by Sandra Murphy

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book, and a link to purchase it from Amazon.

Poppy McAllister owns a B&B in Cape May. She’s also a gluten-free baker for her Italian boyfriend’s coffee shop. It sounds like the perfect life except…Poppy has a way of finding herself involved with murders. Not committing them, just finding the bodies. And clues as to who did it.

It’s no surprise when a man is found strangled with a macrame plant holder, the B&B is the first stop for police officers Amber and her new partner, Violet. Poppy is happy to say she’s never seen the man before.

Courtney Whipple is a retired antiques dealer who turned the shop over to his son, Auggie. Through no fault of her own, Poppy, her boyfriend Gia, and her Aunt Ginny are invited to the Whipple’s for a dinner that never manages to make it to the table. Aunt Ginny and her friends, the biddies, can come up with some doozy stunts, but they’re no match for Whipple’s craziness.

Auggie claims to have found an item worth a fortune. Another dealer says Auggie stole it from him. Before ownership can be established, Auggie is found stabbed to death—in an armoire Poppy wanted to buy at the annual antique auction.

What with being a sort of suspect, hosting a guest who thinks the B&B is haunted, another who is a midnight snacker, two guest cats who are stalking Poppy’s cat, a sleepwalker, a narcoleptic, sunburned chambermaid, and a surprise visit from Poppy’s former mother-in-law, solving a murder sounds like the easiest part of Poppy’s days.

This is book seven in the series. Poppy and Gia’s relationship is progressing despite their schedules and his relatives. The B&B is attracting guests, the oddballs who don’t read Yelp reviews, but still, kooks are better than empty rooms. Left unsupervised, Aunt Ginny and the biddies can get into more trouble than a herd of toddlers. Poppy takes it all in stride, where most people would take up drinking.

This is an all-time favorite series, one I always look forward to for the humor as well as the mystery to solve. The twist at the end was perfect. I can’t wait to see what’s next for Poppy and Gia.

Recipes are included for banana saltwater taffy muffins, unicorn cotton candy cuppycakes, strawberry funnel cake muffins, gluten-free funnel cakes, peanut butter fudge cakes, caramel apple candy corn cupcakes, caramel sauce, caramel frosting, crunch coat bars, and kohlrabi carrot fritters with avocado cream.

To enter to win a copy of Antique Auctions Are Murder, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “auctions,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen June 18, 2022. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If you are entering via email please include you mailing address in case you win, it will be deleted after the contest. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. Also listen to our new mystery podcast where mystery short stories and first chapters are read by actors! They are also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify. A new episode went up this week.

You can use this link to purchase the book. If you have ad blocker on you may not see the Amazon link. You can also click here to purchase the book.

Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the Arch in St. Louis Missouri. She’s editor for Peace, Love, and Crime: Crime Stories Inspired by the Songs of the ’60s, with twenty-two cozy stories. She also edited A Murder of Crows, twenty-one stories featuring animals and crime (no animals were harmed). She also writes for magazines, newsletters, and the occasional guest blog. Both anthologies are available at the usual outlets, print or ebook.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.