A Good Day to Buy

A Good Day to Buy by Sherry Harris is the fourth book in A Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery series. Sarah Winston is helping Verne and Velma Spencer downsize their collections for a move to Florida. Today is garage sale day, and Velma keeps trying to reclaim items. Her husband, Verne takes her inside, and Sarah gets ready to bargain. Later in the morning, a customer attempts to enter an off-limits area in the garage that Sarah has cordoned off with sheets. Behind the sheets, Sarah discovers the couple on the floor. Verne is dead, but Velma still has a pulse. Through the back door of the garage, Sarah sees a man fleeing into the woods. After giving her statement to the police, Sarah is home enjoying a Fluffernutter sandwich (marshmallow Fluff and peanut butter) when there is a knock at the door. It is Sarah’s estranged brother, Luke who is twitchy and acting cagey. He needs a place to stay and asks Sarah not to tell anyone that he is there especially C.J. (Chief of Police and Sarah’s ex-husband/current paramour). Luke tells Sarah that he is an investigative reporter working on a story. Luke stays a short time, but he is soon gone without a word. When Luke’s fingerprints turn up in the Spencer’s garage and he becomes a “person of interest”, Sarah knows she must take action. Sarah finds a notebook of Luke’s in the couch that contains a list of names. Sarah hopes that Luke’s research will lead her to him. She knows her brother did not hurt the Spencer’s. Now, she has to prove it and then explain her deception to C.J. Sarah will need to stay alert and on her toes, because she is not the only person trying to find Luke! A Good Day to Buy is nicely written and has a good pace (and flow). A Good Day to Buy can be read alone. The needed background information on Sarah is provided in the book (and she has a complicated history). There are some wonderful descriptions of antiques in the book. I love vintage items and there are several objects described that I want to own. I give A Good Day to Buy 4 out of 5 stars. I am not a fan of the romance in this series. I was very disappointed to see Sarah take up with her ex-husband again (I preferred her with Seth). He strikes me as a self-centered individual, and he does not seem happy with the new Sarah (who she has become since the divorce). I believe Sarah is with him because it is comfortable, easy, and familiar. It will be interesting to see what happens between C.J. and Sarah in the next book. The murder mystery was complex and a delight to solve. I believe many readers will be stumped by this one. The secondary storyline regarding veterans was shocking (spoiler). There are some handy garage sale tips at the end of the book. I enjoyed A Good Day to Buy better than the previous book in the series. I was especially grateful that Ms. Harris cut down on the Fluffernutter sandwich references (makes me queasy just thinking about them). I was surprised by the cliffhanger ending (and disappointed). I hope the author will resolve the issue early in the next book and not drag it out (sorry, but I do not want to spoil it for anyone).