Bidding for Murder is the third novel in the Stamford Mysteries by E.C. Bateman featureing auctioneer Felicia Grant.
Title: Bidding for Murder
Author: E.C. Bateman
First Published: October 24, 2025
Publisher: One More Chapter
Genres: mystery
Acquired: from the publisher
*** Thank you to the publisher, One More Chapter, for providing me with an ebook for review purposes. ***
When an old school acquaintance calls on auctioneer Felicia Grant for help, she finds herself at a glittering bash at the exclusive yet mysterious Aquitaine club.
What starts as an enchanting evening of feasting and spooky traditions soon turns deadly. With the clock ticking towards midnight, Felicia finds herself in a race against time to uncover a clever killer hiding among the shadows…
More fun sleuthing with auctioneer, Felicia Grant
There have been an influx of antiques-related cozy crime books on my reading lists lately and I love it. And the Stamford Mysteries are among my favourites.
Felicia is a really great character, not just due to her interesting background as an auctioneer and her work with antiques, but also because of the variety of relationships she has. Not only is she on friendly terms with her ex-husband, but she also has a grudging relationship with her father, and a flirtatious back-and-forth with the mysterious photographer Jack. Plus, Felicia is a competent and smart amateur sleuth who gets on well (most of the time) with her police connections. Felicia is also very smart and competent, which makes her a good amateur sleuth.
The setting of the exclusive Aquitane Club is a very interesting background to set a murder mystery and the Halloween party made things very atmospheric and fun. There were antiques, bats, falling chandaliers, cocktails, costumes, and lots of unique characters.
An interesting and fun mystery
While the twisty murder mystery definitely kept me turning pages, there was also some inter-personal dramas going on at the same time. Felicia’s friendly banter with her ex-husband Dexter and her mild flirtation with Jack make for an interesting love triangle. While I don’t usually like love triangles in my cozy crime stories, this one hasn’t become annoying (yet).
I also learned some really cool history about mummers and how that old tradition evolved into our modern-day trick-or-treating. I love finding rabbit holes to dive down!
Historical side-quests aside, this book was another solid entry to the Stamford Mysteries. The exclusive party, the costumes, the mysterious new characters – it all combined to make for a good book to pass a cozy evening lost in. I can’t wait for the next one!
