Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781984804846
Berkley Publishing
288 Pages
$7.99; $7.99 Amazon
June 30, 2020
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The only thing that Hana loves more than a good cuppa is finding a delicate porcelain treasure to add to her collection. She's usually on the hunt for teacups but when she spots a rare wolf figuring at a local yard sale, she knows it's her lucky day. Hana also knows the wolf is valuable and tells the seller that he's charging too little for it. His reaction is peculiar -- he says he received the wolf from someone he doesn't trust and he just wants it out of his life.
Hana is inspecting her new prize when she finds a tiny microchip attached to the bottom of the porcelain wolf. When she shows the figure to her police detective boyfriend, Erik, Hana is shocked to learn that the chip is actually a tracking device. They decide to confront the seller about the sneaky sale but when they arrive at his house, they find him dead. Erik and Hana now must hunt a calculating killer who has no intentions of crying wolf when it comes to murder...
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Hana Keller helps run Maggie's Tea House, which her mother and grandmother own. She also collects items by Hungarian artists - when she can afford them. While shopping at a garage sale with her friend Katie, she comes across a beautiful rare wolf figurine made by a company in Hungary, and sees that it's only priced at $5, though she knows it to be worth much more. Seeking out the owner of the home, she finds him sitting and sketching. While speaking with him, he tells her that he just wants it out of his home, and refuses to charge more. But she also finds that he himself is an artist - William Kodaly - and when she looks at one of the paintings he is about to sell it fills her with strong emotions that she can't name. She also feels something when she touches Kodaly's hand, but blows it off. Still, she buys two of the paintings and the wolf; yet when she pulls out of her parking spot, she sees a man looking at her and scratching his head, which bothers her.
Then she goes to meet her new boyfriend for breakfast, detective Erik Wolf. When she shows him the wolf, he sees that it has a tracking device and immediately goes into cop mode. Going back to Kodaly's home, they find him dead - murdered. Now Hana has to wonder why there was a tracking device on the wolf, and if it was meant for her, since Kodaly had talked to her about knowing of her family.
But then things descend into chaos. She has a spat with Wolf that obviously causes him pain; she meets his ebullient sisters; and there's been an attack on her. Now she's moving from place to place while Wolf tries to keep her alive - and find out who wants her dead...
This is the second book in the series and I enjoyed it just as much as the first. Hana is an intelligent woman who doesn't go around getting herself into dangerous situations, nor asking people inquisitive questions and accusing everyone of murder. Her detective boyfriend actually does his job, while listening to her input and praising her when something she remembers turns out to be important to the situation. Their relationship is growing in this book, and they seem to have a nice fit together; it blends.
I also like the fact that both of them have strong family ties. (It does become annoying at times when a protagonist is estranged from their parents for some reason or another). Wolf's sisters are delightful; they own their own booming business and immediately upon meeting Hana quiz her, then decide they want to use her as one of their models, even though she'd rather not. It's quite fun to watch them manipulate her (in a nice way, of course). Even her brother Domo shows his protective side, which is wonderful.
Yes, I know I've been praising this book, but there's a reason for that. It's very good. You don't have a brooding hero, nor an angry woman who broke up with her boyfriend beforehand. These are two people who found each other, and the backstory is fascinating: her family is Hungarian, and the women have "the gift," with Hana just discovering hers. I love this. Her grandmother hates wolves, thinking they're bad, so here comes Detective Wolf, and she wants to hate him but doesn't. She knows he's good for her granddaughter. Everything moves in sync, and it's interesting.
The mystery itself was intriguing: the wolf figurine played a key role, but even though we eventually find out why, it takes some time to find out the who. The reason Mr. Kodaly was murdered comes from an unlikely source early on, but it's watching the pieces being put together that's the compelling part. They come together slowly, and later in the book Hana starts to figure it out and passes the information to Wolf to complete. They're a team, with her providing key information.
The motive for Kodaly's murder is as age-old as time itself, but still happens to this very day. Life doesn't always follow the lines we expect it to, just as people will react to situations the way they want, regardless of the end result. When we discover the murderer it comes to a fascinating conclusion that is actually rather funny, and was entertaining in the extreme. I look forward to the next in the series, and hope that I don't have to wait too long. Recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Wandering-HUNGARIAN-HOUSE-MYSTERY/dp/1984804847/ref=
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3293383404
More on Julia Buckley's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/julia-buckley/
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