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Rating: 
Summary: Loved this mystery!
Review: Antiques and an antique show and a cast of shady characters ... what could be more entertaining? Really enjoyed this one ...looking forward to the next in the series!
Rating:
Summary: The Inside Story
Review: Are antiques/collectibles your bag? If so,enter the intriguing world of friendship, enmity and romance with the first of Lea Wait's new series featuring Maggie Summer,40-ish, sexy widow, professor and dealer in prints. Meet the diverse characters who work the shows,fall in and out of love, kill and get killed in this most everyday yet urbane of environments. I didn't come close to guessing the guilty party in this exciting read. Was kept guessing right to the end in this clever mix of clues,engaging characters and some red herrings too. Doesn't matter which side of the booth you normal find yourself, this book will engage and inform as well as keep you wondering. Roll on the next in the series!
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Summary: I love this series! More, please!
Review: I just found Shadows at the Fair and am really excited that Shadows on the Coast of Maine has been published, too. Maggie Summer is a great character -- not crazy or silly, although she has a sense of humor. She has a lot of intelligence and spunk, and a sense of what is fair. In Shadows at the Fair she knows it is not fair to accuse Ben of a murder just because he has Down Syndrome, so she goes to bat for him -- and uncovers one of the most unusual -- but credible! -- motives for a serial killer I've ever read. And I loved the information about antiques and antiques shows. Now I'm going to have to visit one -- and look for prints! Right after I read Lea Wait's next book.
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Summary: Antiques + Mystery = Suspense + Fun!
Review: I'm an antique dealer and a friend recommended Shadows at the Fair after it was nominated for an Agatha for "best first mystery." I'm really glad she did. It's the most enjoyable book I've read this year. The author brings the world of antiques accurately alive -- and has a great way of putting together memorable characters with unforgettable pasts and secrets, and a lot of action. I'm looking forward to reading her next book -- Shadows on the Coast of Maine!
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Summary: intriguing amateur sleuth
Review: It has been a long hard winter for Maggie Summer. Her husband died of a heart attack at the same time she learned he was having an affair with another woman. Now she is trying to get her life back on track by entering the Rensselaer County Springs Antiques Fair. She sells antique prints and knows many of the other dealers since she has been doing the shows for years.When she arrives on the fairgrounds she learns that a dealer was poisoned at an antique fair a week ago. Security is so beefed up that all the dealers feel safe until somebody kills Harry Findley. At first the police arrest Ben, a man with Down's Syndrome. Maggie, who has known Ben for a long time, is convinced he didn't do it; the police become convinced as well when Harry's wife Susan dies under mysterious circumstances while they retained Ben. Maggie, being a curious sort, decides to do some sleuthing and almost gets killed in the process. This is the first entry into what looks to be an intriguing series. The heroine is a likable person who has a natural talent for snooping and is not the kind of person who stands idly by when an injustice is about to occur though she starts her sleuthing after the police know Ben is innocent. Lea Wait takes readers into the world of antiquities and makes it seem so interesting that readers will want to visit their local antiques store or fair. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: "Shadows At The Fair" A Fine Blend of Murder and Old Prints
Review: Lea Wait, who also writes a well-regarded Young Adult historical series, has given us an intelligent, well-written mystery. She knows the antique print field, having been a dealer for many years, and she blends this knowledge with excellent characterization and plot development. We have a hard time figuring out not only who the murderer is, but why the murders are being committed. And will Maggie Summer, the well-delineated protagonist, be the next victim? Wait also uses the intriguing idea of prefacing each chapter with the description of an actual print from her collection that has some bearing on the chapter. She says that an antique show is like the classic mystery setting--a group of people are together in an isolated place, and suddenly one of them is murdered. Lea Wait is an author to watch, and "Shadows at the Fair" is a good beginning of what will be a series worth following.
Rating: 
Summary: Antiquing murders
Review: The first in the Anique Print Mystery is an exciting beginning. Maggie Summers, recently widowed, is back selling her antique prints at the Rensselaer County Antique Fair. (Initially that's why I bought the book, because of the name of the county and the name of my town. Am I ever glad I did.) Maggie is happy to be back selling her wares to take her mind off her husband's recent death and discovery of his philandering. But soon a murder of an antique dealer and then his wife, has her searching for clues to clear a friend's nephew and to find the true murderer. The inside look at the antique fair business is interesting. Those who watch the Antique Roadshow may find this of interest.
Rating:
Summary: Antiquing murders
Review: The first in the Anique Print Mystery is an exciting beginning. Maggie Summers, recently widowed, is back selling her antique prints at the Rensselaer County Antique Fair. (Initially that's why I bought the book, because of the name of the county and the name of my town. Am I ever glad I did.) Maggie is happy to be back selling her wares to take her mind off her husband's recent death and discovery of his philandering. But soon a murder of an antique dealer and then his wife, has her searching for clues to clear a friend's nephew and to find the true murderer. The inside look at the antique fair business is interesting. Those who watch the Antique Roadshow may find this of interest.
Rating: 
Summary: stale
Review: This isn't a bad book but it's not great either. The heroine, Maggie is uninteresting. The plot is clever but it's carried out in a heavy handed manner. The pacing was slow, and quite dull. By page 13 I had figured out who was going to get killed and which character would be blamed for it. By the 50th page I knew who the killer was. The whole thing seemed horribly dry and stale.
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