped a green label printed SPRING SHOW -- DEALER just above the inspection sticker on the inside of her windshield. "Park over in the south field. As soon as you've finished unpacking, move your van to the back of the lot so other dealers can unload. You staying on the grounds tonight?"

"No. Living it up at Kosy Kabins." They weren't so cozy and they weren't exactly cabins, but the motel was just across the street and had indoor plumbing.

"Okay, then. Your vehicle must be off-premises by ten tonight, after the preview, and you may not reenter the fairgrounds until eight A.M."

Maggie nodded. Same routine as always. With one difference this spring -- a dealer had been murdered at a show ninety miles down the road in Westchester last week. She put her faded blue van in gear and felt a surge of anticipation as she passed the brilliant pink and red azaleas separating the driveway from the exhibit buildings on her left and the fairground track on her right. It was spring, she loved this show, she was about to see some of her favorite people, and she might even make some money. Many people who lived in New York City, two and a half hours south, had second homes in this area or made it their weekend getaway spot. Their purchases alone made the show worthwhile.

She'd done it for eleven years; so far the worst thing that had happened had been putting the wrong price tag on a wood engraving of Winslow Homer's Snap-the-Whip, the most famous of his wood engravings, and having to sell it for $170 instead of $1,700. She still winced at the memory. It was good to be back. And if strengthening security meant more Officer Taggarts, then she had no complaints. This was her time for some spring sunshine and fun. She didn't intend to worry about anything.

Not even murder.

Copyright © 2002 by Eleanor S. Wait

Edition details

• Publisher: Scribner
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0743225538
• ISBN 13: 9780743225533
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272