Glow of Death: A Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery

The Glow of Death by Jane K. Cleland is the eleventh book in the Josie Prescott Antique Mysteries. Josie K. Prescott of Prescott’s Antiques and Auctions receives a call to appraise what the couple hopes is a Tiffany lamp. Josie quickly gets the permission forms signed and heads over to the house of Edwin and Ava Towson the Garnet Cove community of Rocky Point, New Hampshire. After being greeted by Ava, Josie shoots a video of the lamp. On the base of the lamp it reads “Tiffany Studios New York 181”. It looks like this is an authenticate Tiffany lamp in the Wisteria pattern. Upon further evaluation, Josie is positive the lamp is authenticate. This lamp could get anywhere over $1 million dollars. Josie then returns the lamp to Ava and Edwin’s home. A week later Josie is getting ready to enjoy the Fourth of July with her friends, when Police Chief Ellis Hunter gets a call. Josie recognizes the address of the Towson’s. A dead body is found in the kitchen, and Ellis asks Josie to identify the victim. Unfortunately, Josie does not recognize the woman. The victim turns out to be the real Ava Towson. Someone pulled a con on Josie, and she is not going to take this lightly. She immediately checks their study and sees the Tiffany lamp is still in place. The real Edwin Towson contacts Josie to sell the lamp. When Josie tries to pick it up, someone takes pot shots at her. The next day Josie checks out the lamp, and she discovers that someone has switched the real Tiffany for a high-end fake. Josie wants to find out who is responsible for the con, the switch, and the murder. Will Josie be able to flush out the killer before they sell the lamp? The Glow of Death may be the eleventh book in the series, but it can be read alone. I have only read a few books in A Josie Prescott Antiques Mysteries, and I had no trouble enjoying this book. I found the characters to be interesting and relatable. There are some wonderful descriptions of antiques in the novel (I grew up with two aunts for antique dealers and surrounded by them at home). The mystery was complicated and puzzling (that’s a good thing). I do not believe that many people will find it easy to solve the mystery (I was tickled that I correctly guessed the killer’s identity). I give The Glow of Death 4 out of 5 stars (I liked it). I did find the book to be a little long and could have used some trimming. There was a wee bit too much time devoted to Hank (the Prescott Antiques cat) and his new buddy, Angela. I did not need to know about the cat’s toys, cuddles, play habits, etc. I like animals to be included in cozy mysteries, but I really do not need that much detail. In addition, there are several flashbacks to Josie’s childhood that have nothing to do with the events of the book. We also have to suffer through countless pages of Josie’s thoughts and questions about the case. Just a little tweaking would take Glow of Death from a good book to a great cozy mystery novel.