I Know What You Bid Last Summer by Sherry Harris is the 5th book in the Garage Sale Mystery series. I love this series, and this book is no exception. Sarah Winston is a well developed main character, who I really like. Sarah makes a living by organizing sales for people and businesses. Sarah has agreed to run an athletic equipment swap, but when Sarah finds a body, she sets out to find the murderer. This mystery has it all, a great plot that is well developed along with great characters. I strongly recommend this book for all cozy mystery lovers, To get the most out of the books read them in order, you won't be disappointed. I can not wait for Sarah's next adventure.

I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Have you ever read a book and just known as soon as you were only a few pages in that you were going to love it? And that you'd have to look for everything else written by the author so that you could read them all asap? Well, this just happened to me with I Know What You Bid Last Summer by Sherry Harris. It's the 5th book in the Sarah Winston Garage Sale Series, and it's a great cozy story that grabs the reader from the very first page, with the protagonist, Sarah Winston, being asked to go on a lasagna tasting mission by her friend Angelo (sign me up, too, please!!!), and then fast forward to the body that Sarah finds skewered with an antique ski pole at the swap meet she's setting up at the local high school. Before she can blink, similar antique ski poles are showing up all over the place in an effort to get Sarah to back off her unofficial investigation! Incredibly fast-paced, I whizzed through this fun cozy mystery, and now must go back and read the first 4 books! A+

This is the fifth edition of The Garage Sale Mysteries. I do recommend each book in the series although this book can be read as a stand alone for new readers of the series. This is one of my favorite series and I always enjoy revisiting Sarah and her garage sale tips and tricks.
Thank you to the publishers and Net Galley for the ARC for review. My opinions are my own.

Sarah Winston is setting up a athletic equipment swap to benefit the local high school. A thief assaults Sarah and steals some of the higher priced items the night before the event. When Sarah meets at the event site the next day to re-organize items for the swap , they find the dead body of the school superintendent.

Sarah is determined to find who stole the special items from the swap and monitors internet listings to see if the easily identifiable items show up. She is very savvy about internet sales and has a large part of her business online. She soon starts receiving threats, from the thief, while she also continues with staging a large garage sale and shopping yard sales for her own business. She investigates the murder with the help of the local police and her good friends. She is a master at finding clues as she works on the event, her own business and investigating the murder.
This next in series is a delightful read with a well crafted well plotted mystery that kept this avid mystery fan guessing. I enjoyed the different aspects of her garage sale business and learning more with each book . Sarah is a smart investigator and stops at nothing to secure the truth. She is committed to her business and works to maintain her various business ventures while investigating which gives each book many different ventures for the reader. I enjoy the supporting characters and how they all add to the story. Each book is a fun read and I look forward to the next in series.

Sherry Harris has produced another well-written mystery starring my favorite garage sale expert, Sarah Winston. I Know What You Bid Last Summer shows quite a range of the author's writing skills, from the truly scary scene in the gym when Sarah is attacked to the humor surrounding her working undercover for friends who are entered in an all-important-to-them lasagna contest.

I also like the things I learn about the different kinds of garage sales, how to prepare for them, how to run them, and how to stock them. Who knows? Harris and her main character may even get me to visit a garage sale one of these days.

The mystery takes a while to solve, and it's got everything to do with perspective. I was looking at things from the wrong angle for most of the book, so I really enjoyed the deductive exercise. With knowledge to be gained, humor to enjoy, a main character to cheer on, and a good mystery to solve, there's a lot to like about this fifth book in Sherry Harris's charming series. If this type of book is your cup of tea, I certainly hope you'll give it a try.

[Excerpt}:
To begin with, I didn’t know this novel was the fifth in a series when I requested an ARC. Although each book can seemingly be read on its own or in a random order outside of the normal chronology, the fact that the world and characters had already been established several books ago was a big reason I ended up not enjoying the book so much. Knowing a book is part of a series usually turns me off because I then feel obligated to read the rest of the books so that everything makes sense, even if I’m not really a fan of the books themselves.

I Know What You Bid Last Summer is a mystery novel set in a few adjoining towns in the New England area. The story focuses on Sarah Winston, who is recently (i.e. six weeks) separated from her husband of twenty years, C.J. Her job is setting up garage sales and “swaps” in different locations around town. It’s like next-level yard-saling. This aspect initially interested me because I’ve obviously heard of garage (or yard) sales (who hasn’t!) but never garage sale “swaps,” so I was intrigued by that and what it entailed. Also, there’s the fact that I’m a seller on eBay, as are my parents, and we’ve both woken up extra early to go yard-sale and estate shopping around town to get bargains on items we can resell for profit. So Sarah’s profession was relatable to me, and I wanted to learn more about what she did and how she did it.
[Full review on my blog!]

I love this series! In I Know What You Bid Last Summer, Sherry Harris once again presents us with a first-rate cozy mystery for any mystery lovers. A path of clues to this intricate plot is laid out throughout the novel as Sarah investigates, but you are a better arm-chair sleuth than I if those clues lead you to latch on to the villain before Sarah figures it out. One of the many things that I love about this series is the way Ms. Harris creates Sarah’s world for us. These daily life vignettes pull me into the story as much as the excitement of the mystery. In any wonderful book, it is the characters that I love most and that is one of the places that Ms. Harris shines.. Sarah and her friends are people that I would love to know and in fact feel that I do know. I love that Sarah, and her live are dynamic, even if some of the changes are a little tough to take. I was so excited to get to read this one early! I received an advanced readers' copy of this book via NetGalley and I appreciate the opportunity to enjoy it early and share my delight with my friends and followers. I love it so much that I also order a personal copy!

Coping with the break-up with long-time boyfriend/husband, CJ, who had moved to Florida, Sarah is keeping herself busy. Sarah Winston is well known for her ability to plan, organize and hold garage sales in the Ellington, Massachusetts area. Always willing to offer her expertise, Sarah has been asked to run the Athletic Equipment Swap for Ellington High School. Organizing the items donated by sport, item etc., she is attacked when the power is shut down. Unable to determine who her attacker is, all Sarah can remember is the smell of cologne. Unable to really determine what has been taken, all Sarah is able to determine is that many of the silent auction items have been taken. After the swap is held after assistance from many of Sarah’s friends and acquaintances, Sarah goes to the supply room to get a towel to mop up spilled coffee and finds the Superintendent, Melba Harper, dead - stabbed with an antique ski pole. Although she is warned not to get involved, she can’t help to try to find the missing silent auction items and who was her attacker. Along with trying to find out who is responsible, Sarah is asked to help her good friends, Angelo and Rosalie DiNapoli, owners of DiNapoli’s Roast Beef and Pizza, to scope out the other restaurants lasagna that will be their competition in the Bedford Lasagna Bake-Off. This provided a little twist of humor in this storyline.
Having not read any of the earlier books in this series, I found the characters slightly under-developed but enjoyable. Many times, in the storyline it seemed as if the same item was repeated. The tips at the end of the book on buying and selling at a garage sale were interesting.

Sarah Winston, professional garage sale Goddess, agrees to manage the local high school sports equipment swap sale, and ends up getting more than she bargained for. Sarah is attacked the night before the sale when someone steals some autographed professional sports memorabilia, but it’s one of the schotsol board members who pays the ultimate price when she turns up dead.

As Sarah searches for the stolen items and tries to figure out why the school board member was murdered, she begins receiving threats that try to scare her off.

This is a fast paced and fun read. The characters are well developed and the story keeps you guessing right up to the end.

This is the fifth installment in the Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery series, and I can see why it’s so popular. Can’t wait to catch up on the first four books in the series.

I finished Sherry Harris' I know what you bid last Summer, and I loved it. This was a fun cozy mystery. It has lots of suspense but also a fun side to it. Easy to picture the events throughout the book and it has a truly cozy feel to it. I never thought of a garage sale planners job as if it was a party planner but I guess it really is. It is fun and genius! For me this is the second in the series I have read and I loved reading it, it was a great weekend read and it is coming out February 27th from Kensington!

Sarah Winston is running a little bit different sale; this time, she's helping a school raise some funds. Most of the items are used sports items but she also gets some high ticket items like a signed jersey. Too bad she's knocked over the head the night before the sale and most of the more highly priced items are stolen. And the day of the sale, Sarah finds the school's principal dead in a back room.
There are enough layers to make this story interesting but not so many that any of the stories get lost. I really like that CJ is gone, the will-they-won't-they of that whole relationship is more annoying than intriguing. And there are parts of this story that get a little repetitive. Maybe it's the whole series but I feel like every other book gets good.



Three stars

This book comes out February 27

ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Follows A Good Day to Buy

Super classic cozy with a terrific intrepid heroine in Sarah. This series has really matured- the situations and relationships are more complex- but it's kept it's sense of humor. A swap meet for athletic gear at the high school should have been a simple thing to organize but as usual, Sarah finds out there's more going on than she thought. After she's assaulted, she's also the one who finds the superintendent with a ski pole through her chest! Of course, Sarah's going to help Kapoor, who is a suspect, prove his innocence. Along the way, she's engaged in helping her friend with a lasagne contest (totally entertaining vignettes!). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. There are some twists, some turns, some surprises, all in all making this a good read.

I haven't read any of sherry Harris series before so I wasn't upto date with all the characters but it didn't stop me enjoying this book and getting to know Sarah's friends .
I was suprised that Sarah kept referring about her exhusband through out of the book but not sure why as he is out of her life now . I never guessed who the killer was and I was suprised, the person seemed so nice and friendly.
Anyway a good read and I will certainly go back and read the first four books .

Totally loved this book. Really enjoyed this story. Loved the main mystery and the sub-plots. Really enjoying the evolution of the character. Cannot wait to see what's next for Sarah and the gang.

*This series gets better and better with each book. There is so much going on in this book, but it never gets overwhelming. I was a little sad that there wasn't really a focus on the military this time. I really liked the balance of humor and mystery.

A fascinating turn of events kept my attention in this fifth Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery centered around an athletic equipment swap to benefit the local high school. A thief assaults Sarah and steals some of the pricier items the night before the swap. When Sarah meets with friends to re-organize items for the swap they find the dead body of the school superintendent.

Sarah is determined to find who stole the special items from the swap and monitors internet listings to see if the easily identifiable items show up. Her pursuit of the items attracts threats, apparently from the thief, while she also continues with staging a large garage sale and shopping yard sales for her own website business.

Author Sherry Harris continues to devise interesting plots with inspired misdirection, snappy dialogue and a steady pace.

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Sarah is helping out at the local school for an equipment swap and auction, one night while she is finishing things up she is attacked. The next day when she opens up the gymnasium for the sale, not only have several of the top line auction items been stolen, but the superintendent is found dead. Sarah was doing this thing for free, she really didn't need this aggravation! With CJ gone, thankfully in my opinion, she is really on her own with solving this crime. Between trying to solve the crime, planning a garage sale and going undercover for Angelo she is a very busy woman.

I was so glad to see Seth and Max "the big cheese" in this story. I really can't wait to see what happens to Sarah now that she is really free to be her own woman. Ms. Harris, keep these lovely mysteries coming!

I Know What You Bid Last Summer, #5 in the Sarah Winston garage sales series, continues the excellence of this series with a crackling good story. While finishing odds and ends at the high school gym for the athletic equipment swap meet/silent auction, the lights go out and Sarah is attacked. Many of the items have been stolen. The action never lets up from that point. Sarah gets involved in investigating the theft and the murder of a school board member. There are a number of credible subjects and as she follows the leads, we learn get tips about garage sales and resale sites as a bonus. This is one of my favorite cozy series a page-turner with heart and great characters. Highly recommended!

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I Know What You Bid Last Summer (Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery #5)
by Sherry Harris is a fun, fast paced story you won't want to put down.

Sarah Winston loves a bargain and browsing garage sales is a fantastic way to do it.
Not only is Sarah a champ at getting bargains, she has the right skills for setting up her own sales and for solving mysteries.

Working on a swap meet for the school, Sarah is knee deep in sports equipment, but when she stumbles upon a dead body, all bets are off. Sarah suspects the murderer may be a member of the school board, so she studies the clues she finds and soon she is putting the pieces together.

This is a really fun series that I look forward to. I can't wait for the next one!

I voluntarily read an ARC of this book provided by the publisher and NetGalley.

Even though this was book 5 in the series I was able to understand who the main person was and her role within the book. Although, I was sad to find out this was the 5th one and I haven't read the others; I will be looking to read the first four :)
The main character has an odd job. She is a virtual garage seller & she helps people do their own garage sells. I have never heard of the job but it works for her. This combined with her ability to stick her nose in places that it doesn't belong causes her to stumble upon a murder scene while she is trying to set up a community auction for the local elementary school. She was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. I liked this book because of the humor and story line. There was hardly any romance which is was good but I was hoping she and Ryne would be together by the end. No such luck. Maybe it's her and Seth though. Hm. Ryne seems sexier with his Irish accent. I loved this book! It was such a great read that I hardly wanted to put it down. I ended up reading it in one day.

I received this book complimentary to review it. #IknowWhatYouBidLastSummer #NetGalley

Fantastic addition to the series. I guess I am prejudiced as I did not guess the culprit, so that added to the wow factor for me. Great series anyway. The lasagna tasting is a hoot. The story moved along at a good pace and keep me turning the pages eager to discover what would happen next. I am eager for the next one.