Review by Booklist Review
Chloe Ellefson, coming off a bout of clinical depression, has just started her new job as curator of collections at Old World Wisconsin, an outdoor historical museum, when Berget Lundquist asks her to return a hand-painted Norwegian ale bowl she donated more than 20 years ago. Chloe brushes Lundquist off, promising to locate the bowl, but when the woman dies in an auto accident, Chloe feels she must keep her word. However, the bowl seems to be missing, so Chloe delves into the museum's acquisition documents, the state historical society's records, and Mrs. Lundquist's motivation for the return of the bowl, all of which lands her in the middle of a potentially deadly situation. Information on how to conduct historical research, background on Norwegian culture, and details about running an outdoor museum frame the engaging story of a woman devastated by a failed romantic relationship whose sleuthing helps her heal.--O'Brien, Sue Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Ernst, the author of Clues in the Shadows and other YA American Girl novels, shows her ease in mining historical periods in her adult debut, set in Wisconsin in 1982. On Chloe Ellefson's first day as the new curator of collections at Old World Wisconsin, an outdoor museum that recreates the 1870s, elderly Berget Lundquist asks Chloe for the return of a family heirloom, a hand-painted Norwegian ale bowl that Berget donated to the State Historical Society of Wisconsin in 1962. Within minutes of Chloe promising to locate the bowl, Berget dies after driving her car off the road into a tree. The fatal bludgeoning of Berget's aged neighbor, Bill Solberg, by a person hunting for the elusive bowl leads Chloe to suspect the item has some special value. While details of the Old World museum can overwhelm at times, clever plot twists and credible characters make this a far from humdrum cozy. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Chloe Ellefson's first day on the job as a collections curator at Old World Wisconsin, a living history museum, turns into a disaster when she angers a security guard and refuses to return a donated family heirloom to an elderly woman, who minutes later dies in a mysterious car crash. VERDICT More focused on Chloe's unhappy past than on the crime in question and peppered with details of Norwegian collectibles, this series debut by an author of children's mysteries rolls out nicely for readers who like a cozy with a dab of antique lore. Jeanne M. Dams fans will like the ethnic background. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Ernst, a veteran of YA fiction, introduces her first adult heroine in this cozy, small-town mystery.Chloe Ellefson is used to unraveling the secrets of the past. As a curator of living history, Chloe interprets antiques and puts them in context. After a bad breakup, Chloe's left Switzerland to come home, where she begins a new job at Old World Wisconsin, depicting the history of immigrant communities. On her very first day, she's greeted by an impossible demand. Elderly widow Berget Lundquist, who donated a prized family heirloom, a Norwegian ale bowl, decades ago, is desperate to get it back. Chloe can't even begin to find it in the chaos she's inherited, but promises to look into it. Distraught, Mrs. Lundquist drives off, has instant heart failure and wraps her Buick around a tree. Chloe, between trying to get the archival supplies she needs and managing her intimidatingly competent intern, does her best to locate the ale bowl, but it's apparently disappeared. Handsome local cop Roelke McKenna is maybe a bit too interested in the ale bowlor maybe he's just interested in Chloe. What seems like a niggling loose end becomes deadly serious when Mrs. Lundquist's only friend is found dead in his home. Can Chloe and Roelke stop bickering long enough to solve the crime? And what's so special about this ale bowl?A gentle puzzler best appreciated by amateur genealogists and folk artists. The slow pace will bore most others.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
