When it comes to running a successful garage sale, Sarah Winston believes in doing her homework. She also believes in giving back. But when she agrees to manage an athletic equipment swap, she doesn't bargain on an uncharitable killer. The day of the event, the school superintendent is found dead in the gymnasium.
Suddenly the murder suspects are the school board members—including the husband of a very difficult client who's hired Sarah to run a high-end sale and demands she do her bidding. In between tagging and haggling, Sarah studies the clues to see who wanted to teach the superintendent a lesson. But as she closes in on the truth, the killer intends to give her a crash course on minding her own business . . . ( )

Sarah Winston lives in a small town in Massachusetts and runs a garage sale business. Currently she's managing an athletic equipment swap at one of the schools, and while she's in the gymnasium one evening, the lights go off and she's attacked, with someone shoving her into a utility closet and pushing something up against the door. When she finally frees herself, she sees that everything has been thrown around, and notices that many of the items in the silent auction are missing, those that could bring top dollar.

After she notifies the police and has been to the hospital to get checked out, she wants nothing more than to get back to her life. But then during the actual swap and auction, she needs to go into the utility room to get something, and finds the dead body of the school superintendent - who's been stabbed with a vintage ski pole. Now Sarah's involved with the investigation, even if she doesn't want it. When the attacks on her escalate, and even the DA Seth is attacked, she becomes worried. But when a school board member shows up on her doorstep claiming he's been framed for murder and asks for her help, Sarah wants to walk away. But already involved, she knows she can't. And finding the murderer might be more difficult than she thinks, and could get her killed...

Since I wasn't really enthralled by the other books in this series, I didn't know what to expect, although I've been warming up to it the more I read it. Maybe I just didn't like the relationship between CJ and Sarah. Who knows. Anyway, the plot was quite interesting, and we really didn't find out the truth of the matter until toward the end of the book, which is a nice touch in itself.

There was a cute subplot of Angelo enlisting Sarah to go to his rivals' shops and taste their lasagna to see if it was better than his. But once they got wind of what Sarah was doing, it really became kind of funny -- especially when poor Ryne had no idea whatsoever of what was going on but got dragged into it anyway.

There were only a handful of suspects which made it a lot easier to sift through them; although they all seemed to have a motive to kill the woman, none of them seemed strong enough for it to be one to want her dead, which made it more difficult for Sarah to figure it out. Speaking of which, Sarah is also starting to figure her own life out with CJ gone (not a spoiler, since we find out right away that he's left). Not a lot of time is spent on this, but enough to give us a picture of what she's decided.

When the ending comes and the killer is revealed, it's a bit of a surprise, but the reasoning behind the death is age-old. The ending also gives us a hint of what might be to come in the next book, but it's not a cliff-hanger, so no worries there. Recommended. ( )

Sarah Winston is busy organizing a swap meet in the high school gym when the lights suddenly go out and she’s badly beaten before the intruder steals some valuable antique and autographed sports items. The next day, nearing the end of the event, Sarah finds the School Superintendent murdered in the storage room with a vintage ski pole through her chest. Does the theft of the auction items and sports equipment from the Swap Meet have anything to do with the murder? When someone is arrested and protests that he is being framed, he asks Sarah for help, she can't turn him down. Sarah is sure that finding the stolen sports items will lead them all to the killer, but will the killer find her first?

All the characters from previous books that I have come to love make appearances in this one. We see much more of Mike ‘the Big Cheese’ Titone in this one, as well as Seth, the handsome D.A., CJ, her ex-husband, the DiNapoli's, who have Sarah sneaking around checking out Lasagna from their competitors, Stella and others. The plot is well planned, action packed and the pacing is swift. There is a lot of humour in this one that is unexpected and had me laughing as I read about Sarah's various activities. As the action builds, many law enforcement personnel get involved as well as some "Mob" connections, until the final scene where Sarah has it all figured out and is used as bait. Another great cozy mystery that I can't recommend enough. ( )

Sarah Winston, a garage sale expert, knows how to run a successful garage sale and has made a business out of it. As part of a charity event, Sarah volunteers her expertise and agrees to manage an athletic equipment swap. While preparing the event, she is knocked out by a would-be robber and then the day of the event discovers the dead body of the local superintendent.

Sarah becomes an amateur detective and compiles a list of murder suspects that all seem to be other members of the school board. With her quick wit and sleuthing talents, Sarah must find the killer before the killer makes her another item for the dumpster.

This book is more than a charming cozy mystery; the author gives you inside tips into the world of garage sale selling and buying. The mystery, suspense, and moments of comedy keep you interested, while you try to guess who the culprit is. ( )

Sarah Winston, a garage sale expert, knows how to run a successful garage sale and has made a business out of it. As part of a charity event, Sarah volunteers her expertise and agrees to manage an athletic equipment swap. While preparing the event, she is knocked out by a would-be robber and then the day of the event discovers the dead body of the local superintendent.

Sarah becomes an amateur detective and compiles a list of murder suspects that all seem to be other members of the school board. With her quick wit and sleuthing talents, Sarah must find the killer before the killer makes her another item for the dumpster.

This book is more than a charming cozy mystery; the author gives you inside tips into the world of garage sale selling and buying. The mystery, suspense, and moments of comedy keep you interested, while you try to guess who the culprit is. ( )