May Day is a fun, busy day in Hope Eaton. It's full of ceremony and a time to share old beliefs and lore. It's not a time for murder. So, who was taunting and basically terrorizing Mary Roberts the school secretary? A former student is openly taunting her with little doll meant to resemble Mary and call to mind a frightening legend. When she's found dead the next day, suspicions flare. Who'd kill the somewhat reclusive woman? But, wait. Was she killed or was it natural? Is it murder if you frighten and terrorize someone to the point they die?

As it turns out, there are several viable suspects, among them the young man in question and Mary's vindictive ex-husband. Main character Bella Winter doesn't let the little fact that the coroner says Mary died of natural causes detour her. As Barry Dixon, the police officer in charge points out, of course, they can't do anything based on suppositions. They need hard evidence. Mary was prone to report even the most minute of wrongdoings, so they are wary of rumors of her being recently harassed by someone. In fact, it sounds so far out, based on old, spooky legends, that some suspected Mary was losing her mind, so to speak. Not Bella. She's determined and begins snooping, er, asking questions and poking about. Her late father was a police investigator and she seems to have inherited his sleuthing genes. Will it lead her into danger? Oh, boy, will it.

I won't detail the plot further but will say that despite periodic lulls in the plot, the story mostly kept my attention. I didn't feel like I knew much about Bella other than her father's job or, for that matter, the characters about her but that would probably be a result of not having read book one. While I ultimately was able to sort things out, while it worked as a standalone, I might have been able to make sense of who was who much sooner if I had. Her friends, especially co-worker at the antique store John, are likable and I liked that while her interactions with Barry Dixon weren't genuinely positive that he also was painted in a likable way, including his family situation. One of the benefits of Bella's late father's job was that she did have some connections, an idea of who to call on for help, which was a bonus. The murder itself was cruelly done, quite diabolical, even without the murderer striking a blow. The ending was also quite tense, showing Bella's quick thinking on her feet when pressed as well as the fortitude of her friends and associates. Thanks #Bookouture for the early introduction to Bella and friends. Lots of twists and red herring after red herrings in this one despite the occasional lull in pace. I'll definitely make a point of checking out the next book in the series. Quite the intro to Sweet Agnes and Hope Eaton's May Day celebrations.

antiques, antiquity, small-business, small-town, amateur-sleuth, England, cozy-mystery, local-law-enforcement, local-legends, local-history, friends, friendship, town-gossips****

A nice soothing cozy with a few unusual twists and characters who are ever so real. It was pleasant to meander along with Bella and John as they outpaced the local law.
I requested and received a free temporary uncorrected advance review copy from Bookouture via NetGalley.
Avail Jan 17, 2025 #TheAntiqueStoreDetectiveAndTheMayDayMurder by @ClareChase_ #BellaWinterMysteriesBk2 @bookouture #CozyEnglishMystery

This is book 2 in the series, though it could be read as a standalone. As a series purist myself, I highly recommend reading the first one first though. I definitely enjoyed this book more than the first one as the mystery was more interesting and we got to know the characters more.

In the small town of Hope Eaton, May Day is celebrated as the first day of Spring, but unfortunately for Mary Roberts, it brings death. Having previously enjoyed Clare Chase’s first book in her Bella Winter Antique Store Detective series, I was looking forward to the sequel, The Antique Store Detective and the May Day Murder: A totally gripping cozy murder mystery

We learn quite early in the story that Mary Roberts has a history of reporting trouble to her local police, and she has one juvenile in particular whom she considers to be a nuisance, if not a lawbreaker. However, the authorities seldom take her complaints seriously. Thus, when Bella finds her dead inside her home, the police do not suspect murder.

Bella has other ideas. She is her father’s daughter; that is, her late father was a cop, and she has his genes, apparently. She seems to spend more time snooping – I mean, investigating – than she does in her antique store. Her employee, John, is her fellow investigator, and they have a host of friends and acquaintances who are more than willing to get involved.

Was this a “totally gripping cozy murder mystery”? No. At times, I was curious and followed with interest. At other times, however, I felt that the dialogue was overdone, the red herrings too frequent and redundant, and at about the 60% mark, I was ready to be finished. In the end, however, the murder scene was cleverly done, but the process of getting to the finale was overly dramatic.

I received an ARC copy of The Antique Store Detective and the May Day Murder: A totally gripping cozy murder mysteryThe Antique Store Detective and the May Day Murder in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture, and the author.

This is a fun cozy mystery which would appeal to readers who like to be able to figure out the solution with clues planted throughout the story.
Though I had not read the first in the series, this book could stand on its own. I would recommend this to readers of classic English cozy mysteries.

This is a cosy, almost friendly, murder mystery, it has a sedate pace and characters that are pleasant stereotypes of village life. Bella investigates the affairs and uses her friends as help to uncover the blackmail and threatening actions against Mary, the solitary and almost reclusive villagers. The plot in interesting in a gentle way, and perfect if you fancy an unchallenging read.

This was a strong sequel in the Bella Winter Mystery series, it had that element that I was looking for and enjoyed the overall improvement from the first book to this. Clare Chase has a great writing style and was invested in the story. It had that mystery element that I wanted and was glad I read this. I hope there is more in this series and from Clare Chase.

Great premise, but the writing and the characters didn't work for me. I'd still like to check out more from this author, there is lots of potential here. Three stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I couldn’t keep going with this unfortunately.

While I appreciate the cosy mystery vibes this book is clearly trying to evoke; the writing just wasn’t good enough in my opinion.

Conversations ended abruptly, a new scene would start just as quickly leaving an unfinished feeling.

I really like the concept and characters but the writing would need to improve for me to fully engage and continue reading.

Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for arc in exchange for honest review.

This was a light cozy mystery, clean reading that you can share with your mom or your daughter and not worry about any content.

Bella Winter lives in a charming small town where everyone knows everyone’s business sort of town. Her father, who has passed, was formerly a detective in Hope Eaton. As you would imagine, Bella has an innate level of curiosity as a detective’s daughter, so when a neighbor is found dead of natural causes she is suspicious.

At the start of the book you are introduced to several characters and townspeople, several that become Bella’s accomplices in her amateur sleuthing, while she tries to maintain her antique business that is also suffering from local gossiping.

The story is very much a string of Bella’s thoughts and conversations as she puzzles out the mysteries surrounding Hope Eaton. There’s a little lull about 2/3 the way through when it switches gears from all the puzzle pieces being laid out to Bella organizing them to the unfold, the last 1/3 unfolds quickly with it being a surprise to how it all is a tangled web leading back to one villain!