Rating: 4⭐️
This is the beginning of a new small town cozy mystery series by Beatrix Penrose and I think it’s off to a good start.
Appraised For Murder’s central character is a somewhat recently widowed woman, Maggie Callahan, (it’s been two years), whose children are in college. Maggie returns to the small town of Black Walnut Cove, buys a big barn and opens an antique store/estate liquidators shop with her best friend, Birdie in the Blue Ridge Mountains, called Callahan & Co.
In Black Walnut Cove, Maggie Callahan, along with Birdie Jenkins, the v neighbor shop owner Luke Sterling, and her golden retriever, Buster take on daily challenges and the occasional murder mystery. It’s a cozy, with a non spicy romance , small town murder mystery story.
I enjoyed so much about this. The community was captured by the author so well, that of an Appalachia Mountain town and culture, layered over with antiques and other knowledge about its citizens and history. All woven together in a story both about Maggie, a widow in her 50’s starting over in a town where she raised her children, old memories and a new future.
Birdie, her best friend and co-owner of Callahan & Co is absolutely one of my favorite characters. She’s real, hilarious, intelligent and one of the best things about the story. The murder mystery is also a good one, although I thought it was a little muddled towards the end.
The romance between Maggie and Luke is almost nonexistent, he brings her pie, or coffee. There’s a kiss. That’s it. I didn’t see any chemistry between them. For me, it could have been left out and it wouldn’t have mattered.
Buster the golden retriever is a cute element to the story and characters.
One last thing, Maggie, Birdie and Luke do a lot of investigating here and the Sheriff’s department is mentioned. But when do they actually interact with each other? Turn over actual evidence? That whole thread or aspect to the narrative is missing and it doesn’t make sense to leave it out.
Appraised for Murder is a good start to Beatrix Penrose’s new series and I’m excited to see what the next book takes it.
Cover Design is exactly what I expect from this author. Terrific.
The Antiquated Alibi Mysteries:
Appraised for Murder #1
Poisoned by Provenance #2
Buy link
Book 1 of 2: The Antiquated Alibi Mysteries
Blurb
A picturesque Blue Ridge mountain town, an empty-nester starting over, and an antique appraiser who just valued his last settee…
Fifty-two-year-old widow Maggie Callahan thought she had her second act figured out. Running Callahan & Company Estate Liquidations out of a restored apple warehouse gave her purpose, steady work, and just enough room to keep her grief at bay.
With her sharp-tongued best friend Birdie running client relations and her affable, treat-obsessed golden retriever Buster greeting customers, life in Black Walnut Cove was peaceful.
Then came the estate sale of the century.
Blackwood Manor is an eighty-room Victorian stone estate overflowing with three generations of hoarded family heirlooms. But before Maggie can even catalog the parlor furniture, an arrogant high-profile appraiser from Atlanta storms in, loudly threatens her business, and attempts to declare a rare 1820s Moravian cherrywood secretary worthless junk.
Hours later, the appraiser is found dead in the carriage house—bludgeoned with an antique brass balance scale.
With the sheriff eyeing her as a prime person of interest and two predatory out-of-town heirs circling like vultures, Maggie must team up with handsome salvage carpenter Luke Sterling to uncover what the victim was really hunting. When Buster sniffs out clues to a hidden 1845 mountain covenant, Maggie realizes someone is willing to kill to keep a century of land swindles buried in the dust.
Can Maggie decode the clues and unmask the killer before Blackwood Manor is sealed for good—or will Callahan & Company become the next liquidated asset?
Appraised for Murder is the first full-length novel in the charming Antiquated Alibi Mysteries series. If you love witty banter, small-town mountain secrets, lovable canine sidekicks, and clever mature sleuths, you’ll feel right at home in Black Walnut Cove!
Includes clean romance, no graphic gore, and no profanity. Grab your copy and start reading today!
September 5, 2026
Language
English
Print length
225 pages
Book 1 of 2
