Any risk is worth taking when you have this much to lose.Estate sale organizer Audrey Nealon combines business with pleasure as she plans a sale at the exquisite beach home of the Gardner family. But the romantic getaway weekend with her husband is shattered when the body of a teenage boy washes up on the sand. The death soon proves to be more than an unpleasant distraction from Audrey’s work. … distraction from Audrey’s work. Sophia, the troubled young woman who lives next door to the Gardners, is wracked with guilt over the death of her friend. When Audrey rescues Sophia from a rash action, she is pulled into the vortex of lies and cover-ups swirling through the exclusive community of Sea Chapel, NJ. Where should Audrey place her trust—with the client who hired her or with the melodramatic Sophia, who reminds her of her teenage self.
Someone in this enclave knows how and why the boy died, but these families will close ranks to protect their own.
And they won’t hesitate to destroy an outsider like Audrey who threatens their way of life.
Audrey’s curiosity and compassion pull her into danger. Will her wit and determination be enough to restore justice? Or has Audrey met her match in this killer who has everything to lose?
Plot twists and lovable, believable characters are what keep readers coming back for more adventures in the Palmyrton Estate Sale Mystery Series. Start now and read all night!
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I enjoyed the plot and the overall tone of this novel! I really enjoyed enjoyed the characters, especially their voices and accents in the audiobook. Audrey has a business where she handles estate sales. On one assignment she gets more than she bargains for. She meets some new people and after a young man is found dead, she realizes that one of the people she knows could have been involved.
S.W.Hubbard’s character is so believable, engaging, inspiring and willing to go the extra mile to help whenever possible, etc, that Audrey Nealon seems like my sister from another mother.
Owner and manager of Another Man’s Treasure, (a house sale/clearance business) Audrey’s fortunate to have reliable and willing staff – assistant Donna and trainee Ty – who make her more willing to consider her husband Sean’s, (a homicide detective) desire to have a baby, knowing the pair could take care of business when necessary.
The title – Treasure Built of Sand – refers to events at an exclusive beach resort where Audrey’s been hired to auction the contents from Brielle’s lovely home, so that a trendy Japanese house ‘stylist’ can transform it anew. Unfortunately for Audrey, she’s quickly embroiled in a murder mystery, after a young man’s body is found on the beach by his vulnerable ex-girlfriend Sophia, who lives with her Mom, Jane, in the neighbouring house.
What secrets, old and new, are hidden among the community members?
What is the link between the victim and others with ties to Audrey’s home at the Palmyrton Estate?
Skulduggery is definitely afoot and the action is non-stop, while the plot has more twists than a sidewinder snake in a tumble-drier, in S.W.Hubbard’s Book 6 of the A Palmyrton Estate Mystery series, Treasure Built of Sand. Open the covers with care, because once this story has you in its grip you won’t be able to put it down – guaranteed!
Audrey plans a small getaway with her husband as she catalogs an estate for its sale. When a body washes up on the shore, everything changes. As Audrey becomes her own detective, she uncovers much more than just the prices on the items she originally set out to do. As Audrey untangles the webs, all of the characters seem to have ties to each other. I loved the suspense and mystery in this book. This is the first in this series that I have read, and I did not feel like I was missing any information, but I cannot wait to read the rest in this series.
Janelle Tedesco had a wonderful performance in this narration. This is the first time I have heard Ms. Tedesco and I really enjoyed her narration. Ms. Tedesco has an easy to listen to voice and a good speed to read at. She brought out all of the suspense and made me feel as if I was right there within the story. I enjoyed this narration.
I’m always happy when SW Hubbard produces a new book in this, one of my favorite series. The underlying mystery was a surprise and to some may have seemed far-fetched. Then, a couple of weeks later, a story in the news dovetailed!
I like Audrey a lot, and Ty just as much. He is so real and so likable, I always want him to do well.
I greatly enjoy both of this authors’ series and Treasure Built of Sand is an excellent addition to the Palmyrton series. The usual great characters all play roles in this book, but especially Donna who is finally beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel in her marriage to Anthony.
This book really focuses on families in all their different varieties. Those that love each other, the dysfunctional families, single parent families and several others. The point really is that it doesn’t matter who makes up your family or how you get there (remarriage, adoption, AI or whatever) but the love and care you have for each other. This point is shown in many ways in this story, leaving me laughing in some places (Granda is a great character) and feeling terrible for some others like Sophia.
As always in stories by this author, the plotting is great, descriptions make you feel as if you are there experiencing the settings and the characters, both good and not so good, are believable. No one is “too good” to be real and or so evil as to be unbelievable. I love S. W. Hubbard’s books and while I wish she would write faster, I’m always reading to plunge into the latest Palmyrton or Frank Bennett story.