The Art of the Decoy (A Scandal Mountain Antiques Mystery) by Trish Esden

About The Art of the Decoy

The Art of the Decoy (A Scandal Mountain Antiques Mystery)
Traditional Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Vermont
Crooked Lane Books (April 5, 2022)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1643859641
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1643859644
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B098PXZNDF

Perfect for fans of Jane K. Cleland and Connie Berry, Tricia Esden’s series debut is sure to please.
After her mother is sent to prison for art forgery, Edie Brown returns to Northern Vermont to rebuild her family’s fine art and antiques business. She’s certain she can do it now that her mother is gone. After all, butting heads with her mom over bad business practices was what drove Edie away three years ago, including a screwup that landed Edie on probation for selling stolen property.
When Edie scores a job appraising a waterfowl decoy collection at a hoarder’s farmhouse, she’s determined to take advantage of the situation to rebuild the business’s tarnished reputation and dwindling coffers. In lieu of payment, Edie intends to cherry-pick an exceptional decoy carved by the client’s renowned Quebecoise folk artist ancestors. Only the tables turn when the collection vanishes.
Accused of the theft, Edie’s terrified that the fallout will destroy the business and land her in prison next to her mom. Desperate, she digs into the underbelly of the local antiques and art world. When Edie uncovers a possible link between the decoy theft and a deadly robbery at a Quebec museum, she longs to ask her ex-probation officer, and ex-lover, for help. But she suspects his recent interest in rekindling their romance may hide a darker motive.
With the help of her eccentric uncle Tuck and Kala, their enigmatic new employee, Edie must risk all she holds dear to expose the thieves and recover the decoys before the FBI’s Art Crime Team or the ruthless thieves themselves catch up with her.

About Trish Esden

Trish Esden loves museums, gardens, wilderness, dogs, and birds, in various orders depending on the day. She lives in northern Vermont where she deals antiques with her husband, a profession she’s been involved with since her teens. Don’t ask what her favorite type of antique is. She loves hunting down old bottles and rusty barn junk as much as she enjoys fine art and furnishings.

Author Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Trish-Esden-author-108247488016132
Twitter: https://twitter.com/patesden
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trishesden/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/patesden/_created/
Website: https://trishesden.com
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/trish-esden
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21662893.Trish_Esden
Purchase Links – Amazon – IndieBound – Barnes & Noble – Books-a-Million – Kobo

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True Crime novelist J T Hunter has another terrifying story to tell and I am eager to share it. I love reading crime, fiction and nonfiction, and this confirms for me the monsters that are the scariest are of the human kind.

Devil in The Darkness: The True Story of Serial Killer Israel Keyes

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

The lead detective, George Murtie has a varied and fascinating life story, but Israel Keyes, an Army veteran, loving husband and father, and small business owner turned serial killer is the star of the performance.

Information was cultivated from reports, videos, court documents, interviews, newspapers and Facebook postings..

We will be traveling from Vermont to Alaska, with some stops in between.

Samantha Koenig…bad luck and what ifs would plague me if I were her loving father. Israel Keyes didn’t choose her specifically, he chose the place. She just happened to be there.

IF his story is true, she was compliant, having many opportunities to try and escape, but Israel has convinced her not to. I always wonder how I would act and I can only hope it would be immediate and violent, a fight to the death, seeing he (?) would probably kill me anyway, might as well fight and go down on my own terms.

The more I read, the more I think I have seen this on TV.

Sounds to me like he was exactly what he wanted to be, the guy next door….but, no emotions. Everything he did was for fun. He played the authorities and took his own way out.

Devil in the Darkness by J T Hunter is written in an easy to read format. There is some repetition, but that is to be expected when gathering information from people and places at different times, being true to the facts as J T knows them.

All in all, a well written, grimly told story of evil that walks the earth in the guise of a man.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Devil in the Darkness by J T Hunter.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos — 4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

He was a hard-working small business owner, an Army veteran, an attentive lover, and a doting father. But he was also something more, something sinister. A master of deception, he was a rapist, arsonist, and bank robber, and a new breed of serial killer, one who studied other killers to perfect his craft. He methodically buried kill-kits containing his tools of murder years before returning to reclaim them. Viewing the entire country as his hunting grounds, he often flew across the country to distant locations where he would rent a car and drive hundreds or even thousands of miles before randomly selecting his victims. Such were the methods and madness of serial killer Israel Keyes. Such were the demands of the ‘Devil in the Darkness’.
INCLUDES PHOTOS

J.T. Hunter is the bestselling author of “The Vampire Next Door” and “The Country Boy Killer”

ABOUT J T HUNTER

J.T. Hunter is an attorney with over fourteen years of experience practicing law, including criminal law and appeals, and he has significant training in criminal investigation techniques. He is also a college professor in Florida where his teaching interests focus on the intersection of criminal psychology, law, and literature.