bookcheshirecat 's review for:

The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller

2.0

mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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“This plate is different than before, but it’s still precious,” said Arthur. “Most of us have been broken in one way or another. We don’t need to hide the scars, for they make us who we are. This break was mended with real gold.” 

➽ I wanted to try out another Adult Mystery, but this one didn't work for me. I thought The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder had a great premise, but I only noticed the low rating after starting the book. We follow Freya, a former antique hunter who gets roped in to investigate the death of her estranged mentor alongside her aunt Carole. I liked that she had to go back to her small hometown and confront the bad history with her mentor, Arthur. It was also great that Freya's in her late forties, as I don't read about older protagonists often. The only thing I liked about the story was her bond with her aunt Carole, who practically raised her after Freya's parents died in a tragic accident. Those two could have been a great crime-solving duo, but the bad writing sadly doomed them.

➽ This read like a first draft and was so incredibly slow that it was a chore to finish. I only held on for the aunt-niece duo, but even they couldn't save this book. The writing was very clunky and awkward, with lots of cliché, overused phrases. I feel like the author couldn't find her own writing voice and was telling us what happened instead of showing it. It's a shame as the author clearly has a passion of antiques and helped her mother write and Antique guide. The bio said she's worked in publishing, so I don't know what went wrong here. The book definitely needed more editing, as it read like every other mystery out there.

➽ Unfortunately, the characters were walking cliches. Freya herself doesn't read like she's in her forties, as she's so naive. I couldn't understand how she was so clueless about the danger they were in when she used to be involved in antique hunting. Even worse, all the side characters kept talking about how smart and perceptive she was and how she was this big danger to their plans. I liked Aunt Carole, but even she was written too much as the quirky comedic relief. The other characters were bland and stereotypical, and the last-minute romance felt so forced.

➽ The story was so tedious to read, as it was predictable from start to finish. There was no subtlety, and the clues were often obvious. Freya and Aunt Carole's unconcerned approach to finding Arthur's killer took the tension right out of the book. Sometimes the book would change POVs to random side characters, and it didn't really work here, as we'd get to know what all the antagonists were thinking. Arthur's words of wisdom at the beginning of each chapter were so cheesy that it made me cringe.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder

Minor: Toxic relationship