I shit you not that a hot 24-ish hours after I received this, I saw someone I trust reviewing it and saying it was horrible. I really should have waited. Maybe I'll start looking up titles on youtube before requesting?

The title of this book is what caught my interest, and I’m glad it did! It was well-written, informative and had intrigue. It was also very different than any of the other books I’d read lately. I really hope to read another book from Miller.
Thank you Net Galley and Atria Books for this ARC!

2.5 stars

The premise of this murder mystery really intrigued me; I enjoy art history and antiques but can’t claim any degree of expertise, and so was really interested to see how a professional antique hunter used their skills and knowledge to track down a murderer. The actual execution let me down, but I am sure this would still satisfy a fan of cosy mysteries.

Some things I didn’t like: The writing style feels very tell-y and a little obvious. Moreover, I don’t feel like the main character, Freya, is fully ‘real’ or fleshed-out. She reads more like a 20-year-old than a middle-aged women, and her character arc wasn’t convincing. In many ways she felt more like a prop or a puppet, moving and thinking as the plot demanded her to, rather than a fully realized character with her own motivations. She also has some serious internalized misogyny, with a ‘not-like-other-girls’ streak that is never tested by the story.

The side characters are alright, though the aunt is a little too precious. I liked the rogues’ gallery of suspects and I really liked the focus on the ethics of the antiques world. However, I wish the story would have given a little more information about how Freya evaluates antique art, and the actual antiques presented; the bits we did get felt Wikipedia-summary-level rather than the insights of a true connoisseur.

I would recommend this book if you want a light cosy mystery and you like the occasional Antiques Roadshow rerun or country house tour.

I thought this plot sounded so fun and interesting, but I could not get into it. The storyline moved so slowly, especially for a mystery, and I could not finish it. Everything felt very dragged out and there wasn't enough of the ominous, mysterious atmosphere I was hoping for.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Even though I immediately twigged to the villain who murdered Arthur, it did not spoil the book for me. There were enough twists and turns, betrayals and surprises to keep me interested. Freya returns to help her aunt deal with the death of her dear friend. Freya’s own memories are Arthur are harsh but she agrees to help solve the mystery he left for the two women. It takes them to a viper’s nest of a stately home where the patriarch’s recent death has set in motions things that will turn Freya’s life inside out.

The broken woman who arrives at the mansion is not the same woman who leaves it. Arthur has fulfilled his promise to give her back her life and explain the things that had driven them apart twenty years earlier. The progression from the abused ex-wife who is afraid of life to the fearless person she was once is most satisfying. The story will take the reader into the world of antiquities, real and fake, and the people who traffic in them- some for decent reasons and some for ones that are nefarious. It made for an entertaining journey. Four purrs and two paws up.

The author definitely knows antiquities and the book shows this. However, they fall short when it comes to. developing characters and overall plot. Except for the eccentric Aunt Carol, none of the characters were memorable.

What a fun first installment to what I anticipate will be an immersive and irresistible cozy mystery series! As an avid thrifter and antique shop enthusiast, I loved the concept of the mystery surrounding an antique hunter and the shop she inherits. C.L. Miller does a fantastic job at building the tension in the mystery and creates a colorful cast of characters that you can't help but want to know more about and work to figure out how they work into the case. Bring on book #2!

3.5⭐️

After the shocking death of her mentor and former employer antique dealer Arthur Crockleford, Freya Lockwood is drawn back into the world of antiquities after almost twenty years. Arthur has left his business to her and his friend, her Aunt Carole. As Freya returns to her village and finds out more about Artur’s death and receives a coded letter Arthur left for her, she begins to suspect that someone aware of the true nature of Arthur’s work might have been responsible for the same. As the narrative progresses, we follow Freya as she travels to Copthorn Manor to value the estate of one of Arthur’s associates for probate as per Arthur’s last wishes. The guests at the Antiques Enthusiast Retreat include the family members of the late Lord Metcalf, the house staff and Arthurs's lawyer, among others. Freya is sure that the antiques on display are reproductions and senses that Arthur had his reasons for sending her there – reasons connected to the events that led to her rift with Arthur and their subsequent estrangement twenty years ago.

I loved the premise of The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller and the fact that the protagonist is a mature middle-aged female character. I adored Aunt Carole and her eccentricities. Plenty of humor, a cast of interesting (and suspicious) characters, the insights into the antiquities trade and the suspenseful plot definitely made for an entertaining read. I also loved how each chapter began with Arthur’s words of wisdom. However, I had an issue with the pacing and thought the narrative suffered from much repetitiveness (multiple references to the events that unfolded in Cairo twenty years ago ), resulting in a long-drawn journey to the end. There were aspects in the present day timeline that should have been explored in more detail, but past events tended to overshadow the same. Though the plot became a tad convoluted toward the end, I did like the resolution to the murder mystery.

Overall, while there were aspects of the novel that I enjoyed, I felt that it could have been a tad more tightly woven and more emphasis given to the characters and events in the present timeline.

Many thanks to Atria Books for the digital review copy via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

“If Arthur Crockleford had been a normal antiques dealer, then perhaps this night would never have arrived.”

Freya, a middle-aged divorcee, is pulled back to her hometown after the death of Arthur Crockleford, her estranged mentor. Freya and Arthur had once hunted down stolen antiques together but parted ways after a job gone wrong twenty years ago. As Freya’s investigation into Arthur’s mysterious death unfolds, she must come to terms with her past, her present, and the dangerous world of antique hunting.

The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder had a lot of potential. The premise hooked me, and the setting and plot were both exciting concepts. Execution-wise, unfortunately, this fell through. Antique Hunter’s Guide is a pit of unrealized potential, one that I regret having sunk so much time into in retrospect. I was bored before I even hit the halfway mark. The rest of the novel was a slog.

The writing itself was very disjointed, clunky, and strange. Firstly, there was a near complete lack of copy-editing, as there was a multitude of spelling, grammatical, and logical errors throughout this novel. Words were used in the wrong tense, punctuation was misplaced, things were repeated, or sentences contradicted themselves. As an ARC reader, I’m willing to give the benefit of the doubt that these errors were corrected before publication, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many errors in a galley before. Then, there were the chapter inscriptions. In a completely unique experience for me, each chapter began with a little fortune cookie saying/platitude from Arthur. I’ve never seen someone open a chapter with lines from one of the book’s own characters, and I hope never to see it again. They added nothing to the plot, and often barely related to the chapter. What I imagine was meant to come across as serious advice instead sounded more like a preteen’s edgy twitter post.

The next issue is the chapters themselves. Most of the novel is told from Freya’s perspective, but there are random jumps to about ten other characters. None of them were necessary. To add to this jarring experiment in perspective, they would also switch narration style from first-person in Freya’s to third-person in all the other POVs. It was as if the author could not figure out what to do with Freya, so instead of working through this block, they just jumped to another character. It felt incredibly lazy, as no characters except Freya and her aunt Carole were given any exposition or development. Most of the characters popped into existence about halfway through the novel, as if they had sprung half-formed, lacking any agency or personality, from the author’s head. They were little more than caricatures of the common character archetypes. Even Freya and Carole, who I would consider to be the most developed characters, were not well-written and lacked growth. Freya comes off as simultaneously immature and older than her age, as she bemoans a lost love and her tragic life while also making sure to mention things like her vintage Hermes scarf or her big Victorian house. Rarely did a chapter go by without the reader being reminded that poor Freya was an orphan whose parents died in a fire and whose ex-husband was being so mean by selling the house (that she could not afford). Carole is meant to be comic relief, but her jokes fall flat or end up seeming really crass.

Finally, the plot was poorly paced, repetitive, and just plain boring. I’ve read mysteries that start slow, but never one where the entire book just drags. It felt like endless filler, and the lack of suspense-building meant that nothing seemed to matter. Freya spends the first half going on and on about never forgiving Arthur for what happened in Cairo, only for it to have the most anti-climatic reveal at a point where I no longer cared about Cairo. There was no real action. There was no tension. The author is clearly knowledgeable about antiques, but that was no substitute for an actual plot. Several plot points were completely improbable, past what could be looked beyond for the sake of suspension of disbelief. All the teasing of the reveals was so heavy-handed that it killed my interest in the actual reveal.

Overall, this book felt incredibly pretentious and immature. There were moments when I definitely felt as though the author was trying to emulate Christie and other great mystery writers, but it felt like a child playing in their parent’s shoes. There seemed to be a complete lack of understanding of what makes a mystery novel a mystery novel, as this was like a hodge-podge of common tropes and archetypes without any substance. There are plenty of better mystery novels out there to read rather than spending time with this book.

2/5 stars

I started this book with high expectations but was not thrilled with the overall plot. The story begins strongly with Freya's issues with her past and the overall mess she finds herself in. However, as the story progressed it lost its wow factor for me and the mystery wasn't as shocking as expected. This is the author's debut book and I expect she will only get better at her craft!

The premise and story line were intriguing. If it ends up being a series I will try the 2nd. I did find the main character not as well drawn as I had hoped. For 20 years she has had nothing to do with the business, much less any kind of detective work, yet repeatedly we are told that she can easily solve the murder mystery. That was a bit odd to me, and would have merited a 2 overall, but I ended up deciding it was a 3 since the version I read was an ARC, and perhaps the published version corrected editing issues (that also bugged me) as well as too many references to her skills that weren't backed up by anything.

3/5 Stars

I have mixed feelings about this book. I thought the book itself was okay. I liked the plot I found that I wasn't the biggest fan of the execution. I found myself a little bored and wasn't really connecting to the story itself. I just think there were too many characters and weren't the biggest fan of the writing. I loved the cozy vibe and could honestly see this as a great cozy show of sorts and probably would've preferred this in that format. Overall It was just an alright reading experience.

Cute and Cozy!

The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder is a multi-perspective read. Of the perspectives, Freya Lockwoods is the main one. Freya used to be an expert in antiques, but following an incident that involved her mentor Arthur Crockleford Freya stepped away from the antique scene. She chose marriage and motherhood which lasted twenty years. Now that her marriage is over, her daughter has moved out and the house she spent years in is in the process of being sold, Freya is told that Arthur has died. This is when we meet Aunt Carole, a spicy woman who happens to be my favourite character. At the funeral, the ladies realize that something just isn't right, so the hunt for the murder begins.

I enjoyed this book. I thought it was cute and entertaining.

Thank You to C.L. Miller and Atria Books, for the digital ARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

I love attending antique auctions, so I wanted to like this book. It has a fabulous premise and a likable protagonist, however, I found the secondary characters one-dimensional and the plot somewhat confusing. Freya's internal dialog about her past also became redundant and slowed any action. The character of Jade, Freya's daughter, added nothing to the book. (Since this was an ARC, I hope some major editing took place before it was released to the public.)

I love nothing more than an entertaining and engaging cozy mystery novel, and The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller certainly fits that bill for me. I can't believe this is Miller's debut novel, and I loved every single second of it! It reminded me of Sherlock Holmes without the detective, and the special focus on antiques was fabulous. I have watched more than my fair share of Antiques Roadshow and it was a pleasant surprise to learn the author's late mother was often an expert shown on the show. Knowing that she helped her with aspects of writing this book makes me love it even more, and even though this is a fictional murder mystery, there is still learning to be had!

There are multiple viewpoints in TAHGTM, but the main POV is told through Freya. Even with all of the different characters there is still an air of mystery throughout, and the reader never knows EVERYTHING that is going on, even if they do know something is up with certain people. I loved the way Miller saved almost everything for the big reveal, and though I probably could have figured it out if I had tried, I just let the story take me along and I never wanted it to end. The audiobook is excellent even with our only narrator being Emilia Fox. She just fit the storyline and viewpoints so well that I didn't even care it wasn't a full cast. I was so entertained and had so much fun with the characters that I couldn't help but love it, and I would recommend the audiobook for the interview between the author and narrator as well! I can't wait for another story with Freya and her Aunt Carole.

This was an adorable and quick read. It really sets the scene pretty well, and developed the mystery well.

I liked Freya as a character, and I really loved her relationship with Carole. The two of them played off each other in such a fun manner. And her rediscovering her fire and her strength was great. I definitely would have loved to see more of her interacting with her daughter Jade, and I was also hoping for more of a confrontation between Freya and her ex husband.

However, the sheer number of characters really worked against this story. Especially with almost every character getting at least one really made the pacing uneven. And we stopped at least three times for Freya and Carole to recount what we had learned from the story so far, and it killed the momentum every time.

Overall, this felt really uneven, but it was also an enjoyable read, that made me smile more than once. And I’d be interested if a sequel ever comes around.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC.

“You’re never too old for a jolly good time.” — The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder, C.L. Miller

I so enjoyed The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder! This book was a delight from start to finish and will certainly appeal to readers of traditional mysteries as well as those who prefer murders of the cozy variety. Full of twists and turns and the most charming cast of characters, this one had me hooked. I’m already eagerly anticipating the next book in the series.

Fun start of a potential new series!

Freya Lockwood was once an expert in the field of antiques, but a falling out with her mentor Arthur Crockleford led her to follow a different path of marriage and motherhood. Twenty years later, she’s divorced, her daughter is living in California, and she’s about to lose the home she’s lived in for the past two decades. Against this backdrop, she gets word that Arthur has died in a tragic accident. She goes to visit her Aunt Carole who was a good friend of Arthur’s; this leads them to an antique themed weekend that Arthur was involved in running. Slowly, the two peel back what really happened twenty years earlier that caused Freya to leave antiques as well as what really happened to Arthur, which in turn triggers Freya to rethink some of her life choices.

I enjoyed this book. A big sub plot is Freya sort of waking up to all that she’s denied herself over the last twenty years; it was great to see her realizing there was more than her past life and how much she enjoyed antiques. I appreciated how the author used the house to highlight these changes, too – early on, she’s not taking calls because hiding from the relators and her ex; later, she’s not taking their calls because she’s too busy to talk to them. The house, which was the center of her world at the beginning, was almost unimportant.

Recommended. This had all the elements of being the first in a series; if it is, I’m interested in how the author handles it going forward with no more big mysteries in Freya’s past to unravel.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.com that I voluntarily chose to review.

What a delightful debut!

The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder is a fun, fast-paced murder mystery led by Freya Lockwood. When Freya's antique dealer turns up dead, Freya and her aunt Carole set off to investigate.

You don't need to know anything about antiques to immerse yourself in Freya's world. C.L. Miller has written a gripping, accessible tale, full of quirky characters and people who aren't quite what they seem. The writing is descriptive and very atmospheric.

There were some pacing issues and the plot could have been tightened up a bit but overall it was an enjoyable read sure to please fans of Richard Osman and cozy mysteries. I look forward to reading the next installment and could definitely see it being adapted for TV.

Adventurous cozy mystery vibes? Check!
Unique premise? Check!
Amateur sleuth? Check!
Unreliable & highly suspicious characters? Check!

Miller has delivered a classic, fun cozy mystery with The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder!

I love a solid unique premise or setting and Miller really delivered that with antiques and the underground world of antique hunting. In addition to a great premise, there is a well rounded cast of characters. Our main character, Freya, narrates the bulk of the chapters, but Miller switches things up every so often with chapters from the viewpoint of a secondary character. These helped to fully flesh out the background of the story, as well as some of the present day questions that would have lingered without those characters' views to answer them.

Miller utilizes unreliable and very suspicious acting characters to help ratchet up the tension and intrigue for the story. I loved trying to guess who Freya should trust and attempting to figure out the motivations behind each character. Throw in a sprawling estate as one of the main locations for the action and you get a claustrophobic aspect that adds to the tension.