Antiques Con- Barbara Allan

Antiques Con Barbara Allan Kensington, Apr 29 2014, $24.00 ISBN: 9780758263643 Accompanied by blind Shih Tzu Sushi, septuagenarian Vivian “Mother” Borne and divorced Brandy “Daughter” Borne leave Serenity, Iowa overlooking the Mississippi River to attend a comic book convention in New York overlooking the Hudson. The dealers plan to sell an original Superman drawing from the 1940s. Due to a reservation fiasco at the Hotel Pennsylvania, they obtain a free room; convention organizer Tommy Bufford’s suite. That first night in the suite, the Borne pair frightens a room invader. However, Bufford has no such luck, as someone murders Tommy by stabbing him in his chest with an award shaped like a pen. Knowing from his brother (Brandy’s lover) the duet’s tendencies towards trouble by investigating crimes, NYPD Detective Cassato warns them to stay out of his inquiry. Vivian heads to New Jersey to meet the local mob chief at the Badda-Boom Club while Brandy learns who had motive to murder Bufford and killed the organizer’s assistant as well. The latest Trash 'n' Treasures amateur sleuth (see Antiques Disposal and Antiques Bizarre) is the usual fabulous mirthful madcap murder mystery starring a dynamic duet dueling each other over who gets in the last word though they go separate ways straddling the Hudson. Fans will enjoy this amusing over the top of Washington Heights cozy due to the jocular rivalry between Mother and Daughter. Harriet Klausner