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MARRIAGE CASKET, THE
by Deborah Morgan
Berkley Prime Crime, October 2003
239 pages
$5.99
ISBN: 0425192830


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Antiques picker Jeff Talbot is clearing out the Verena Rose estate consisting of 2 houses. Verena Rose had recently died and her nephew Nathan, her only surviving relative, had sold the contents to Jeff, with the proviso that he empty them quickly so the relativec, could raze the buildings and erect a modern prefab on the site to house his family.

Jeff takes some boxes out to the car and is rolling up an old rug, when he discovers what appear to be bloodstains on the floor underneath. His FBI training comes into play and he phones the local police who come and declare the property a crime scene.

The police fixate on Nathan, as next of kind and inheritor as the guilty party. WIth the house so disturbed, the police will find it difficult to determine who murdered Verena. Meanwhile, the houses and their contents are sealed. Talbot has been asked by the police to bring all the items taken from the house back until they can determine the killer. Jeff had been counting on selling some of the items to keep him going, but now he has to go out and search for merch in order to keep his business going.

Meanwhile, back at the Talbot family home, Jeff's agoraphobic wife, Sheila, hasn't left her room since she was rescued from her kidnapper. Jeff and Greer, the butler, have been taking care of her, but both need some relief. Sheila's sister, the peripatetic professional photojournalist, is coming for a visit, and Jeff has to get ready for it. Jeff has a small box, called a marriage casket, filled with letters that Verena's son wrote to her after he ran away and joined the army in 1943. He starts reading them in order to try and determine if anything in her past life would have caused someone to murder her today.

As usual, Morgan has done her research. Jeff gives an extensive bibliography and Sheila gives a webliography at the end so anyone wishing to investigate any of the collectibles discussed in THE MARRIAGE CASKET can do so. However, I am getting a bit tired of Sheila, and the fiction that Jeff has to work as hard as he does in order to make ends meet. He owns the house outright, he owns 2 cars, he can afford to keep a psychiatrist who makes house calls on retainer for his wife, and he always seems to have plenty of cash on hand for purchases. That said, it's a great series for those who want to learn more about a whole range of antiques and collectibles, and the people are distinctive. We don't always love all our friends, but we do want to visit with them once in a while. That's how I feel about the people in this series. I do want to visit with Jeff and Sheila and Greer again, and soon.

Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, November 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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