A mysterious death and a missing ruby necklace… it’s clearly a case for antique store owner and amateur sleuth Bella Winter!
I’m delighted to say that book three in my new series, The Antique Store Detective and the Deadly Inheritance, is now available to pre-order! If you’d prefer a paperback or Audible copy, you’ll be able to order those from the same page, shortly before publication day on 28th August 2025.
Here’s the cover:
And here’s the reader description:
Nobody was surprised when Clemmie Crowe passed away – she’d been sick for a long time. But Bella Winter isn’t sure it’s as simple as it seems. Why was Clemmie so agitated the day she died – and why did she ask a local policeman to call on her?
Bella’s certain Clemmie knew something about her relatives, the powerful Powell family. They used to own half of Hope Eaton, but now they’re planning to sell what remains… Including the Steps Café, owned by Bella’s best friends.
The sale has to be stopped. Where else will Bella get her sausage sandwiches? Perhaps Clemmie’s secret will be enough to put a spanner in the works. So when matriarch Althea Powell invites her to value their possessions, Bella jumps at the chance. She can find some gems, investigate Clemmie’s death, and stymie the sale all at once.
It seems to be going swimmingly… until it’s proved that Clemmie was murdered, and Althea’s priceless ruby necklace vanishes. The list of suspects is as long as Bella’s arm. Was it Althea’s shady stepson, desperate for cash? His older brother, who wants to sell up? Or even her husband, who keeps changing his will?
Then Bella finds the necklace in the last place she expects, upsetting everything she thought she knew. Where there’s a will, there’s bound to be a quarrel. But can Bella figure out whose inheritance means murder, before things turn deadly for her?
Although The Antique Store Detective and the Deadly Inheritance isn’t out until August, you don’t have to wait that long to sample the series! Book one, The Antique Store Detective is available now, and book two, The Antique Store Detective and the May Day Murder, is out this Friday, 17th January! (And for Eve Mallow fans, rest assured there are more books on the way. Mystery at Hideaway House releases on 7th May!)
In the meantime, I do hope you enjoy Bella’s new adventure!
A flavour of the antique store detective series
The setting and surroundings for the series are fictional, but elements of Hope Eaton are inspired by beautiful Bridgnorth in Shropshire. Most of the photos below were taken there.
Clare Chase 