A good second installment

I enjoyed this second installment & feel like there's finally a bit more character building for Molly. During book 1 I was unsure who the main character was as a person; it was very surface level. Molly gets a bit more of an identity in this book & I hope it continues more because right now the characters are still a bit 1 dimensional and sometimes boring.

My favorite thing about this series is that Molly is the main character but her partner in crime is her mom. I've never seen that in a cozy before, and it's a sweet dynamic. Molly bounces all her ideas off Clara & enlists her help with investigating. Clara however is much more interested in the antiques themselves, so it makes it quite funny sometimes.

The other people in Molly's life seem to be Matt & her co worker (who plays a very minor role). But otherwise the rest of the cast varies book by book. I wish there were more characters that could be developed through each of the books, and that's my biggest "con." I will give book 3 a chance & hope it changes because as of now I'm not invested in any of the characters, which by book 2 a reader should be. They just feel like characters in a story & not characters who I "know."

If you're just looking for an easy listen then this fits the bill well. The narration is well done, the stories are intriguing with interesting historical backgrounds & the mystery has its share of twists. You can pick this book up at book 2 and won't feel lost if you haven't read book 1 yet. This series doesn't need to be read in order to be good!

4 people found this helpful

Very Good

Ellery Adams is one of my favorite cozy mystery writers. She develops realistic characters and places them in real situations. This was another example of her writing skills. While on a writing assignment for Collectors Weekly, Molly stumbles onto scandal and murder. While she is investigating the mystery, she is plagued with doubt over her budding relationship with her co-worker, Mark. This is a very entertaining story. I look forward to the next book in the series.

2 people found this helpful

A Fatal Appraisal

a very entertaining and enjoyable listen. I liked the characters the subject matter and endings

1 person found this helpful

Way too many characters!

This book felt really disjointed to me and there were way too many characters to try to remember. I stuck it out until the end of the book, but I am not sure I will continue the series.

1 person found this helpful

Richmond, Virginia and Antiques Galore

The second in Ellery Adams Antiques and Collectibles Mysteries Series is a very good one, although I'm partial to the first one, as I am a pottery lover . . . this one, though held my attention throughout, and I loved the historical information included in and around the civil war battlefields of Virginia, the wonderful stories of furniture making near Williamsburg and Fredericksburg . . . the tales of the antiques make the book . . . and the mystery of the murders, of course . . . great series . . . downloading the next one!

1 person found this helpful

Snoozer

Usually love everything Ellery Adams writes. But definitely not this series. Flat, one dimensional characters with lame, unbelievable plots. However, the worst part is probably the narrator. Talk about flat! Definitely won't waste my money or time on any more of this series. But do read her other works, they're great.

1 person found this helpful

Molly is ehhh

The mystery was good but Molly is just not a nice person. Besides being overly critical, consumed with how to forward her career in the midst of trade go and forever going on about her weight, just couldn’t gel with her.

A Stunning Tale

This book was an absolute joy to read. great characters, great background in antiquities, lots of fun and full of surprises...Enjoy in front of a warm fire.

Not her best

Usually a big fan, this one was slow and a bit boring at times. No problem putting this one on hold.

A revised earlier written story

A revised or revived earlier written story by an author I like who has really improved over time once you read/hear earlier stories. A bit convoluted, this one goes back and forth in time and the ending is a bit rushed to tie up the historical events from the Revolutionary War. A mystery over two hundred years is interesting but the earlier mystery is sad more than a mystery.