Dollycas's Thoughts

The Butterfly House Bed and Breakfast is full of guests and it's time for the annual Cold Spring Village antique show. A unique piece has drawn a lot of interest pitting two dealers against each other. Poppy is on the lookout for some special things to add to the rooms at her B&B but she never thought the armoire she had her eye on would be the hiding place for a dead body.

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I was thrilled to get back to the Butterfly House Bed and Breakfast to catch up with Poppy McAllister, Aunt Ginny, Victory, Joanne, Gia, Amber, the Biddies and Figaro. I love that Poppy and Gia's relationship is getting stronger and all the time they spend together with his son Henry. Aunt Ginny and her friends are in rare form and Figaro has a small black kitty, Cleo, and a huge Maine Coon, Svetlana, hoping to steal his heart. These are some of my favorite fictional characters for good reason. All these characters including the felines are so realistic that they jump off the pages and invite us in to enjoy all the shenanigans within the story.

Libby Klein has stellar comedic timing. Her characters deliver zingers and get themselves into the craziest situations all while moving the mystery forward. I found myself laughing out loud and shaking my head often.  The guests at the B&B are a quirky bunch who test Poppy in a variety of ways, along with Courtney Whipple's daily deliveries of unwanted kohlrabi, and guests finding narcoleptic sunburned Victory in a variety of strange places, it is a wonder Poppy has time for anything else let alone a murder. As if she needs any more drama in her life, Georgina pops in for a visit.  It is not just the human characters that bring the humor. Figaro dealing with the antics of Svetlana and Cleo was so darn funny.

Amongst all the hilarity Ms. Klein has penned a compelling murder mystery. When the body falls out of an armoire at an auction, an armoire that Poppy wanted, practically at her feet, she knew she was going to be involved. Then she learns her "friend" on the police force, Amber has a new by-the-book partner so getting information about the case isn't going to be easy. Nevertheless, Poppy, Aunt Ginny, and the Biddies are on the case. Joanne even gets involved. There were several suspects and I selected the wrong one. The twists did a great job of misdirecting me. I was surprised at the reveal but that is what I have come to expect from this author. She tests her characters and her readers and I love that.

Antique Auctions Are Murder was a terrific read. Fun and engaging characters and a marvelous mystery kept me delightfully entertained from beginning to end. If you ever have a down day or need some "me time". I highly recommend any and every book in this series to turn your day around. Laughter is good medicine and Libby Klein delivers that spectacularly in every book. Mischief Nights Are Murder is screaming at me from my To-Be-Read shelf. I can't wait to see what mischief Poppy and her family and friends get mixed up in next.

Thank you to Kensington Cozies and NetGalley for allowing me to read an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I really loved this book in a new to my series and author. I can't wait to read the next one. The characters and location really add to the plot. This book keeps you guessing until the end.

Summer has Poppy’s bed and breakfast filled with tourists. She decides to go to the antique auction to look for an armoire for one of the rooms. Her aunt and the biddies know the owner and are frequent shoppers. The big ticket item of the day is a vampire hunting kit. A fight breaks out over the ownership of said kit between two rival auction house owners. The next morning while the armoire is being brought up to be auctioned off one of the owners who had been arguing falls out of it stabbed with the stake from the vampire kit. Poppy investigates because the victim happens to be one of the biddies’ nephew. With kohlrabi coming out of her ears, midnight door dash on her door step and trying to squeeze in some alone time with Gia without his mother faking a heart attack, Poppy has her hands more than full trying to solve this murder.

Poppy is kept busy at her Butterfly House B&B with a particular group of wacky tourists wrecking havoc the entire week. Poppy and her Aunt Ginny attend an auction, hoping to bid on an armoire for the B&B. They are shocked when the stabbed body of Auggie Whipple falls out during the bidding. This book seemed over-the-top with its crazy antics and I hope that Poppy gets a bit of a reprieve in the next story.

Love this series! Aunt Ginny is a hot mess, and Poppy still struggles with her love life (but a little less now than before).

I almost never guess who the killer is in mysteries. Sometimes I get lucky and I get it right, but other times I have no idea. This one kept me guessing until the end.

Antique Auctions Are Murder by Libby Klein is book seven in the A Poppy McAllister Mystery. This is a great series!
All Poppy wanted to do was get some antiques for her BandB but she also gets a murdered body. Now, not only does she have full occupancy at the BandB, she is dealing with an over abundance of rutabagas, a guest's cat is set on romancing Poppy's cat, Figaro, and items coming up missing from the afternoon treat, she is set on finding the guilty party.
This easy to read Cozy will have you laughing out loud. The characters are likeable, including a group of quirky senior citizens, There is friendship, family, and romance.. The plot twists have you guessing to the end. There are recipes included.
I was given an ARC from Kensington Books via NetGalley for and honest review.

Another winner of a cozy mystery by Libby Klein! Aunt Ginny and Figaro are a hoot and Poppy and Gia's romance just keeps getting better and better. Lots of mystery with a little bit of love, you can't go wrong with this series. As an added bonus, the author has included some mouth watering recipes for you to recreate at your leisure.

Poppy got a dresser and a bit more…a dead body, while Aunt Ginny got herself a sequined matador jacket. This story has several people wanting more, Auggie Whipple wanted more money, Grover Prickle wants more of his items to quit disappearing, Tildy wants more family (a baby), Courtney Whipple wants more ribbons for his heirloom tomatoes, Mrs. Davis and Josephine want the ornate family jewelry box, Poppy wants more time with Gia, Amber and just wants to solve this murder without the usual challenges and without her new partner Sergeant viola Washington who seems a little skeptical about Poppy’s abilities to fall in and out of trouble that she doesn’t create. This story is loaded with plenty of characters with character, plenty of suspects, and plenty amazing descriptive foods. Speaking of foods, there are more gluten free goodies and crazy aunt escapades plus the unusual interactions between Figaro, Poppy’s cozy companion cat, and the guests who come to stay at her B&B with their pets, feline drama at its finest. Speaking of the guests, they provide a bit of comedy relief as well…No need to read the past stories to understand the gist of this one, but you are going to want to anyway.
I am glad to see that Poppy is learning, from Figaro no less, that she is good enough, beautiful enough, and special enough, for the likes of Gia. The very end of this one left me blinking back a few tears on Poppy’s behalf and I still say that what goes around comes around and that it would be poetic justice if someone who has a bit in common with a crab sign had to resort to pleading with Poppy to help clear their name(s) ahem, ahem.

I love Libby Klein's books and this one is like the others in the series. I would definitely recommend any of these books as quick easy reads.

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley #netgalley

I really try to like this cozy but sadly I just couldn't get into it it probably has more to do with me than the book.

The Poppy McAllister Mysteries are so much fun that I love spending time in Cape May with Poppy and all her friends and family. With humor galore, thanks to hilarious one-liners, comical situations, and screwball characters (both human and feline), this is a thoroughly entertaining read. It is time for the annual Cold Spring Village Antique Show and Courtney Whipple and his family of antique dealers are in town. His son Auggie is showing off a unique piece that will be auctioned off, an antique vampire hunting kit. Rival dealer Grover Prickle, insists that it was stolen from his store and that it wasn't the first thing that disappeared and reappeared at Auggie's store. At the auction, Poppy is looking forward to bidding on an armoire, but when it is brought out and opened for perusal, Auggie falls out with a wooden stake in his heart. Who killed him? Grover is the first suspect, but there are more? Poppy begins snooping around to see what she can find out.

The characters in this book are a quirky bunch and so hilarious that I spend most of my time giggling or laughing out loud. Aunt Ginny leads the pack with her outlandish clothes, busy body snooping, and hilarious comments. She is followed closely behind by Victory, the chambermaid with narcolepsy and improper use of the English language. Throw in Ginny's friends, the biddies, a cook at the B&B who doesn't like Poppy, cops with attitudes and the mother and sibling of Poppy's boyfriend who will do anything to keep them apart and I know I am in for an amusing few hours. Even the B&B guests got into the act. The mystery itself is interesting, and is the serious part of the story. The fast-paced plot of investigating the death is expertly interwoven into the story with plenty of opportunities for Poppy to snoop and gather information. The suspects were a group of dysfunctional characters and as their flaws and misdeeds were slowly revealed it became clearer as to who had sold out whom. I thought it was pretty straight forward, but I was wrong and didn't suspect the killer until just before the reveal. Overall, a wonderful addition to this series, easily one of my favourite cozy mystery series.

This one is maybe just trying a little too hard to be quirky. In theory, for example, I love the idea of a chambermaid with narcolepsy. But in reality, Victory, with both her narcolepsy and the ridiculous idea that she can't work because of her peeling sunburn but can somehow hang out at the B&B anyway, just feels to me like too much of a distraction. And Joanne, who insults her regularly, flips her off, and yet...still works for her? Minor characters like these end up becoming distractions and irritants to me instead of comic relief. And don't even get me started on kohlrabi.

The author has such a good feel for the dramatic, as with the way the body is discovered at the auction. And she knows how to craft a humorous line. "The biddies had spread out faster than pink eye at a day care." Ha--and eeeuwwww. And, "Mrs. Davis's lips were locked tighter than a five-year-old with a birthday wish." And a beautiful line. "The lines on his face were deeper than the last time I'd seen him, and they were quoting the poetry of grief."

There's a complex storyline here, but the dial on the absurdity is turned just a bit too high for me. Everything feels just a little too exaggerated. This is the only book I've read in this series, so I don't know if this is an outlier or the author's standard style. I think it's just not really my style, that's all.

Review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first time reading this author. this is book 7 in this cozy mystery series, but I didn't feel lost at all. I enjoyed the characters and the mystery.

I have become quite a fan of Libby Klein’s Poppy McAllister mystery series, and Antique Auctions are Murder, the seventh book in the series, does not disappoint. The trademark humor we have grown to expect from this series shines throughout as the characters come to life before our eyes.

Poppy’s Butterfly Wings B&B is once again full of guests, some of whom are there in anticipation of the Cold Spring Village Antique Show, where rival antique dealers Courtney Whipple and Grover Prickle have their prized heirlooms on display for all to see. But Poppy and her Aunt Ginny get more than they bargained for when the dead body of Courtney's son, Auggie, tumbles out of the armoire they hoped to bid on. When Aunt Ginny and her friend, Thelma (who is Auggie’s aunt), encourage her to look into the case, Poppy finds herself once again on the trail of a killer.

I just love Poppy. She handles everything with deft aplomb and wry humor. She is smart, logical, and empathetic. Her relationship with Gia and his son, Henry, really blossoms in this book. And Aunt Ginny and her friends the “biddies” once again provide comic relief at every turn. Even Poppy’s cat, Figaro, gets in on the action, playfully ignoring the attentions of two visiting cats who seem to have set their eyes on him. Adding to the hilarity are the various employees of the B&B, most notably Victory, the foreign chambermaid, with her sketchy understanding of English vocabulary and grammar, and a running joke about kohlrabi. The mystery is cleverly conceived, with several suspects, motives, and clues that seem to point in all directions. Between the murder and the mirth, there are several poignant scenes where a tragic fact about Poppy’s past is revealed.

Finally, if you are an audiophile, Callie Beaulieu’s narration is not to be missed. Rarely have I found a narrator so well-matched with the book. Her interpretation of Victory’s accent is spot-on and greatly enhances the humor. All told, Antique Auctions are Murder is an excellent addition to this wonderful series.

Note: I received an ARC of Antique Auctions are Murder from NetGalley and Kensington Books. The above is my honest review.

Antique Auctions are Murder

by Libby Klein

I always look forward to a visit at the Butterfly Wings B&B in Cape May, New Jersey. Poppy and her octogenarian Aunt Ginny operate their bed and breakfast that is beginning to show success. Poppy makes breakfast treats for the B&B and gluten-free muffins for her boyfriend’s espresso shop.

While I had no trouble remembering the major characters, I actually took some notes on the other characters in this book because there are so many of them. One of the major threads involves the dysfunctional Whipple family and those they know in the antique world. The patriarch and all of his children are more concerned about possessions than people.

This is the tourist season, and there are a lot of guests at the B&B. With all of the visitors’ quirks, Poppy stays busy sorting everyone out. The wine bottle and huge chunk of cheese disappear daily from the happy hour setting. Takeout orders are delivered in the middle of the night. Two guests bring their female cats, including one very large Maine Coon, who try to impress Figaro, Poppy’s male cat, who’s not having it.

Humor is all through the book, from smile-inducing to laugh out loud scenes. Some of the humor comes from the characters. Red-haired, feisty, little Aunt Ginny and her three senior sidekicks (aka “the biddies”) manage to draw Poppy into all kinds of situations. Victory, the Ukrainian chambermaid with narcolepsy, still works at the B&B. She is treated like part of the family, but her accent, misunderstanding of idioms, and the situations she gets into are hilarious. Some of the humor also comes from Poppy’s inner dialogue—what she is thinking but doesn’t verbalize. Incredibly, there is another very funny subplot related to a threat left for Poppy on her front lawn. It should be serious, but with Aunt Ginny’s “help,” it goes viral and the B&B guests and staff jump into the situation with a profit making scheme.

Gia and Poppy are officially a dating couple, but it seems doubtful that his mother and sister will let him go and accept Poppy like his melt-your-heart sweet little boy has. On Poppy’s side, Georgina, her mother-in-law from her only marriage, shows up unexpectedly at the B&B. Poppy is a widow and Georgina has a 10% interest in the business. She is high maintenance and has servants at home, but Poppy puts her to work as a chambermaid when Victory is out of commission in yet another humorous situation.

With all that’s going on, you might wonder how there is any room in Antique Auctions are Murder for a murder mystery. That’s where the author’s fine art of plotting comes in. There is a murder and Poppy’s solving the mystery is front and center in the book with all of these characters and situations moving in and out and then actually coming together. So many people with motives! So much greed and a plethora of secrets! The murder weapon is unusual. The killer is not someone you would suspect and you might even have sympathy for. Perhaps my favorite part of the book is the Epilogue. It not only ties up some loose ends and clears up a few major misunderstandings on the part of the characters, but it reveals one last surprise that will knock you over!

I would like to extend my thanks to NetGalley and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Mystery

Notes: 1. #7 in the Poppy McAllister Mystery Series. It could be read as a standalone, but at this point in the series I think a new reader would have some trouble isolating the recurring characters. The whole series is so good, that my recommendation is to start at the beginning and ENJOY!
2. The book ends with a lot of Jersey boardwalk inspired, gluten free recipes. An example is “Unicorn Cotton Candy CuppyCakes.”

Publication: February 22, 2022—Kensington

Memorable Lines:

My chambermaid hobbled around the corner with her arms sticking straight out and her legs wide like a zombie. “I weill sue sunscream companee. I am shreemp.” I think you mean lobster.”

Aunt Ginny cocked her head to give me a gleeful smile. I hadn’t seen her this excited since the Entenmann truck broke down around the corner and the driver had to give away fifty boxes of raspberry Danish twist.

Mrs. Davis gave me a look that was so pitiful it would put a basset hound to shame.

This is the 7th installment of the Poppy McAllister series. Poppy, Gia and Aunt Ginny and her friend Thelma go over to her brother Courtney and his families house for dinner. Poppy is warned this is to run interference from Courtney’s wife Josephine, children Auggie, June and Tildy (step daughter) and her husband Spencer. The place is absolutely crazy. They spend all their time talking about all the antiques in his home and Auggie has put name tags as to what he is going to get. Auggie then invites everyone to the upcoming Cold Spring Village antiques show and auction as he has will have something exciting to show everyone. They do attend and Auggie has an antique vampire kit for sale which another antique dealer named Grover swears Auggie has stolen from him. The next day at the auction, Auggie and Grover are nowhere to be found and Poppy wants to get out of the auction as she has a strange feeling and when the armoire that she wanted to bid on comes down and she is trapped and cannot leave then body of Auggie falls out of the cabinet. Now Poppy is once again embroiled in another murder. Aunt Ginny’s Thelma asks Poppy to look into her nephew’s murder and she does what she can and even runs interference when Aunt Ginny and her friends come up with crazy schemes. On top of all this Poppy’s B&B guests are all a little out there. One guests orders take out during the night, one swears there is a spirit in the house, one looks like Santa and Poppy’s Mother-In-Law Georgina arrives unannounced and the chamber maid Victory is so sunburned she cannot work and Poppy puts to Georgina to work. Loved the scene with the Aunt Ginny and Georgina coming up with the ghost tours in the B&B on the fly when Poppy has a threat against her. This is a really good mystery full of humor. I really enjoy this series and look forward to the next installment.

Another fantastic addition to the series. As always I love the normal cast of characters, especially Aunt Ginny. In this one I loved the mystery. The additional characters were really interesting, there were plenty of plausible suspects and I enjoyed the antiques aspect. I also really enjoyed seeing how poppy and Gia's romance is developing, thought the interruptions are getting a bit old.

Another excellent edition to a wonderful series! Full of twists and turns that leaves you wanting more and enjoying each moment until the end when the killer is caught!

Antique Auctions Are Murder
A Poppy McCallister Mystery, Book #7
Libby Klein
5 Stars

Synopsis:

When vintage items go up for auction, gluten-free baker and B&B owner Poppy McAllister discovers some people will pay the ultimate price. . .

It’s peak summer season at the Butterfly House Bed and Breakfast in Cape May, with tourists fluttering in and out and wreaking
enough havoc to rival a Jersey Shore hurricane. Also back in town is Courtney Whipple and his family of antique dealers for the annual Cold Spring Village antique show. Courtney’s son Auggie has a unique piece he believes will fetch them a fortune if he can get it authenticated in time—a piece rival dealer Grover Prickle insists was stolen from his store.

Poppy and her Aunt Ginny attend the auction, hoping to bid on an armoire for the B&B, and discover a veritable armory for sale—everything from ancient blades and nineteenth century guns to such potential killing devices as knitting needles and a blacksmith hammer. Strangely, they don’t see either Auggie or Grover—or the mysterious item they both claim to own. Then during the auction, a body falls out of the very armoire Poppy was hoping to acquire, stabbed through the heart. Now, surrounded by competitive dealers and makeshift weapons, she must find out who turned the auction house into a slaughterhouse . . .

Includes Seven Recipes from Poppy’s Kitchen!

“Lots of comical characters keep the chuckles coming as the determined Poppy solves a surprisingly difficult puzzle.”
—Kirkus Reviews on Midnight Snacks Are Murder (Amazon)


Review:

The characters are well rounded and well developed. Poppy and her Aunt Ginny are very close and you can tell how much they love each
each other. Aunty Ginny and her “biddies” are very funny and added a lot to the story. And Figuro stole the show and I love him.

The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and these descriptions really immersed me into the mystery. The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. The mystery was well plotted and not easily solved. There were plenty of clues to sift through and suspects to consider and I was not completely sure of the culprit until it was revealed at the end.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. I am looking forward to the next one.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Kensington Books, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.

Princess Fuzzypants here: it takes a deft hand to balance out a mystery with certifiable characters. I get the desire to bring levity to a story. Colourful characters can add a lot to a tale or they can overwhelm the story to the point where the reader says “too much”. Between the daffy old ladies who are around all the time and the B & B guests from hell, there were times I almost put the book down in frustration.

I say frustration because I like Poppy and Gia, and Henry. I have enjoyed the relationship that has developed between them and I liked how Poppy twigged to the fact that she was the only one concerned she was not gorgeous enough to deserve Gia. Even his annoying mother was finally put in her place. I also enjoyed the kitty threesome especially when the Maine Coon won the beau. It was also an interesting mystery and there was depth to the motive for the murder. It could have been a really good book.

But I am afraid I cannot give it the full marks it deserves. If I had been Poppy I would have handed some of her guests their money back and said life is too short. I felt that way about the book at times. Three and a half purrs and one paw up.