A 2022 MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD Nominee
In this Avery Ayers Antique Mystery series debut, perfect for fans of
Ellery Adams and Jane K. Cleland, an antiques appraiser hunts a missing
gem while probing her parents' deaths.
After her parents' deaths, Avery Ayers takes over the family business,
Antiquities & Artifacts Appraised, from the home office in Lilac Grove
and a branch in Manhattan. Now living back at home with her younger
sister Tilly and their newly moved-in, eccentric Aunt Midge and her
Afghan hound, Avery's life is filled with jewels, tapestries, paintings,
and rare finds. But their world is rocked when Avery learns that the
theft of a priceless ruby may be connected to her parents' demise.
The trouble starts when the Museum of Antiquities hires Avery to
appraise a rare, resplendent ruby. It bears a striking similarity to a
solitary stone in the museum's prized Xiang Dynasty bejeweled dragon
medallion exhibit, which has long been missing one of its ruby eyes.
Now, Avery and her colleagues--ostentatious Sir Robert Lane and fatherly
Micah Abbott--suspect they may have the missing gem. But facets of the
case remain cloudy. Security guard Art Smith is always underfoot but is
not what he appears. Another body turns up connected to the appraisal.
And Avery receives mysterious notes that begin to put her life in
danger.
Avery enlists possible ally Art's help in cutting the list of suspects
who might have polished off her parents and swiped the jewel. Was it art
collector Oliver Renell? Curator Nate Brennan? Acquisitions Liaison
Francesca Giolitti? Actor Tyler Chadwick? Was the crime impersonal or
perpetrated by someone all too close to Avery? If she can't find the
culprit, lovely Lilac Grove may be the setting for Avery's own death.
