Valerie Cooper, the narrator of the pseudonymous Herren's lively debut and series launch, is surprised to inherit a majority share in Rare Things Antiques and Estate Sales Company in New Orleans from an uncle of her late husband she didn't know existed--and just as surprised to discover how much she enjoys the work repairing antiques and researching their provinces. She's also relieved that she'll no longer have to consider selling her house--an antebellum double-style in the now desirable Irish Channel neighborhood--to make ends meet. Only her interactions with the venomous-tongued real estate agent Collette Monaghan mar her days. Collette, as the Boudicca Krewe Members membership chair, oversees admissions to the social club Valerie's good friend and neighbor, bestselling author Lorna Walmsley, is anxious to join. When Collette is murdered at the Boudicca Costume Ball, Valerie sets out to learn why Collette despised her and how the killer came to possess the murder weapon, an antique jeweled dagger from Rare Things. Lorna lends her support along the way to the satisfying denouement. Big Easy culture and traditions provide a colorful backdrop. Fans of Katherine Hall Page's Faith Fairchild mysteries will want to check this out. (Dec.)

Herren, who writes the Chanse MacLeod and Scotty Bradley mysteries under the name Greg Herren, begins a new series set in New Orleans. Widowed Valerie Cooper lives in a large old house she and her late husband meticulously renovated early in their marriage. Her son is heading off to college and she feels overwhelmed with the house but cannot bear to part with it. A local realtor named Collette has been hounding her to sell but Valerie stands her ground. Then, out of the blue, she is named beneficiary to her husband's estranged great uncle's estate, including a majority partnership in a local antique business. Things get complicated when she finds Collette's body at a costume ball with an antique dagger protruding from her chest--a dagger Valerie last saw at the antique shop. Now she's a person of interest in the murder, so she decides to investigate the death herself. She discovers a Pandora's box of secrets, lies, and relationships that eventually lead her to the truth. VERDICT An entertaining cozy set in an atmospheric New Orleans.--Sandy Knowles

A widowed New Orleans mother is pulled into an unexpected bequest and a murder case. Most people would welcome the news that they'd just inherited 75% of the Rare Things Antiques and Estate Sales Company, but Valerie Cooper isn't most people. First she's suspicious because she's never heard of Arthur Cooper, the owner who left her and her late husband's heirs his entire estate; then she's unhappy because her husband, firefighter Tony Cooper, never told her he had an uncle before he was killed battling a blaze. What other secrets might he have kept? Dionne Williams, a longtime employee at Rare Things, takes to Val so completely that she quickly hires her at $20 an hour to help out, but Randall Charpentier, the 25% owner who's managed the place forever, is clearly aggrieved that his old partner didn't leave his majority interest to him. Val's concerns about Rare Things, which would've taken the spotlight in many another series launch, are upstaged by her discovery that social-climbing realtor Collette Monaghan, a not-quite nemesis of Val's who's always seemed to have a grudge against her, has been fatally stabbed at a ball given by the rising Krewe of Boudicca. Ignoring the warnings of NOPD Det. Andy "Ed" Guillotte to stay away from the case, Val makes indelicate inquiries of parties who clearly don't want to see her, and she quickly amasses an impressive roster of motives Collette would have had for killing Val--which make her a suspect in Collette's death. Despite veteran Herren's conscientious attention to the clues, the unmasking of the killer is a serious letdown. Forget the puzzle and enjoy the snarky dishing on New Orleans society and its wannabes, murderous or just scurrilous. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Valerie Cooper is stunned when she finds out her late husband's great uncle, Arthur, whom she never knew existed, left his New Orleans antiques store, Rare Things, to her, as well as bequeathing a substantial amount of money in trusts to her twin sons. At loose ends with the boys away at college, she dives into working at the store while trying to figure out why her husband never mentioned Arthur. Then, after finding the body of her nemesis, Colette Monaghan, at the Boudicca Ball, Valerie feels the need to find out why Collette hated her so much, and as she pokes around in Collette's past, she uncovers much more than she bargained for, unravelling a complicated series of secrets that pose a threat for herself and a close friend. This well-plotted debut cozy is nicely framed by the antique trade, the ambience of New Orleans, and details about the city's famed Mardi Gras krewes. The tale ends with a possible romantic interest for Valerie as she decides to finally move forward with her life.