Way back in 2006, Jane K. Cleland’s Consigned to Death, the first book in her Josie Prescott Antiques Mysteries series, was published. (Coincidentally, 2006 was the year in which I started my Cozy Mystery site. It is weird to think how long ago that was.) Anyway, Consigned to Death is the next in my series of posts about the most popular and recommended Cozy mystery books.
I just finished re-reading this book earlier this month, and wow, I have to say that if you have any interest at all in reading an excellent mystery that contains a lot of information about antiques, this is the series for you.
Josie Prescott is the owner of a very busy antique shop in the small seacoast town of Rocky Point, New Hampshire. Josie had moved there only a couple of years before the story begins. Her move from the big city did not happen because of a boyfriend/husband break up, but rather because she had been a whistle-blower about illegal activity happening at the large antique auction house she previously worked for in New York City. She moved to a small town and opened her own auction store/auction warehouse. Somewhat refreshingly, by doing so she stayed in the same field of expertise that she had been in when working in New York.
Unfortunately for Josie, as the book opens the town’s police chief shows up to ask her questions about a potential client that Josie met that same day who had been found murdered. And, even more, unfortunately, as the police’s investigation moved forward, more and more evidence seemed to point to Josie as being the murderer.
On the other hand, fortunately for Josie, she had earlier met a very good lawyer in town who she hired to help her through the legal maze in which she found herself. Even more fortunately for Josie, the chief of police turned out to be a very smart and thorough man (who just happened to be quite handsome). Needless to say, Josie and the police found that there were a lot of threads to pull before this mystery could be unraveled.
Consigned to Death is a very good mystery read with a highly sympathetic main character and a very well-rounded supporting cast. I highly recommend it. There is no doubt that Jane K. Cleland is a very accomplished writer. Just a quick glance at her website’s “about page” and you will see the numerous awards her books have won or been chosen as finalists. And, not only has she written best-selling cozy mystery books, but she has also authored several books and articles about the craft of writing.
As an aside, I have to add that her website is one of the best author websites I have seen in recent years. In my opinion, far too many authors rely on a really difficult-to-navigate Facebook page or have no online presence at all. I really wish that more authors would take a look at this site and try to emulate its depth and quality of information.
If you’re interested in seeing other most recommended or popular Cozy Mystery authors/series, please visit the Most Popular & Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my site.
Ginger in the Bronx says
As a long-time fan of Antiques Roadshow, I quickly read Consigned to Death as soon as I could, and I’ve read just about every book since. Each book has background in some area of antiques — fascinating! Just love the series —
PS: I’m adding re-reading a few of her early titles to my current reading list — I wholeheartedly agree with you on this!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Ginger, antiquing is definitely a great concept for a Cozy niche – there’s plenty of interest already for many Cozy lovers, and it’s easy to work in how a specific item might be valuable or otherwise relevant to a mystery!
Elaine B. says
Loved the first 2 in this series but my library only has the rest in ebooks and I WON”T use them. I requested they get the rest of the series in book form, usually paperback…Keep your fingers crossed!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Elaine, that’s a shame – I hope you can pick up the rest of this series sooner or later!
MJ says
Sometimes the library may resist ordering an ‘older’ book.
Almost all libraries use the ILL system. Check with your library to see if you can order each book that way. I use this often with my library.
The Cleland books are popular, so there will numerous libraries that house them (as books). I know my library does. Thus getting the books through ILL should not be difficult.
Kate says
Jane Cleland’s series was the first Cozy mystery books I started with. Thoroughly enjoyed them.
There are so few antique cozies these days. I found Monica Ferris’ needlework mysteries excellent also. I’m an old soul! Thx for your site.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Kate, there are some out there – but there could certainly be more! It feels like it was more popular in the early 2000s, and has since been passed by food based Cozies as an overall theme.
Christine says
I love the Josie Prescott mystery series. It is a cozy but very intelligently written (in the vein of Susan Wittig’s China Bayles mysteries). And yes it’s a great education in the world of valuable antiques!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Christine, I certainly always appreciate when I feel like I come out of a Cozy knowing more about a topic than when I started reading!
Mrs. Ainee C. Beland says
Ms. Cleland is highly sought after, it seems like when viewing her website and a true professionally done website. Thank you for sharing.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Ainee, you’re very welcome!
Jane says
I always enjoy her Josie Prescott books!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Jane, so do I!
Becky Tatar says
This is a great series. In addition, Jane Cleland teaches about writing, and has online classes you can sign up for. If you sign up for her email newsletter, she includes information about upcoming sessions.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Becky, that’s definitely a great recommendation for anyone looking to get into writing mysteries – I’m sure it could help many aspiring authors!
Carol says
Ah, this is a new author for me and I just sent in an Inter Library request for Consigned to Death. While browsing the ILL site, I discovered that another title in this series is Ornaments of Death. Had to request that as well – we’re entering the holiday season after all!
Thank you for your column – it’s aways a wonderful source of books and I enjoy reading the comments of fellow readers.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Carol, you’re welcome! And I hope you get the books you’re looking for to your library as quickly as possible.