Yvonne
The Call
“Campbell asked you to ring Greed & Mayhem ASAP.” Joan shouted along the long corridor from her receptionist’s tiny office to Julia’s panelled room.
“You mean Reid & McHalm?” Julia had noticed the matter-of-fact tone in Joan’s voice.
“I thought Campbell said Greed & Mayhem. Sorry.”
“It’s fine, Joan. Will do.” said Julia in her soothing voice. Joan was new to the office, but she would get used to Campbell’s feeble puns, she thought.
Thursday is sale day at Hillman Roberts and porters were busy preparing the auction hall for the usual invasion of dealers, chancers, and pensioners all looking for a bargain.
Julia hated Thursdays and was glad that she was not involved in the organized chaos of the weekly auction of household items amd curios – the detritus of cleared houses and de-cluttering efforts. As a specialist in Oriental Antiques her job was to seek out, value, and possibly bring to auction the bewildering array of Japanese and Chinese works of art that have mysteriously managed to end up in Scottish homes, from two-bedroom bungalows to stately mansions.
Clicking on the book’s cover image, will take you directly to its Amazon page
To discover more about both book and author, click here
…
WHAT IS ‘BOOK BEGINNINGS’?
Would the first few lines of your book make you want to read on?
If so, would you like to share them with us, (without revealing too many spoilers of course) ?
Visit your host, Gilion @ Rose City Reader
You can then leave a link to your own book beginnings post, or just browse for some great reads, there are always plenty of new authors and titles to be discovered.
Don’t forget that Gilion and all the other contributors to this meme love to hear from you, so why not leave a comment or two at the same time?
I can’t wait to do a little blog hopping myself and check out all the great Book Beginnings you have!
…
This sounds like a fun book. Since so many people seem to be downsizing and decluttering, it would be fun to get a look at another side of the process and see what happens to the “detritus.”
My Friday post features KEY LARGO BLUES.
Hi Sandra,
Volunteering as I have, in the retail charity sector for the past 20+ years, I have seen my fair share of decluttering, downsizing and house clearances, come through the doors for sorting. You really do have to put aside thoughts of the history of many of the items and be a little ruthless as to their value, or non-value, as the case may be. When we are totally overwhelmed with donations, fun may not be the first word which springs to mind, but on the whole, it is a most satisfying and rewarding thing to do.
I should imagine that working in the antiques sector is pretty much on a par with my experiences, sorting the good from the bad and placing a value on someone’s belongings. However, I believe that Julia is much further up the food chain than that and all of her items are certainly going to be worthy finds which involve her research time … that’s when she isn’t playing amateur sleuth!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you enjoyed your Thanksgiving celebrations 🙂
I like the humor in your opening lines and think this sounds like a fun book. I still like that cover, too!
Reading time has been limited, so I’m on the same book as last week… so no opening lines from me. 🙂
Hi Kelly,
I agree that the cover art is different and eye-catching and whilst there seems to be some humour in these ‘let’s get the new girl’ opening lines, I am hoping that this is going to settle down into a moderately serious murder / mystery, as Julia does sound quite serious and responsible.
Reading time for me has also become very limited over the past few weeks, so I am finding myself undertaking much more in the way of promotional posts and guest articles for authors.
I hope that you enjoyed your Thanksgiving celebrations 🙂
LOL Love the Greed and Mayhem. Sounds like fun! I hope your readers will check out mine… http://tinyurl.com/LisaKsBookReviewsSOTG
Hi Lisa,
Being the newbie in any company is always tough and it sounds as though the antiques business is just as bad as any other, despite the slightly aloof image it promotes.
I think that this is going to be slightly more intense than a traditional ‘cozy’ mystery, but still rather tongue in cheek in places. Perhaps Julia will involve Joan in her investigations!
Thanks for visiting this week, I appreciate your comments 🙂
It sounds good and her job as a specialist in Oriental Antiques sounds interesting! Enjoy.
Hi Naida,
I like it when someone has an unusual and interesting job, particularly when it is anything remotely ‘craft’ oriented. I am not generally a fan of a mystery which is too ‘cozy’, but those extra added interest factors will more than make up for that, of that I’m sure 🙂
I hope that all is well with you and that you enjoyed your Thanksgiving celebrations 🙂