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I started this book with trepidation. So many books with antique dealers as protagonists are wrong. The authors, having watched a few episodes of Antiques Roadshow and visited a few garage sales or car boot sales think they know it all. Well, there is always the exception to the rule and this is it. Boy was I wrong. Molly Doyle was once a high powered New York City antiques dealer. You know the type. They show at the Armory sale and have nothing in their shops for under $20,000. She left New York in disgrace after her husband and their restorer absconded to Spain with the fruits of their years of collaborating in faking and selling Old Master paintings. She takes over a small junque shop in Carmel at the behest of an old family friend, Max, a wealthy, gay San Francisco antiques dealer. The last owner of the shop had died and there was nothing much in the way of good merchandise to sell. Molly shops the various house sales for stuff and finds a few pieces, including a nice desk she can use. She's in a hurry, because Max's lover, Pablo, has taken a dislike to Molly and he is always after her to open the shop on time. She forgets to check the drawers and when she gets home, she finds they are locked. Sunday morning she returns to the home of the woman who sold her the desk just in time to have the woman die in her arms. The Police Chief is also a newcomer to Carmel. He has left LA for a (he hopes) quieter life. It is not to be. He investigates all who may be connected to the crime, and discovers Molly's background. Her hoped for new start is tainted. Elaine Flinn is a retired antiques dealer. She clearly knows her subject well, and, in her day, I bet she could sell a piece of Louis the Hotel furniture to a civilian for a good price. Molly Doyle can do the same, and perhaps, someday, she will retire to New Orleans. In the meantime, may she live and prosper for a good many years in Carmel.
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, September 2003
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