For bargain hunter extraordinaire Sarah Winston, starting life over in Ellington, Massachusetts,has been a true trash-to-treasure success story, except when there’s a run on dead bodies . . . Sarah’s latest client, Alice Krandle, is sure she has a fortune in antiques on her hands. She’s already gotten a generous offer for the whole lot before her garage sale has even begun, but she thinks she can … can earn more with Sarah’s expert help. The problem is that while Sarah’s sorting through items from decades past, her landlady, Stella, faces a clear and present danger. Stella’s kidnapper has contacted Sarah with a set of instructions, and “Don’t call the police” is at the top of the list. But they didn’t say anything about Sarah’s friend Harriet—who happens to be a former FBI hostage negotiator . . . Praise for the Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mysteries “There’s a lot going on in this charming mystery, and it all works . . . Well written and executed, this is a definite winner.”— RT Book Reviews, 4 Stars on All Murders Final! “Full of garage-sale tips…amusing. A solid choice for fans of Jane K. Cleland’s Josie Prescott Antique Mystery series.” —Library Journal on Tagged for Death “Incredibly enjoyable.” —Mystery Scene on Sell Low, Sweet Harriet Visit us at www.kensingtonbooks.com
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With Absence of Alice, Sherry Harris offers us a prime example of the quality and uniqueness that makes the Sarah Winston Mystery series outstanding. I am an avid reader of cozy mysteries and Sarah Winston meets many of the best characteristics of the cozy world, but the variety alone takes it beyond the standard for the usual cozy mysteries. At the same time, the small-town warmth, great friendships, and Sarah’s somewhat unusual career of organizing garage sales, as well the limited description of murders keep the series and Absence of Alice on the lighter side of traditional mysteries.
When Sarah gets a call that her best friend has been kidnapped, the kidnapper says he will kill Stella if Sarah approaches any of people she usually counts on. She believes that he can find out if she does so; nothing is secret in a small town. Her only choice is to act as normal as possible and do everything he says while she tries to figure out who he is and where he is hiding Stella. For a woman who is friends with police officers and dating the district attorney, she is in a really bad position. It doesn’t help that she doesn’t lie. She cannot image why anyone would kidnap a friend to get at her or who would play games, deadly games, with her in exchange for clues to her friend’s whereabouts. Even if she does manage to rescue her friend, odd are that her other friends will feel betrayed and little that matters in her life will be the quite same again.
Sarah’s strength and intelligence in life and in solving murders, as well as her kind heart and the warmth of her circle of friends draw me to this must-buy series time after time. I requested an ARC through NetGalley because I love the series so much that I just can’t wait to get my hands on it and I know am going to shout about it anyway, but I also love it so much that I pre-order a personal copy for every book. #NetGalley #Absence of Alice
I have been a fan of this series from the beginning and know that anytime I pick up a book in the series I will be entertained. Absence of Alice is the 9th book in the series and for me, I thought this was the best one yet. It kept me on the edge of my seat and turning pages to see how Sarah was going to dig her way out of trouble this time. Sarah Winston is a terrific main character. She definitely gets herself into trouble with her sleuthing but it is never deliberate or reckless. This time around, she finds herself unable to rely on the police or Seth as she is taunted by someone who is hurting those people close to her. This was a fast-paced read and if I hadn’t accidentally fallen asleep at 1 a.m. while reading on my kindle, I probably would have read this in or sitting. The storyline was action-packed and the mystery was multilayered. As a reader, I had to pay close attention to all the twists and turns woven throughout the story. Historically, I have never been that great at figuring out “whodunit” before the end of the book. This was especially the case with Absence of Alice, as Ms. Harris crafted an engaging, puzzling, action-packed mystery full of twist and turns and a reveal that I did not see coming.
I will continue to read this series for as long as Ms. Harris continues to write these books. Each story is engaging and entertaining. The mysteries are always very well done and make the reader work to find the clues and piece them together to figure out the killer’s identity. The characters are well written and likable. At the end of the day, as a reader, Sarah is the type of character that you could picture having as a friend in real life.
I voluntarily read a digital advanced reader copy provided to me by Kensington, through Netgalley. The thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
Absence of Alice is the 9th book in the Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mysteries. Sherry Harris has out done herself with this one! I did not guess the perpetrator, not even close— I love when that happens. Sarah is working hard on a new sales venue when she is notified that her good friend has been kidnapped, and that she must complete each task given to her or said friend will suffer. Oh, Sarah must look for clues and do the tasks completely unaided by police or friends. The race to find Stella, the friend, is on— with twists and turns to keep the pace fast, and the suspense high. I loved it and recommend it to others who enjoy cozy/light mystery.
Thank you to Net Galley and Kensington Books for granting my request for an ARC of this book.
#AbsenceofAlice #NetGalley
kidnapping, suspense, scary-parts, scavenger-hunt, threats, law-enforcement, small-business, small-town, Massachusetts, amateur-sleuth
Stella is Sarah’s friend and landlady but she is absent because she was kidnapped by someone with a malicious sense of humor with the greater intent of making Sarah go through hoops and suffer guilt. The suspense is intense and the plot twists are quite diabolical but there is no violence and sometimes there is just the right touch of humor. While this is one in a series, it easily stands alone. Excellent reading!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
Sarah Winston is an ex-Air Force wife whom, after her divorce, decided to stay in Ellington, Massachusetts and run a garage sale business for others, which she’s very good at. But after a successful sale for Alice Krandle, a cantankerous elderly woman who’s happy with Sarah’s results, she receives a phone call from someone who tells her that he’s kidnapped her landlady Stella, and she won’t be returned unless Sarah does exactly what he says. Part of that is to not contact the police nor her boyfriend Seth, who is the DA, so she’s stuck in a precarious situation.
When she learns that Seth was almost abducted the same day, she’s running scared, but willing to do whatever it takes to get Stella back alive. She has Stella’s phone, which the kidnapper is watching every text she sends, and he is following Sarah’s every move. She’s given herself a time limit, and then whatever happens, she’s going to the police. But she has help in her assistant Harriet, who’s an ex-FBI hostage negotiator, and the two are working together.
When Sarah finds the body of a woman dressed like Alice in Wonderland, she’s horrified. But when state police are called in, she’s finding her adrenaline heightened and her sense of fear intensified. But the kidnapper doesn’t know Sarah, or what she’s capable of when someone she loves is in danger. It’s Sarah’s intrepid instincts that puts her ahead of the kidnapper’s little game…
This is the ninth book in the series and I have read all of them. I loved the plot line in this one. It pretty much put Sarah on her own against someone with a sick mind who though they could use her as a pawn to get to someone else. It shows Sarah’s true strength, and the lengths she will go to to protect those she loves, even putting her own reputation on the line.
I have to say that it bothered me, though, how Pellner and Awesome reacted to her. Would they not have done the same thing in the same situation? Would Pellner have put his wife’s life on the line? I don’t think so. Cut her some slack, guys. I did love the fact that it showed how loyal Sarah’s friends are, and how loyal she is to them. It warmed my heart.
When Sarah starts ‘the game’ as it were, she’s worried and scared, but once she has help unknown to the kidnapper, things start to become more interesting, and that’s when the book pulls you in. I really couldn’t put this one down and read it all in one sitting.
In the end it was definitely a twisted situation as well as a rather sad one, but there are other things that make it all worth the while. I did enjoy this book immensely and look forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.
I received a copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
Sarah’s good friend, Stella, has been kidnapped. When the kidnapper contacts Sarah, he challenges her to find Stella before it’s too late. But there are rules: no contacting the police, no contacting Mike, no contacting Seth. Can Sarah get Stella back before it’s too late while also going about her normal routine so as to not raise suspicions?
I was so worried throughout this entire book! I kept yelling at Sarah that she needed to tell people and she needed help. I did appreciate that Sarah was smart about what she was doing. I was so nervous for her and Stella the whole time. Each time Sarah thought of a different subject, I was all for that person being the kidnapper. This one kept me guessing the whole time! I loved it! There’s gonna be more to this series right?
Readers know that there are books that will be good before they even crack the spine. What they don’t know is how good it will be. The newest “A Sarah W. Garage Sale Mystery” Absence of Alice, is one of those books. It doesn’t matter if you have not read any of the other books in this series; readers will fall in love with Sarah. They will also take up the hobby of garage sales if they’re not careful!
Sarah’s garage sales business is going well, despite having a former helper now her competition and being a bit underhanded. But when someone kidnaps Stella, she is faced with a decision she hopes she will not regret. This time a killer is playing a game, and it’s very personal. The suspects are people Sarah wouldn’t naturally suspect or fear. The motive, however, isn’t clear to her. Could her new competition be so desperate for business that she is will to kill and kidnap someone to run Sarah’s garage sales business into the ground? Is she being targeted because of her mobster next-door neighbor? Does she or Stella have an enemy that would be this despicable? There are just too many possibilities.
In this book, for the first time, I felt that Sarah was truly in danger and that we might lose a beloved character. The mystery was written very well, and the cast was everything a reader would want in a cozy. Some were helpful; some were threatening, others were unaware of the danger but worried about Sarah anyway. I loved having Harriet more involved this time, she is a wonderful character, and I could see her and Sarah becoming involved in and solving future investigations. Introducing us to Alice as one of Sarah’s garage sale customers was delightful, and having an added mystery surrounding her kept the story fresh and exciting. The book is action-packed and has twists and turns readers won’t see coming. Before they know it, readers will either have a new hobby, going to garage sales, or having a garage sale of their own. This series makes people want to clean out their old junk and maybe find a treasure.
Absence of Alice is a roller coaster ride with plenty of drama. The killer may not be easy to discover, and many readers will not figure out the who-done-it until the very end. Of course, Sarah figures it out but only just in time. Her newest garage sale is a success, and all is righted in her world, or as right as it can ever be for Sarah. Readers of this series know it won’t be long before she is knee-deep in murder again, soon. This is one of my favorite series, and it keeps getting better with each new installment. I highly recommend this series to readers who love a real mystery, charming characters, and happy endings.
Absence of Alice by Sherry Harris is book nine in the Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery series. It can be read as a stand alone and you can get current quickly.
Sarah’s friend has been kidnapped and the only person who knows is Sarah. She has been getting phone calls with clues leading her to Stella, with a warning, not to call the police or Sarah’s DA boyfriend, or Stella will be killed. Sarah then finds out the morning of Stella’s kidnapping, there was an attempt to kidnap Sarah’s boyfriend. Sarah knows this all revolves around her and she also knows she is going to need help. She enlists her friend and assistant, Harriet, who just happens to be a former FBI agent to find Stella before it’s too late.
Harris has written a well crafted Cozy that I did not want to put down. There are plenty of twists and turns and likeable main characters. You also get romance and a touch of humor.
I was given an ARC by Kensington and NetGalley for an honest review.
I love Sherry Harris’s Sarah Winston Garage Sale mysteries. The characters are like old friends. This story is twisty, and Sarah has to solve the murder and save her friendships.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Sarah Winston is busy with a huge sale, but that takes a backseat when she receives a very important phone call. A call where she learns her landlady and friend Stella Wild has been kidnapped. The caller informs her that she must follow their rules if she ever wants to see Stella again alive and well.
Rule #1 – You can’t go to the police, your friend Seth, or Mike “The Big Cheese” Titone for help.
Rule #2 – You have to go about your daily routine like nothing’s happened. And act natural.
Rule #3 – You’ll complete all the daily tasks I send you while following rules number one and two.
Thankful that the creepy kidnapper had not mentioned her friend Harriet because she just may need her help as a former FBI hostage negotiator to save Stella. The person seems to know all about her life, so now she just needs to figure out how. Keeping secrets from her friends could cost her in the end but she has to do everything she can to find Stella even if it means following the rules to the letter.
Sarah is a strong independent protagonist and she is going to need to be more alert than normal to catch every clue because the people she usually leans on are all off-limits if she wants to save her friend. All the characters were have come to love over the course of this story return but with the exception of Harriet, no one even knows Stella is missing. We do meet a new character too. His presence was questionable at times but I hope he sticks around. All these characters are well-crafted and while the depths of the friendships are tested all their interactions are realistic and believable.
Ms. Harris has written a very complicated mystery with a lot of moving parts. Twists and turns make this a challenging mystery to solve. It had an extra eerie feel as the kidnapper always knew everything. It was a true game of cat and mouse that leads up to an incredibly surprising and exciting reveal.
What I really like is the way the author infuses humor in all the right places to keep the story within the cozy realm. Without it, this could have been a dark heavy mystery.
Absence of Alice kept me totally entertained. I was amazed by how quickly the pages flipped. My visit with Sarah and her friends ended much too soon, I am anxiously awaiting book ten!
Sarah Winston is happily preparing a garage sale for her latest client, Alice Krandle, when she gets a phone call claiming to be from someone who has kidnapped Sarah’s landlady and friend, Stella. With clear instructions not to contact the police, she sets out to find Stella while also following the kidnapper’s strange demands. Can she find her friend in time?
Yes, this book is part thriller, but it is still part cozy as well. The balance truly works. The twists and turns kept me glued to the page. Because of the plot, the book is a bit darker than a typical cozy, but it is just a shade or two darker. One reason this book still feels cozy is the locations and characters we love are front and center. How this plot impacts the characters and their relationships is realistic and does a great job of building on what we’ve seen in previous books. There are discussions of some of the Sarah’s other cases, and they are vague enough to avoid most spoilers, but I still recommend reading the books in order. If you aren’t already a fan, you’ll be hooked in no time. And those who already know and love Sarah will be thrilled with her latest adventure.
Absence of Alice is another spectacular book in the Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery series by Sherry Harris.
Sarah and her friend Harriet are preparing an indoor garage sale for Alice Krandle, a new client. After spending hours pricing the knickknacks, artwork, and expensive figurines, Sarah wants to wind down for the day. Unfortunately, a random phone call, revelation of a kidnapping, and strict instructions has Sarah running across town. Stella, her landlady, has been kidnapped and her kidnapper is using Sarah to complete bizarre tasks in order to gain, or lose, precious time to locate Stella. At a loss for what to do or where to turn, Sarah realizes the kidnapper didn’t include Harriet in his list of no-nos. Harriet is former FBI with contacts all over the place. With some strategy and hiding things from her friends, including her boyfriend Seth, maybe Sarah will be able to locate Stella before any harm comes to her – even if it means losing the trust of everyone around her. Stella’s life is more valuable and Sarah hopes to find her alive. It’s better to ask for forgiveness sometimes, at least Sarah hopes so.
I really enjoy the Garage Sale Mysteries by Sherry Harris. As a lover of garage sales, yard sales, flea markets, etc., a cozy setting of this nature makes me happy. Sarah is a great protagonist and has been in such a way that I feel like I know her personally. She has very realistic characteristics and the author really brings Sarah to life. I love all the secondary characters the author has created for this series, too. Seth, Pelltner, Mike “the big cheese” Titone, Stella, Awesome, and all the rest compliment this series so well. I’m glad Sarah’s love life doesn’t overpower the stories, providing a nice balance and sense of realism to her.
As I said about the rest of the books in the series, Absence of Alice is a fantastic cozy mystery full of twists, turns, distractions, and multiple storylines. There are suspenseful, humorous, and heartbreaking moments that are sure to keep the reader engaged. The author provides a few characters as the potential suspects and expertly pulls the tablecloth out from underneath them without spilling the truth. The ending was a complete shocker! The Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mysteries are one of my favorite cozy series’. The author keeps the stories fresh and entertaining. The characters are wonderful, and I love the setting.
Absence of Alice is the 9th book in the Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery series by Sherry Harris.
This is the first book I’ve read in this series and I had no trouble reading this as a standalone book.
Sarah Winston was busy with a garage sale for a client, Alice while dealing with the kidnapping of her friend, Stella. The kidnapper is threatening her to keep it secret from the friends that have helped Sarah in the past.
The characters are very interesting and I like that there is quite a variety of characters. It was a very entertaining story and was surprised at the ending.
I definitely recommend this book.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the free copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
It’s coming up to the second anniversary of the launch of Sarah Winston’s garage sale business, and as usual Sarah’s got her hands full with work….and murder! When her landlord is kidnapped and Sarah stumbles across a dead Alice in Wonderland while following clues the kidnapper has given her, Sarah’s in a race against the clock to save Stella’s life! Another fast-paced, fun read from cozy author Sherry Harris, there’s not one thing I didn’t love about this mystery, from the relationships of Sarah and her friends, to the way Sarah works to free the victim and discover the culprit. Another 5-star cozy in the Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery series!
Sarah Winston’s garage sale business is thriving and her latest client Alice is counting on Sarah to get top dollar for her antiques. In Absence of Alice, Sarah works hard to get the most money for Alice, and to do all she can to help her friend Stella, who has found herself in a very dangerous situation. I really enjoyed this well-written mystery that kept me guessing and second guessing til the very end. The characters are realistic, developed, and likable. The Boston suburb setting has a nice town square and a restaurant whose owners are like family to Sarah. I love this series and always look forward to the next installment! Highly recommended to anyone who love a great mystery, the Boston area, garage saleing, or peeks into military life.
I received an advance copy of this book. This review contains my honest thoughts and opinions.
Absence of Alice continues Sarah Winston’s adventures in Ellington, Massachusetts. If you’ve been with her since the beginning of the series, you’ve seen her start her now very successful garage sale business from scratch and rebuild her life and reinvent herself, sometimes one step forward and two steps back. She’s built a life for herself, made friends, established a solid business and a reputation. Unfortunately, part of that reputation is being a magnet for dead bodies.
Sarah is dedicated and honest and loyal and fearless. And headstrong and reckless and doesn’t always think things through. This time around, a dear friend is kidnapped and Sarah is warned not to involve the police or others or her friend will be killed. So off Sarah goes, attempting to find her friend on her own.
Absence of Alice is a great story and Sarah is a character you will truly like – even if you will want to throttle her at times and shout, “What are you doing, Sarah?” This book works wonderfully well as a stand-alone, with enough backstory for you to know who Sarah and the others are. But if you have a chance start from the beginning because Sarah’s journey is truly amazing. So many details to make Sarah the jewel she is.
Thanks to author Sherry Harris and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of Absence of Alice for my honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it without hesitation. All opinions are my own.
Absence of Alice is the ninth book in the Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery series written by Sherry Harris. The well-plotted mystery is complex, and there are enough twists and red herrings to keep the reader engaged throughout the book. Ms. Harris provides enough character background that this book can be read as a standalone.
Sarah Winston lives in Ellington, Massachusetts, and loves garage sales. She provides professional services to people having garage sales and volunteers at the local military base’s thrift shop. Sarah is beside herself when a person who claims to have kidnapped her good friend and landlady, Stella Wild, contacts her. The kidnapper tells Sarah that if she wants to get Stella back alive, there are three rules she must follow. Sarah must act natural and go about her daily routine as if nothing’s happened, she can’t go to the police, including Stella’s fiancé, Nathan “Awesome” Bossum, her boyfriend and District Attorney, Seth Anderson, or Mike “the Big Cheese” Titone, who has mob connections, for help, and she must complete all the tasks given to her in one week. Sara’s first task is to go to a specific address, where she finds a dead body dressed in an Alice in Wonderland costume and breaks the first rule of contacting the police. Sarah enlists the help of her friend, Harriet Ballou, a retired FBI hostage negotiator.
I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it.
Absence of Alice by Sherry Harris is the newest installment in the Sarah Winston Garage Sale series of mysteries and the first one I have read. Someone is trying to blackmail Sarah and they start by snatching her friend, and landlord, Stella, and seem to thing they are going to send her on a scavenger hunt to get her back. He calls on the phone with each task and adds or subtracts times based on her performance. She hates it and vows that if she doesn’t have Stella back in three days she will go to the police, which is on the list of no-no’s. Her boyfriend, Seth is the District Attorney and had been threatened as well and is under guard. She has been instructed to not share this with him either. She doesn’t know if the threats are related but she is frightened. Her first clue was when she was sent to a house for sale and discovered a dead woman there. She was dressed as Alice in Wonderland. She called the police. She got docked time for it. This is out of control, but she is not about to be cowed.
This is a unique plot in my reading experience. For that reason alone I have Harris kudos. There are several suspects. The police are totally annoyed by Sarah’s behavior and even more annoyed when they find out why she has been acting this way. The final straw comes when the blackmailer blows up Alice’s house, with her in it. Alice was a client of Sarah’s and murder is always worse when it is someone you know. Sarah is clever and knows her own mind. She misses Seth and knows he may no longer be part of her life when this is over, but she forges through. The plot led to an unexpected conclusion, which is always a plus. The plot was good, and tight. The characters are good, lending firmly to the overall quality of the book. I recommend it.
I was invited to read a free ARC of Absence of Alice by Netgalley. All opinions contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #absenceofalice
Sherry Harris has written another first class cozy mystery with book #9 in the Sarah Winston series. It works as a stand alone but, if you enjoy Absence of Alice as much as I did, you will want to play catchup. Sarah has come a long way from being a military wife to a new life as a garage sale organizer with a new man in her life. Her life is going well, business is good but it isn’t meant to last. While she is pulling things together for a new client, Sarah’s dear friend and landlady, Stella vanishes. Then the games begin – somebody has kidnapped Stella and Sarah is the focus of the kidnapper. The demands are made to Sarah with the first command – don’t contact the police. That doesn’t stop Sarah from enlisting the help of her friend Harriet, a former FBI agent. Now Sarah has to do what she is told to do by the kidnapper, try to figure out who is pulling the strings and find Stella – all the while trying to run her business.
I’m glad I started this book in the morning because I read it in one sitting. It kept me engaged from the beginning and left me saying Wow at the end. It was complex with many threads that kept me guessing. The regular characters were present with some new ones added. As for the tone, there was a serious edge to this cozy but not enough to move it out of the cozy category. It was a very enjoyable read.
My thanks to the publisher Kensington and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
Absence of Alice by Sherry Harris brings murder, mystery and suspense to a cozy mystery set in Ellington, Massachusetts. This is the ninth book in the Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery series.
Our protagonist, Sarah started a business two years ago organizing on site and online garage sales. Her latest client, Alice Krandle, is sure she can make a lot of money from the antiques and art work that she owns. Meanwhile, Sarah’s landlady and friend, Stella is kidnapped. Unfortunately, the kidnapper has decided to make life difficult for Sarah as well. He contacts Sarah with a list of rules including “Don’t call the police” as well as having her run all other town doing tasks. Sarah can’t get questions out of her mind. Who has kidnapped Stella? Why are they contacting Sarah? Should she abide by the rules? Will Stella be rescued? Is Sarah’s life also in danger? While she jumps to meet the kidnapper’s demands, Sarah is having to continue to work with clients on their garage sales as well as her own upcoming anniversary garage sale on the town common.
This novel continues to feature many of the reoccurring characters that are Sarah’s friends that I have come to know and enjoy spending time with as well as a few new characters to bring variety and twists to the story. Sarah’s growth over the course of the series is clearly demonstrated as well as how she interacts with and feels about the other characters.
This story brought more suspense and anxiety to the table than previous novels and is therefore somewhat darker. However, it is still a cozy mystery without the gory details being explicitly shown. Sarah’s emotional state and her ability to “think on her feet” play a large role in this novel. So does her resilience, courage, hope and love. There was a fast pace from scene to scene and the subplots tied together well. The tension, stakes and action built up to an exciting ending. Themes include murder, kidnapping, friendship, relationships and trust.
Overall, this was an intense cozy mystery that quickly drew me into Sarah’s world. I felt like I was trying to help her find Stella and identify the kidnapper. It’s the seventh book I have read by this author and I am looking forward to the next one. I recommend it to those that enjoy the genre. This can be read as a standalone novel, but I would recommend reading the series in order to gain more insight into the characters and their backgrounds.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Kensington Books and Sherry Harris via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for December 29, 2020. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.