Dead Men Don’t Decorate
Roberto Fratelli, proprietor of the antique store Waited4You, is the meanest man in Marthasville, Virginia. So when he puts the business up for sale, the other merchants in town are overjoyed. And now the business has a prospective buyer: a local resident, and the newly elected mayor’s mom, Camille Benson, who’s thrilled at the prospect of getting into the antique business. During a celebration in honor of Camille’s new venture, her best friend, Opal, tells her about finding a letter, purportedly from Sally Fairfax to George Washington, dated 1756, hidden under a chair in the shop. When they return to retrieve the cache, they find Roberto’s lifeless body on the floor and no letter.
Police question Ella Coleman, Roberto’s ex-wife, and discover that her current husband supplied Roberto with oh-so-faux Victorian furniture. Did the two cheat the wrong customer? Or could the murder be connected to an earlier theft of rare books from the shop, a theft Roberto never reported? Or is it the letter that is cause for murder? As Camille prepares to confront these questions and investigate the murder, she knows she might become the latest knock-off.
The Details
Series: An Old Town Antique Mystery – Book #1
Author: Cordy Abbott
Genre/Category: Cozy – Business/Hobby
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
ISBN: 163910125X
Page Count: 304
Rating: 
The Review
Waited4You is for sale, and Camille is happy to buy back her parent’s old antique store. But before she can even get started on renovations, the previous owner’s body is found in the middle of the showroom. To make matters worse, it appears that an old letter from George Washington has gone missing from the shop. Now it is up to Camille and her sidekick, Opal, to discover if the letter was real or a fake; and who killed the former highly disliked shop owner.
In Dead Men Don’t Decorate, suspects come out of the woodwork in this debut book in the “An Old Town Antique Mystery” series. No one will miss the victim; he was universally disliked, even hated by some. The letter from George Washington may or may not be real, and if it is, it would be worth millions. Camille also discovers that not all the antiques in Waited4You are real. Evidence stacks up, but no one, not even the police, is sure who it points to. It could be another business owner who despised the victim, his ex-wife, or someone he swindled in a faux antique furniture deal, or even Camille’s new landlord.
Virginia is a beautiful state, and many series use it as the backdrop for murder and mystery. It is obvious that the author has lived and played in this picturesque location. Unfortunately, most of the characters in this first book are not likable. Camille is wishy-washy, her best friend is a little too easygoing, and her love interest for Camille is unlikely to go anywhere. The story gets bogged down in descriptions readers don’t need and not enough of the ones they do. Waited4You sounds lovely, but we don’t get a good sense of what it looks like or its history other than it once belonged to Camille’s parents. The little information the author gives readers about the past or the victim does not help solve the crime. The George Washington letter is important but doesn’t seem to be a priority for the police. Readers will know almost immediately who the killer is, with a motive that is also easy to figure out. And… I don’t think the title is fitting; it doesn’t really have anything to do with the storyline.
In general, Dead Men Don’t Decorate is an okay first book, but it’s nothing to write home about. Not that I won’t read the next one in the series. I hope Waited4You becomes more descriptive and integral to future plots and that no more letters are found to distract readers. I did not hate any of the characters, but I hope that they have a massive growth streak between this book and the next and that the writing becomes more fluid with less unneeded information and more action.
The Author
Proud baby boomer and dog mom, Cordy Abbott, is the author of the Old Town Antique Mystery series. She, her husband, and their Standard Schnauzer have lived in Alexandria, Virginia, for over two decades. Because she enjoys everything about the city, she can’t wait to share it with readers, even a fictionalized version.
When not writing, she enjoys traveling and volunteering for good causes, like the American Association of University Women of Alexandria and the Delaware River and Bay Lighthouse Foundation. She has a post-graduate certificate in Antiquities Theft and Art Crime.
Other books and series similar to this one are Antique Auctions Are Murder from Libby Klien’s “A Poppy McAllister Mystery” series and from Barbara Allan’s “A Trash ‘N’ Treasures Mystery” series Antiques Fire Sale.
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