Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC

2.5/5 stars

I enjoyed reading this A Wealth of Deception to a certain extent. It took a while to get going but afterwards I was invested. The mystery aspect was interesting and I couldn’t tell what was going to happen next.

That main character was a tad unlikable. She was nosy and insensitive. For being a mystery and thriller, the stakes were rather low. The writing fell flat in the ‘suspenseful’ scenes and I felt no true danger or fear for the characters.

The description of the mentally disabled was honestly uncomfortable and, considering it was a huge plot point, disappointing. Also the absolute horrendous stereotyping?? I’m sorry but giving a Russian character a tattoo that says DEATH is absolutely hilarious and when I read that I cackled. That’s just one example of the stereotypes going on in this book.

A Wealth of Deception felt outdated considering its coming out in 2023.

TLDR: This book was disappointing.

Book Title: Wealth of Deception
Author: Trish Esden
Series: Scandal Mountain Antiques #2
Narrators: Emily Ellet
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Pub Date: April 18, 2023
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pages: 304

Although second in the Scandal Mountain Antiques series, it is my first read.

A bit of background ~Edie Brown, her mother as well as her grandparents are/were Vermont antique and art dealers. However her mother has done some illegal things and is currently in prison ~ left Edie in a lot of debt. Additionally Edie’s beloved grandparents died in a plane crash and she is recovery from the grief as art therapy helped.

In this story Edie Brown discovers a dark collage by an artist known as Vespa. Although this looks like her work, a woman named Anna comes forward and says her brother did it. He was in an accident twelve years ago that resulted in ‘traumatic brain injury’ and art is therapy for him. This collage certain doesn’t look like something an inexperience person could do and Edie thinks this collage is a ‘real Vespa’ that has been stolen.

Edie teams up with Uncle Tuck as well (Taser packing) Kala to investigate the background of the collage and sets out to find Anna’s brother Erik. They discover that his residence is in a home for those who have an intelligence disability. Patients do visit an art facilitator for art therapy. Edie sets out to find the therapist in hopes of viewing Eric’s original art. Her ruse is discovered as the Art Therapist is the same one that used to be Edie’s therapist.

Edie and Tuck continue to investigate and stumbled into an art underground where they uncover disturbing secrets – and it appears there are people who are willing to kill to keep their schemes a secret.

Some people are willing to die for their art. Others are willing to kill for it.

I am not an antique collector but the insight into the art and the antiques world was fancating.
I really enjoyed this ~ and laughed at the car commercial because I like it!!

Some readers describes this as a Cozy Mystery but it is definitely on the edge. Cozy Mysteries have a bit of a formula ~ two of which - little to no profanity and no explicit sex. True the sex isn’t explicit but it is there and the nasty language is close to being more than a little.
I am not a fan of profanity but this certainly wasn’t terrible so wasn’t a big issue for me but might be to other cozy fans.

BTW: Narrator Emily Ellet did a great job performing the characters including the Russian accent!

Want to thank NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this early Audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for April 18, 2023

Wealth of Deception is the second book in the Scandal Mountain series. Edie runs an antique store with employees Kala and her Uncle Mike. While exploring an estate sale Edie notices what might be an unknown piece of art by famous “outsider” artist known as Vespa. Edie is anxious to acquire the art but in the process is drawn into a mystery.

I really enjoyed this book. It was my first of the Scandal Mountain books but did not have any issues picking up on previously established relationships. I will be checking out the first book in this series and future books.

This is the second book in this series, even though it could be read as a stand-alone, I recommend reading the first one before you start this one. I love the descriptive writing style of the author, the characters are so well written. I think there are lots more books that could be in this series, a few lines that could be made into their own storylines.

Edie is a young antique dealer who is asked to look at items for an estate sale. She is in desperate need of money and hopes there will be some good items that she could make a commission on. While looking through the items in the estate she comes across a collage art piece that looks to be created by the famous artist Vespa. As Edie digs deeper into the origins of the artwork, with the help of her Uncle Tuck and employee Kala, she uncovers a murder, the mafia, and mental trauma.

This is a nice cozy mystery read. It is the second in the series and can be read as a standalone. I didn’t read the first in the series and it didn’t inhibit the flow of the book or impede by understanding of what was going on. I liked the main characters and found them relatable and likeable. I would have liked a little more backstory on the mafia ties, but it didn’t detract from the story. This is a great curl up on the couch and get comfortable kind of read.

The narrator was good and was a good fit for the book. I started listening at normal speed and then went up to 2.0 speed.

As someone working in the arts, I’m a sucker for mysteries that tie into the art world. I really enjoyed reading about Edie, her Uncle Tuck, and Kala as they struggle to revive the image of her antique shop (now tarnished by her mother’s forgery scandal).

The tidbits about the art world and outsider art were really enjoyable. I also appreciated that the main characters aren’t perfect and shiny but flawed and struggling with their own internal issues which made them more relatable and enjoyable to read about.

I’d place this series somewhere between a cozy and hard boiled mystery. I thought it was well done and will definitely go back and read the first in the series. The audiobook narration was great and added to the book.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #DreamscapeMedia for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Wealth of Deception
By Trish Esden
Narration by Emily Ellet
Pub. date: April 18/23

Are you wanting a little mystery to escape with for a bit? If so you might enjoy this book. Edie Brown is an art dealer who is a bit down on her luck; she is struggling to pay the bills and her mother is in jail. In an attempt to find some items that can be sold quickly enough, to get her out of a bind, Edie and her uncle go check out an estate. What they find is quite surprising and leads them on an adventure where they find not only, amazing artwork, but a complex family mystery.

At first I found this audiobook difficult to get into. The pace was slow and there was no tension. However I decided to speed it up to 150% and that made all the difference. Although, some of the narrative was quite fast, I found myself more interested and invested in the story. This was a good lesson for me, in the future, to try doing the speed adjustment when feeling the same way. That being said, although this was a fairly good book, I would have loved more character development and expansion on the relationships. Still it was a nice distraction for a while.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and the author, for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook arc for my honest review.

I did not realize that this was a second book in a series until I started it but the author did a good job explaining the backstory to get the reader up to speed. I loved the art and antiques part of the book but the plot twist was predictable and the use of Russians was a little tired. I did like the main character and her Nancy Drew-like persona. I would read another title in thus series.

This is my first book I've read by Trish Esden. I really enjoyed the story. It was a complex cozy mystery filled with wonderful characters that you are rooting for.
Edie Brown is a struggling antique dealer. When she's going through someone's estate, she finds a collage painting that looked to be from a famous artist, but the client insists that her brother made the collage. This sets Eddie on an incredible journey finding about the item. The mystery has many twists and turns and was very enjoyable. I liked it so much I'm going to go back and read book 1 of this series.
I listened to the audiobook, and it Emily Ellet was a wonderful narrator.
Thanks to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the Advanced Listening Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I highly recommend this cozy mystery.

Thank you NetGalley, Dreamscape media the publisher and the author for the free ALC in exchange for my honest review. I really enjoyed this one. A bit of thriller, mystery and a tpich2of romance. Great narration and felt it kept my interest the entire time and moved at a gpod speed. It was such a visual story that it was like reading a book about a show/movie.