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The Case of the Vanishing Vases
Paperback
Series: Oakwood Mysteries
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Feb 3 2025
Pages: 254
Weight: 0.59
Height: 0.63 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
Four priceless vintage vases vanish from Oakwood's antique fair.
The only clue left behind is a secret someone would rather shatter than reveal.
Maddy Pierce expects Oakwood's annual antique fair to bring out collectors, bakers, bargain hunters, and the usual amount of small-town drama. She does not expect Walter Aldridge, owner of Heritage Heirlooms, to cry out in the middle of the square after discovering that the famous Larkspur Quartet has disappeared from its display.
The vases were the star attraction of the fair. Rare. Fragile. Valuable. And, according to one young woman with a family secret, possibly misattributed for generations.
Clara Moss insists the vases were decorated by her great-grandmother, Ada Vale, a forgotten Oakwood artist whose name was buried under more famous men. Clara has old letters, a family story, and just enough anger to make herself look guilty. When evidence points her way, the town is ready to whisper thief before the police even finish the first round of questions.
But Maddy is not convinced.
The clues are too convenient. A moved fern. A missing service key. A borrowed cart. A mysterious online post. A private buyer with expensive taste. A secret inspection behind a tea room. And somewhere beneath one vase's base pad may be a tiny blue mark that could rewrite the whole story.
As Maddy follows the trail through antique booths, bakery kitchens, old family papers, private clubs, and Oakwood's most stubborn historical society members, she realizes the theft is not only about money.
It is about credit.
It is about reputation.
And it is about one person's desperate need to keep the past exactly where they left it.
Perfect for readers who love:
- Small-town cozy mysteries
- Amateur sleuths with sharp instincts
- Antique shops, hidden clues, and family secrets
- Warm humor, charming side characters, and community drama
- A clean mystery with no graphic violence
- A satisfying reveal rooted in old secrets and modern consequences
With the help of her quick-witted friend Charlie, a practical police chief, a former insurance investigator, a tech-savvy librarian, and half of Oakwood's most opinionated residents, Maddy must sort gossip from truth before the missing vases are damaged, sold, or used to frame the wrong person.
Because in Oakwood, every treasure has a story.
And some stories have been waiting a long time to be told.
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