A young art appraiser has the opportunity of a life time thanks to an unplanned trip home.

Edi comes from a family of appraisers, all with reputations good and bad..

Edit, like her frandparents loves art for art's sake - art is to be appreciated and cared for. If she can make a living, protect the treasures along the way, well, that is a bonus.

Edie reluctantly returns home for a short visit to work an appraisal fair Ala Antique Road Show. A nervous, distracted woman brings a piece of folk art, a wooden decoy, to Edie. It's in terrible condition but reminds Edie of bird decoys produced by a well-known known Canadian artesian.

One random event leads to another - a job opportunity, a treasure trove of art work,, a robbery, murder, blackmail, a fractured marriage and organized crime. Can Edie follow the clues, exonerate herself of theft and find the art without more death and destruction?

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle by Crooked Lane Books and #NetGalley for my honest opinion.

A lovely cozy mystery with likable characters. This is the first in a promising new series.

Enjoyed this one, learnt a lot about folk art and duck stamps. This was a real page turner and I look forward to continuing the series.

teamwork, theft, threats, thriller, family-business, family-dynamics, female-sleuth, framed, fraud, friendship, art-theft, organized-crime, law-enforcement, historical-research, history-and-culture, Vermont*****

The publisher's blurb is a good hook, so no need to go over that territory. But there is a lot to learn here about the antiques business, a particular form of art fraud and theft, and who knew there was so much about early decoys as an art form? It is a good whodunit (complete with chase scenes and suspense) and I always want to learn something new! Excellent!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

This book was sent to me by Netgalley on Kindle for review. The mother is in prison...the Daughter takes over the business. Mystery and mayhem. The story moves somewhat slowly but is a fun quick read. I enjoyed this.

I loved the debut of this series. It was as if I had known the characters right off the bat. Edie Brown is a great MC as she navigates through this mystery. Great start to a wonderful cast of characters.
#TheArtoftheDecoy #NetGalley

As a young woman Edie Brown made a mistake by following her mothers bad advice and ended up on probation, but now she is back after finishing school to help her dear Uncle Tuck. Scandal Mountain Antiques has suffered since her mom plea bargained her way into a reduced jail sentence for art forgery. Edie agrees to come home and meets the new store assistant Kala at an appraisal event. They are approached by a woman, Nina ,who has brought a duck decoy that is part of her father-in-law Claude's collection. Edie is intrigued and she and her uncle ask to appraise the entire decoy collection after seeing the other carvings. Meanwhile, there has been a robbery at the Canadian Museum of History and two employees are killed. On the Vermont side of the border the FBI are investigating antique crimes as well, possibly including her former probation officer and briefly her lover. The local characters are intriguing and I would give this another star if not for Edie's actions near the end of the book. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Edie Brown just completed an internship at Christie’s after completing her Masters. She’s left the Big Apple and is off to find some treasures she can turn into cash and get started on her own career. Awakened by a call from her uncle asking her to come home and help the family business while her Mother is in prison for fraud, Edie changes course and heads home to Vermont.

When a woman engages Edie to look at a hand carved decoy, Edie begins to think this might just be what the business needs to recover and move forward. Then when the decoy collection disappears, it appears someone has set Edie and the family up as scapegoats for the heist. With the business and her life at stake, Edie vows to find the collection and clear her name. Now she just has to do it before the mastermind decides to kill her and get away with the goods.

This is the first book in a new cozy series and I am already hooked! The New England setting is perfect when it comes to antiques and mystery. It’s one of my favorite settings for cozies. I’m really looking forward to seeing what the future has in tore for Edie and the gang in future entries.

I received an advance copy of, The Art of the Decoy, by Trish Esden. I found this book to be boring, The characters and the setting were pretty dull.

I found myself immediately intrigued by the cover and description of this book.
Edie is a good character, who has returned to her home to help her uncle with the family business.
Edie loves antiques and is excited to find what could be a rare hand carved decoy.
When hired to do the appraisal, Edie is horrified to find the collection missing and that she is considered a top suspect, especially with her family's name in the mud.
Will Edie be able to find the truth or will she, like her mother, have a tarnished reputation.
Join Edie, Uncle Tuck, and Kala on this roller coaster ride to truth.

#TheArtoftheDecoy #NetGalley

This is a very cute and light cozy mystery. The characters are all well developed and interesting. The story itself is very well written and contains some nice twists and turns that will keep the reader interested and guessing until the very end. Highly recommend!!

Edie comes home to help her uncle with the appraisal work. When she finds someone showing a set of decoys she is attracted to find out more about them. But what a twist with others trying to steal and kill to get them first. A good cozy mystery that kept my attention. Would recommend.