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    Pick a Secret Santa: Antique Pickers in Paradise Cozy Mystery Series, #9
    Pick a Secret Santa: Antique Pickers in Paradise Cozy Mystery Series, #9
    Pick a Secret Santa: Antique Pickers in Paradise Cozy Mystery Series, #9
    Ebook71 pages1 hour

    Pick a Secret Santa: Antique Pickers in Paradise Cozy Mystery Series, #9

    By Maggie West

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    About this ebook

    Carol's planning her wedding. What she didn't plan was finding a dead body.

    Sherri and Carol have a successful antiques sale at the Winter Festival, but things go south when they find a dead body later that day.

    Can they figure out who the killer is from a cast of characters as diverse as the Secret Santa gifts at the annual Pope County Pickers holiday party?

    Pick a Secret Santa is a clean, short read perfect for lovers of cozy mysteries set in a small town that feature an amateur sleuth.

    Pick a Secret Santa is the ninth short book in the Antique Pickers in Paradise Cozy Mysteries series, and is a complete mystery that you can read in an hour or two. As a clean read, it does NOT contain strong language or graphic violence. Just Sherri and her sidekick Carol. Oh and Sherri's husband Ralph and their sweet cat, Kitty Jo, and of course Leon, Carol's new fiancé.

    Be sure to check out the rest of the books in the Antique Pickers in Paradise Cozy Mystery series, Picked to Death, Cotton Picking Murder, Picked On, Pick a Letter, Fatal Pickings, Pick a Tune, Picked Clean, and Easy Pickings, for more small town fun and crime solving in the close-knit community of Paradise.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMaggie West
    Release dateMay 1, 2018
    ISBN9781386704355
    Pick a Secret Santa: Antique Pickers in Paradise Cozy Mystery Series, #9

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      Book preview

      Pick a Secret Santa - Maggie West

      1

      M erry Christmas! Sherri greeted the buyers. Well, hopefully they’ll be buyers. The throng of people approached her booth at the Winter Festival in Round Bottom. She tugged at the bottom of her red sweater, which she kept to wear just for the holidays. Somehow since last winter, it had shrunk just sitting in the drawer.

      The annual festival was always well attended by both vendors and shoppers. She and Carol hoped to sell off some of their smaller items that didn’t always move as well throughout the year. She smiled, big and wide, at the three women who stopped in front of her booth and began earnestly studying the antiques and vintage wares she had on display.

      Ralph had spent the last two days making display shelves for her, and the way they let her display the small items was just what she needed. All of her tiny collectibles had their own space. Shoppers could see each cute figurine, piece of jewelry, bottle opener, wooden spool, and knickknack without the items being crowded.

      How much is this sweet little dog? A woman said pointing to a ceramic dog, its nose sniffing the ground. The woman had black hair, which was obviously dyed from the one-inch skunk line that Sherri did her level best not to stare at.

      Isn’t he adorable? Let’s see, Sherri said and took the dog from the shelf. She flipped it over and said, Four ninety-five. She smiled again, wishing Carol would hurry up and get to the festival to relieve her. Sherri had to pee.

      The woman nodded quickly, looked down at her purse, exposing the full extent of her skunk line. I’ll take it. My cousin will just love him!

      Sherri wrapped the dog loosely in red tissue paper, handed it to the buyer, and took the five-dollar bill the woman offered. Sherri then reached into her carpenter’s apron for a nickel.

      Oh, no, keep that. The woman waved away the change and moved to the next booth where a man was selling handmade rope.

      Sherri said, Thanks, but knew the woman was out of earshot. Besides, the rope man had started his sales pitch.

      Yes, ma’am, I do make these here ropes myself. May I ask, little lady, you the one needing a rope? Cause if you do, any type of rope, well, I’ve got it. In fact, these ropes right here, he paused to pick up a tan and brown braided rope with wooden handles, will get you in tip top shape in no time.

      Skunk Hair stepped back — Sherri imagined being told she needed to get in shape didn’t set well with her — waved him away, just like she’d done to Sherri’s nickel, and moved to the next booth. Undeterred, Rope Man thrust the rope at a boy and boomed, You want to try it out, sonny?

      The kid looked up from his phone, smirked, and then shook his head.

      Sherri fiddled with the money in her apron and wondered where Carol was. It took all she had to refrain from crossing her legs.

      Half an hour later, Sherri was about to put a CLOSED sign on top of her center table and bolt to the restrooms. Where is Carol?

      Just when she considered whether she should ask Rope Man or maybe her other neighbor, the couple selling handmade wooden spoons that were really nice but way too expensive at twenty-five dollars each, Carol arrived.

      Sher, so sorry! Leon and I got carried away at the bakery! Carol bustled behind the center table where their larger items were on display and stood in front of Sherri.

      No worries, but I have to pee, Sherri whispered to her picking partner. She shuffled off to the restrooms hoping to the festival gods that there would be no line.

      When she returned, Carol was wrapping up a pair of bookends that had found their way around the circuit on consignment in more antique shops than Sherri could remember. When the man who paid thirty-two dollars, the asking price, for them walked away, Sherri sidled up next to Carol and said, I cannot believe we unloaded those ugly things!

      "I know! He loved them though. Said his mom collects owls.

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