REVIEW: Murder on the Toy Town Express

Murder on the Toy Town Express
Author: Barbara Early

Liz McCall runs a vintage toy shop, Well Played, in East Aurora, NY along with her father. The duo have a booth at the Toy and Train Expo. Liz expects the show to be a busy, but enjoyable event. Until she sees an enemy from her past. Her childhood nemesis, Craig McFadden, has a booth for his comic book shop set up right next to them. And Craig is still a jerk. His employee, Maxine, seems very nice and definitely competent, which makes the situation a bit better.

Liz's dad says that he has spotted some rather shady looking people at the expo. Liz thinks it might just be his former law enforcement career making him see criminals in any large crowd.....but strange things start to happen, culminating in Craig taking a swan dive from the cat walk of the expo building into the train display below. Was his fall an accident? Or something more sinister?

I used to own a comic book shop so all the discussion of comics, grading and selling collectibles was enjoyable for me. :) The author did a great job of portraying the collector crowd....and how they behave, or misbehave, at an expo event. The collectibles market can be fickle. People sometimes think they have a high dollar item and get rather upset when you have to tell them it's a reprint or too damaged to be worth anything. All those reality shows that portray people finding gems worth thousands in their attics made everyone believe they had a mint hidden away in their home. :)

I love the idea of a retired police officer running a vintage toy shop with his daughter. The fact that the father still has his cop intuition was a great addition to the character. He notices people in the expo crowd behaving strangely.....and he was right! Liz is a strong, intelligent and determined main character.  All of the side characters are believable and interesting. The toy and comic book background theme didn't overpower the mystery, but added to it. The mystery moved along at a good pace, with plenty of surprises and twists. I did not see the ending coming.....it caught me by surprise. But, it was one of those moments where I had to shake my head and say to myself that I should have seen it coming.....  :) All in all, great cozy mystery!!

Murder on the Toy Town Express is the second book in the Vintage Toy Shop Mystery series. For more information on the author and her books, check out her website: http://www.barbaraearly.com/

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**