The Riddle Key

Marina Cavanaugh is an antique appraiser and a very good one. Jonathan Blandish has a million dollar business and his brother died 2 months ago. He needs to settle his brother's estate.
Roger's home is dark and dreary and Marina feels very uncomfortable.
This an interesting story, kind of spooky. The characters were rich in life and realistic. The descriptions were great, they left you feeling like someone might be looking over your shoulder. The plot has a lot of threads, the author has woven them into a nice compact, smooth and easy to read tale. I found that I could not put the book down, you were kept on the edge of your seat. I was very surprised at the end. I found it to have humor, mystery, a couple of deaths and a little sex. I loved
how meticulous she was when she went thru things. The interaction between she and Patti was fun but also informative. I highly recommend this wonderful book.
I received this book from Net Galley and voluntarily reviewed it.

The story was quite gripping.
Marina Cavanaugh , an antiques expert is approached by Jonathan Blandish to assess the antiques left by his late brother. What, Jonathan fails to mention is the way his brother died and the mystery surrounding it. When Marina finds that Jonathan withheld information and tries to leave , she unwittingly gets involved in a murder.

Now Jonathan and Marina must prove their innocence and try to find why Jon's brother specifically asked her to estimate the non-existing antiques.They need to solve the mystery before the actual murderer strikes again.

The book completely kept me hooked. The author made the plot interesting and kept the story flowing smoothly.

The book had a little of everything, i enjoyed reading it

Just ok. I enjoyed the first half more than the second, the intrigue kind of fell apart for me as the romance angle heated up. I guess I just wanted a heavier mystery with a little less picture-perfectness and characters losing much of what made them interesting in the name of ‘love’.

Antiques. Appraisals. Murder? Two of those things belong together – one does not.

Antiques are Marina Cavanaugh’s bread and butter. When she’s offered a job at an estate appraisal, the money, and the man making the offer, seem too good to be true.
What she doesn’t know when she takes the job is that the man who owned the house was murdered, and that she’s going to be embroiled in a murder investigation, a fraud scheme, a theft, and a love affair.

Jonathan Brandish hires Marina without telling her the real reason he needs her for the appraisal of his brother’s creepy old house and estate. He’s also keeping secret his mounting feelings for the beautiful Ph.D due to a deathbed vow he made his first wife. Soon, though, his attraction can no longer be hidden, and neither can the secrets he’s kept from Marina.

The Riddle Key was the first novel I’ve read by Ms Drager and the plot/story line was a goodie. As a cozy mystery, the who-dun-it portion was fab and I was truly surprised at who the villain turned out to be.

The secondary cast of characters, from Jonathan’s adorable and wise 6 year old son, to the housekeeper of his brother’s estate, were all were formed and added layers of emotion and backstory to the tale.

All in all a worthwhile read and an enjoyable cozy mystery to lose yourself in.

Marina Cavanaugh a well respected antiques buyer, is approached by Jonathan Blandish to appraise his recently deceased brother's estate. It soon becomes apparent that more is going on than Jonathan Blandish has informed her. Marina and Jonathan engage in a caustic dance of irritation, attraction, and aggravation. Trust comes gradually as the two work to unravel a mystery, that keeps presenting more questions than answers. .

The Riddle Key is a well written mystery. I enjoyed the plot and the author's writing. I recommend this book to fans of mysteries.

A cozy mystery, seemed a bit long. Good storyline and plot. Very engaging heroine with interesting job. Hero was a handsome bossy dumb" jerk ", his words, immobilized by a deathbed promise. Good supporting characters added much to story. attraction, suspense, interesting, great mystery idea. Danger, exploring, finding with minimal clues. Past history trauma and phobia and current fear and physical injuries. Pride, stubborn, convinced of being right against kindness, interest and love. Will anyone be left to be a Happy ending. Of course. That i a cozy mystery.
A bit too much inner dialogue slowed the book down.

The story comes off as a cozy mystery but if that is the case it is a little to long.
Well paced story line that will keep readers engaged from beginning to end of the story. The leads in the story are perfectly matched as well as the supporting characters add to the story and there are no throw away characters.

An enjoyable mystery with a good plot. Plenty of suspense and well-written, if a tad to much dialogue in some places.

Excellent book, it had me on the edge of my seat! I definitely reccommend!

I received an arc from Netgalley. This was an intriguing read and kept me on the edge of my seat.

Marina Cavanaugh is a antique buyer, she is offered a great deal of money to appraise and oversee the sell of Roger Blandish's estate by his brother Jonathan. Unbeknownst to Marina the only reason Jonathan has hired her was because her name was in a cryptic note that was discovered after his brother's death. I really enjoyed this book. It was well written with interesting characters and a well developed storyline. Marina and Jonathan were great together and had amazing chemistry. The story had great secondary characters, suspense, danger, mystery and love. Highly recommend.