Killer Finds by Vicki Vass - #review

Antique hunter Anne Hillstrom’s whirlwind shopping tour to Paris comes to a dead stop, as dead as the man sitting next to her on the plane. And to make matters worse, her identity has been stolen, leaving her to face her worst nightmare. She must sell all her precious antiques with the help of her business partner and co-blogger, CC Muller. Together, they open a pop-up antique store in the quaint suburb of Glen Ellyn Illinois. Their blog fans flock to the store looking to find that perfect treasure and so does a killer. When the Sweet Shop lady next door is found caramelized, the success of the pop-up sale turns bittersweet. Anne and CC dust off the clues, unraveling a centuries-old mystery that leads them to one conclusion. They must find the killer before the killer finds them.

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MY REVIEW

Anne Hillstrom is a woman who must be wealthy because she never asks what an item costs.  And she has a lot of opportunity, because her favorite activity is shopping, usually for antiques.  On the way back from a shopping trip to Paris, Anne sits in 1st class, while her co-blogger, CC Muller, sits in coach.

I would have rather sat in coach, especially after Anne's seatmate runs to the restroom during some particularly heavy turbulence and winds up dead.  The airline can't keep him in the tiny room, and want to sit him back in his seat...as is (very dead).  And it really didn't affect only Anne.  If I had been in first class that day, I would have raised you-know-what!

Anne really needs Shopaholics Anonymous or something similar.  She comes home with 3 shipping container loads of purchases, and has two of them in her long driveway and one in the street, which causes her to earn many zoning violation tickets from the city.  But of course. for someone of her means, that shouldn't be a problem...until it is.  Anne's identity has been stolen and her bank accounts have been wiped out and her credit is maxxed.

Oh dear.  What will the poor old girl do now?  She and CC, the other anitques blogger, have a flash sale in a building owned by CC's ex, I believe it was.  CC is the longsuffering friend with a heart of gold, and really the rock that allows Anne to shine on occasion.  It must be hard for CC sometimes, to live on a budget while her friend shops with abandon.

In the end, things turn out pretty much ok.  Not what you might expect from, say, a fairy tale, but nice, all things considered.  The dragon has been slain, and the princess may return to her ivory tower, perhaps even a little wiser.  I do like the solution at which Anne, CC and CC's German niece arrive, at the end of the book.  What can I say?  I like happy endings.

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MEET THE AUTHOR

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With a passion for shopping and antiques, Vicki Vass turned in her reporter’s notebook to chronicle the adventures of Anne and CC, two antique hunters who use their skills to solve a murder case.

Vicki has written more than 1,400 stories for the Chicago Tribune as well as other commercial publications including Home & Away, the Lutheran and Woman’s World. Her science fiction novel, The Lexicon, draws on her experience in Sudan while writing about the ongoing civil war for World Relief.

She lives in the Chicago area with her husband, writer and musician Brian Tedeschi, son Tony, Australian shepherd Bandit, kittens Terra and Pixel, seven koi and Gary the turtle.

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(Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book from the author and publishers via Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, in exchange for my honest review.  This post contains affiliate links.)