Bid and Buried: A Small-Town Antiques Cozy Mystery (The Sandpiper Cove Antique Mysteries, Book 2)

When the gavel falls on the most ruthless dealer on the coast, the prime suspect is the appraiser holding it.Della Marsh traded a high-pressure city auction house for the salt air of Sandpiper Cove, Maine, and the chance to keep her late aunt's antiques shop, The Gilded Heron, from going under. She wanted slower mornings, honest provenance cards, and a fresh start. She did not want another body.But when Della is hired to appraise the lots for the harbor festival's glittering charity auction, the evening's marquee sale turns deadly. Vivian Crane - the kind of rival who'd outbid you on principle and gloat about it over chowder - collapses mid-auction, poisoned. Half the town remembers the very public feud the two women had been waging for weeks. Worse, the murder weapon traces straight back to a lot from the Heron's own table.With a sharp-eyed sheriff's deputy circling and a maddeningly patient harbormaster insisting she let the professionals handle it, Della starts asking the questions no one else will. Somewhere between the provenance cards and the final bid, a killer is counting on her to stay quiet. Della has never been good at quiet.And the deeper she digs into Vivian's last consignment, the closer she drifts to the cold case that has haunted her since she came home - the one tied to her aunt's death.Readers who love charming, bloodless whodunits will find: - A clever amateur sleuth with real antiques-world expertise- A cozy coastal Maine town full of nosy neighbors and warm pastries- A slow-burn, closed-door romance with a swoony harbormaster- A twisty estate-sale murder with red herrings and fair-play clues- An overarching cold-case mystery that simmers across the series- No gore, no graphic content - just curl-up-by-the-fire suspenseIf you love Maine small towns, hidden treasures, and a sleuth who can spot a forgery and a liar from across the room, step inside The Gilded Heron. The bidding is about to get dangerous.Bid and Buried is the second installment in The Sandpiper Cove Antique Mysteries and can be enjoyed on its own.