This is third book in the series and the second book I read and actually enjoyed this more than book two which I had liked. In this book our widowed antiques dealer from Ohio has found friendships and become temporary established in a small English village. Kate not only deals with the mystery of the murdered woman but also with her own conflicting feelings. I don’t want to spoil the story by telling more about it but I can tell you the plot has a lot of twist and turns. Colorful characters and is fun to read.

Antique dealer Kate Hamilton is spending the month of May in the village of Long Barston, Suffolk, and enjoying her time with friends Vivian and her boyfriend, DI Tom Mallory. She’s also helping an antiquities shop owner Ivor Tweedy run his shop while he’s recuperating from hip-replacement surgery.

One day a woman named Evelyn Villiers brings a piece of ancient Chinese pottery called a húnping jar she wants to sell. The jar belonged to her late husband. She also wants Kate to handle her late husband’s entire art collection. She said the reason she’s selling is so her daughter Lucy can’t inherit. She blames her daughter for her husband’s death.

While attending the annual pageant on a well-known Anglo-Saxon folktale, a woman appears out of the shadows stabbed in the abdomen. She dies moments later. Kate’s boyfriend Tom Mallory who’s also at the fair asks Kate to call the police.

Moments later Tom gets a call about a break-in in Ivor Tweedy’s antiquities shop. They head over there to investigate and Kate later learns that the murder took place in the stockroom and the húnping jar she was hoping to find a buyer for has been stolen. Worse, Mr. Tweedy would be responsible for its loss.

An interesting story. Would recommend this cozy read.
Thank you to Connie Berry, NetGalley, and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC of this book.

I highly recommend this book and this series. This is the third installment of the Kate Hamilton series. It is the first I read and it is easily read as a standalone. I enjoyed it so much that I read the first two right after!

Kate Hamilton is in England running a friend's antique shop while he is recovering from surgery. A woman comes in with a rare Chinese vase that she wants to sell. Kate is excited as the woman alludes to other antiques she may also want to sell. Later in the day, when participating in the May Fair, a bloody woman runs interrupts a performance and to Kate's dismay, it is the woman from the shop. Investigation shows that the woman was stabbed at the antique store, and the vase is missing.

What I love about this book.

The protagonist, Kate is a widow in her 40's. She does not have TSTL moments, she does not believe she needs to solve the case because the police aren't able to (her love interest is deputy inspector). Her involvement is related to helping the people she has come to care for--Trying to find the victim's daughter so she can discuss the loss of the vase and reparation, trying to ensure that Lady Barbara isn't take advantage of when she decides to sell some antiques. She is a woman you would like to hang out with.

The mystery is well plotted and it all comes together well. It felt like I was with Kate as she discovered clues and information.

The descriptions of the town and its inhabitants

The romance between Kate and Tom-this is first and foremost a mystery but the romance adds a bit of color.

I received an ARC from the publisher for an honest review.

murder, murder-investigation, family-dynamics, friendship, law-enforcement, England, legend, artifact, suspense****

A widowed antique dealer from Ohio who grew up in Wisconsin, Kate is managing the antiquities shop for her friend who has had surgery. She is approached by woman wanting to sell a rare Chinese artifact. Later that day the woman is stabbed to death and the whole melodrama begins along with her own romance with the widowed DI.
The characters are interesting and engaging, the investigation twisty and packed with misdirections, distractions, and the whole is simply riveting. Hope there's another book in the offing!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

Murdered bodies don't just show up at May fairs in idyllic English villages, or do they? In books they certainly do! Kate, an American who is working temporarily in England at an antiquities shop and her boyfriend DI Tom Mallory join forces to find the identity of a murderer but along the way also discover theft of a Chinese jar, betrayal, a green maiden, a secret society and seemingly meaningless words.

Kate is a bright 40-something widow who finds more than a job in England...far more. Tom is a kind widower and detective of the same age. Aside from the main characters there are several others including Ivor, the fatherly owner of the antiquities shop, Vivian (who speaks in Italics!) and Kate's mom. So, not only do we have interesting plot twists but also fascinating characters. And you know how village gossips can be...

"But if you've been stabbed, your final words are significant." They certainly are! The mysteries swirl like mist in this book. The author treats us to historical details which I appreciate, including the mention of quaint and descriptive town names. England is lovely and the names make me smile. Details like this make a book special. And what a cover!

Cozy mystery fans, this is a charming, enjoyable and clean book which you should snap up. It's comfy and homey. Immerse yourself in it.

My sincere thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this delightful book in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated.

When a reclusive village resident dies during the annual spring fete in a small English village, American Kate Hamilton gets swept up in the murder investigation. She’s been running a friends antique business there while he recovers from surgery, and had just accepted a valuable Chinese burial urn from the dead woman earlier. Now there is blood in the antique store and the urn is gone. The author ties in local legends and bits and pieces about the antique trade as Kate and her boyfriend, D.I Tom Mallory try to untangle how the murder, missing antiques, and a sad family history are all tied together. The third in a series, this is a well written book with a lovely setting and characters who are very likable and believable. While you can read it and enjoy it on its own, having read the first two books, I would say they add even more to this as the background stories grow through the series.
Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the chance to read this as an ARC, it’s a great mystery read.

This was the first time I'd read a Kate Hamilton mystery (this is book 3 in the series), but it definitely won't be the last. Kate is an American antiques dealer who's running a friend's antique shop while he recovers from hip surgery. A mysterious woman drops in with an antique Chinese jar to sell, and Kate's spidey sense starts tingling. Before you know it, the woman dies in the midst of the May Day play and the jar is stolen from the store's stockroom, and Kate is embroiled in an old mystery and modern-day art scams. I liked Kate and the story was engaging. A good solid mystery read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for access to a digital arc.

The Art of Betrayal, #3 in the Kate Hamilton series, by Connie Berry.
Kate is an antiques dealer from Ohio, working in a small English antique shop while the owner is out of commission from surgery. She is in a blossoming relationship with DI Tom Mallory---who is also her sleuthing partner. In this book she is embroiled in suspect Chinese antiques, death, murder, and family drama.

I enjoyed the mystery and the twisted path to solving it---but the characters and the lovely descriptions of the English countryside are what keeps me coming back. The series is informative and well paced.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and to NetGalley for giving me a digital ARC of this book. My opinions are my own; I review books I enjoy so that my friends and others can enjoy them ,too.
#TheArtofBetrayal#NetGalley#CrookedLane Books

Spring is a magical time in England--bluebells massing along the woodland paths, primrose and wild thyme dotting the meadows. Antiques dealer Kate Hamilton is spending the month of May in the Suffolk village of Long Barston, enjoying precious time with Detective Inspector Tom Mallory. While attending the May Fair, the annual pageant based on a well-known Anglo-Saxon folktale, a body turns up in the middle of the festivities. This is the 3rd book in this series and they just keep getting better. Lots of twists and turns and a very satisfying ending. I am loving watching Kate and Toms relationship evolve and am really looking forward to the next book in this series. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of The Art of Betrayal by Connie Berry. Kate Hamilton, an American, is working at an antiques store in Suffolk, England. A Mrs. Evelyn Villiars comes into the store to sell an antique Chinese urn and she has more to sell. Kate wonders if this a legit sale later. At a fair Mrs. Evelyn Villiars is fatally stabbed, and her urn is stolen from the store. Since Evelyn Villiars was killed, the police asked Kate to work on the inventory of artwork at Hapthorn Lodge, Evelyn's house.
This was quite a story! Many twists and turns. I really enjoyed it, so hard to put the book down and stop reading to do something else. I love to read stories that take place in the UK. Want to read more stories from Connie Berry, and ended up checking the first two out from my library.

This is the first in the series I have read, I found it enjoyable and kept my interest throughout.

Kate Hamilton is the protagonist in this series. She is an American antiques dealer , living an English village looking after an antiques shop for the owner Ivor ( he is recuperating after an operation). She has a strange meeting in the shop with a recluse of the village , wanting to sell a high value Chinese item.

Kate then finds herself in the middle of the murder of the reclusive customer at the village fair. Kate has a love interest in the local police department detective Inspector Tom Mallory and they begin their sleuthing.

I found the book an easy read, the characters are likeable and the writing flowed comfortably and kept me reading page after page . I was unsure of the murderer until the conclusion of the book.
An enjoyable , easy read.

Thanks to Net galley and crooked lane books for this ARC copy .

This third series entry finds heroine Kate again using her skills as an antiques dealer to solve another murder which has deep ties to the past. This time, Kate is visiting the UK again, helping a friend by managing his antiques shop while he recovers from hip replacement surgery. Kate is shaken by an encounter with a woman who has an ancient Chinese jar she wants to sell. Shortly after the woman visits Kate, she is the victim of a stabbing and dies in the midst of a local pageant dedicated to the legend of the Green Maiden of Suffolk.

The mystery takes many twists and turns and, like a Shakespearian play, almost no one is who they seem to be. Kate's boyfriend D.I. Tom Mallory and her friends Barbara and Vivian are there to support her in her efforts and, as usual, English village life provides an atmospheric setting.

Verdict: An engrossing and entertaining read with characters that the reader enjoys spending time with.

Full Disclosure--NetGalley and the publisher provided me with a digital ARC of this book. This is my honest review.

Murder At The May Fair.....
The third Kate Hamilton mystery. Protagonist, antiques dealer Kate, is spending time with Tom when they find themselves amidst a worrying murder enquiry. The last thing anyone expected at the local May Fair was a dead body and soon Kate finds herself knee deep in murder, suspects, betrayal, history and folklore. A thoroughly enjoyable read with likeable protagonists and a colourful cast of supporting characters. A worthy addition to the series.

This is a first for me from this author, and I really enjoyed this novel. I caught on quickly to the various characters and their backstories. The writing is very well done and makes for an interesting and fast paced novel. The mystery is fun and entertaining and keeps the reader guessing until the very end. Highly recommend for all mystery lovers!

Mystery with hidden clues...takes awhile to determine what is going on. Character driven novel. Maybe more settinnand more likable characters needed.

While Kate is running Ivor’s shop a local recluse brings in a very valuable antique to be sold. Kate knows it is a very valuable relic and likely to bring in some big money for both the woman and Ivor. When the woman makes her way to the town festival and dies on the stage from a stab wound, Kate is brought into yet another murder investigation when the item the woman hired Kate to sell is stolen from the shop.

When first the police and then the executor of the estate hire Kate to catalog the family art collection, she and Tom find that the husband died 18 years ago, and the daughter seems to have vanished off the face of the earth. There’s something strange going on, but Kate can’t quite put her finger on it. Now she has to keep her wits about her as she gets closer to the truth and the murderer.

This is a great series and I love Kate as the protagonist. She is a typical strong American woman who knows her antiques and is at home in the United Kingdom as she is in Ohio. Her struggles as a widow and Mother make all of her emotions real and I can certainly relate to her on many front. The whodunit is always good with enough red herrings to send you in multiple directions until all the pieces finally fall into place and reveal the killer. This is a great series to add to your cozy list, you will not be disappointed.

The Art of Betrayal is the third book in the English village mystery series staring American antique shop owner Kate Hamilton. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommended the entire series. The writing is strong, the plot plausible and the characters are richly developed. I think many of us will find the descriptions of the small villages in the English countryside and the local people Kate meets so appealing right now. I wanted to make a cup of tea and transport myself to Long Barston and already look forward to book number four in this series.