Book Review: The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller

I’ve been in the mood for mystery lately, especially those with juicy plots that I could get excited about. The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller fits that bill perfectly as it introduces some quirky yet lovable characters that will hopefully make a reappearance in a sequel. Somehow this author made the dusty world of antiques seem thrilling, most likely due to the fact that C.L. Miller is the daughter of Judith Miller, an antiques expert for many years before her passing. The author also tackles the equally unsexy topic of a middle-aged protagonist that’s stuck between life stages, yet these challenges were no match for the page-turning plot that raced along at a satisfying speed.

Plot Summary

Freya Lockwood once lived an exciting life of intrigue, hunting down stolen antiques and travelling around the world. But after a tragedy in Cairo alongside her mentor Arthur, she leaves that world behind and settles down into a loveless marriage. Decades later, Arthur is murdered, and although they haven’t spoken since Egypt, he leaves a note for her requesting she get to the bottom of one last mystery. Freya teams up with her Aunt Carole and together they follow Arthur’s cryptic clues to uncover who is behind his untimely death. Arthur suspected he was in danger, so days before his death he hurriedly arranged for a weekend away at an old mansion for Freya and Carole to attend, along with a group of his old antiquing associates, many of them not to be trusted. In addition to following Arthur’s last wishes, Freya is struggling to come to terms with the sale of her home, which her ex-husband has kicked her out of. She’s also disappointed that her daughter Jade has moved across the ocean for school, with no plans of returning soon. Desperate to connect with her old self, but weary of the danger Arthur is posthumously leading herself and her aging aunt into, Freya’s embarking on a reverse coming-of-age process that is rarely depicted in literature.

My Thoughts

Middle-aged women struggling with the idea of ‘what to do next’ in their life once their kids move away are rarely the main character that a plot hinges on in commercial fiction. It’s not a position in life that is often considered, yet Freya’s regret over missing out on her past career choices and throwing herself into motherhood is a feeling that many women can relate to. Freya is in her late forties, and we view her through her own first person narrative, as well as through the eyes of a few characters that come in and out of this story. It’s immediately clear that she is an intelligent and thoughtful woman, but as the book progresses and the danger becomes clearer, her confidence grows, and her bravery shines. However her Aunt Carole proved to my favorite character, as she has a wicked sense of humour that keeps the dialogue light and the adventure ticking along at a nice pace. She also brews a pot of tea every chance she gets, which added a feeling of coziness despite the dead bodies piling up.

It’s difficult to describe this as a cozy mystery simply because some of the deaths are regrettable ones – the victims are more often kind and decent people, so there is a darker undertone to the plot. Yet it’s just light enough that I was always excited to dive back in when I had to put it down. I wanted to return to Freya and Carole’s back and forth banter, and the creepy isolated mansion of a setting lent the entire story a gothic air of suspense. I couldn’t help but feel this book was meant to entertain, first and foremost with this nod to the bookworm early on in the novel:

“I’d always hoped for a bookshop-one with a coffee shop and a comfy chair to read in; one where I could curl up safely with a coffee and live out an adventurous life full of unsolved murders and espionage, surrounded by other stories just waiting to be chosen.”

-p.47 of The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller, ARC Edition

This felt like a very ‘meta’ moment when I read this section, because that’s exactly what I was doing! It also foreshadows what’s to come in the book because we know Freya is about to embark on an adventure, even when she doesn’t know it herself.

Not all the questions are answered, and there’s a potential love interest that’s introduced without any promise of what’s to come, which is why I’m hoping C.L. Miller has another book in the works. I’ve also got my fingers crossed that Aunt Carole plays another pivotal role in future novels, because Freya’s character is wonderfully balanced by this elder sidekick of hers.