Book Beginnings: Antique Hunters and Long time, no see

The Antique Hunter's Murder
at the Castle
by C.L. Miller
Atria Books, March 2026

First sentences

The snow was descending in sheets as Bella turned her rental car down the long drive to Fawside Castle. It blanketed the world around her.

About the Book

Description from the Publisher: 

"Hot on the heels of an art forger, a member of the Lockwood Antique Hunter’s Agency disappears while investigating an isolated castle deep in Scottish countryside. Freya and Aunt Carole race to her last known location and arrive in the wintry, snow-covered Scottish Borders.

At the castle, they discover ... a murdered laird in the vegetable garden and his priceless collection of silverware has been stolen. Local police believe Freya’s missing team member was involved with the robbery and murder...but where is she now?

As a snowstorm descends on the castle, Freya and Carole call in back-up to help uncover what happened that fateful night. As each question is met with more mystery, the clock is ticking to find their friend and the murderer before they are cut off from the outside world."

 

Initial Thoughts

This is the third book in C.L. Miller's Antique Hunter series of cozy mysteries, and I haven't read either of the other two books. As usual, I'm jumping into a series with no background and no experience with the characters or story lines. Most of the time, I don't have a lot of problems catching up. But I think it might have been a mistake with this series. I'm not connecting as quickly as I'd like and I seem to be spending way too much time trying to figure out relationships and back stories. So I'm not enjoying the book as much as I likely would if I'd read the others. 

Of course, that's my fault and not a fault of the book or the author. And I'm only about a third of the way through, so things might change. Freya and her Aunt Carole are interesting characters, and the story is moving along at a nice rapid pace. So, we'll see how things develop as I get further into the book – if I get further into the book. 

One other thought: This is the first time I've posted anything here on the blog in over a year – aside from my annual lists of books I've read. I keep promising myself that I'll start blogging and reviewing again, and I go right on breaking that promise. So, we'll see how things develop here, too. 

Please note: The sentence quoted above comes from an advance reader's copy of the book (yes, I'm a little late getting it read). I've checked it against the US edition which came out earlier this month, but haven't compared it with the UK edition. I notice that the titles seem to be different, so I suppose there could be other things that don't match up. 

Have a good weekend, everyone.

And happy reading!

Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Friday. As she says, the idea is to post the first sentence (or so) of the book you're currently reading (or one that's caught your eye), along with any first impressions or thoughts you have about the book, the author, etc.  It's a wonderful way of adding new books to your must-read list, and a nice chance to connect with other readers and bloggers.