Antiques Liquidation

Two o'clock in the morning is the perfect time to be asleep. So when long-suffering Brandy Borne is rudely awoken by her eccentric mother, Vivian, and invited on a surreptitious shopping trip, the idea is less than tempting. But if Vivian - Serenity's true-crime writing, septuagenarian super-sleuth - has a nose for sniffing out antiques, Brandy's sense of smell is just as good . . . and trouble's on the wind. A little light blackmail and one run-in with the police later, and Brandy and Vivian are the 'proud' owners of a selection of dead stock, liberated ahead of an upcoming warehouse sale from unsavory auctioneer Conrad Norris. Brandy's not convinced there's a fortune to be made in vintage toys, retro plates and pearl buttons - there's more mileage in their shop's new Halloween display, even though it's only August - but she supposes it could be worse. It soon is. After the auction's taken place, Vivian and Brandy make an unnerving discovery. It's not just the stock that's dead - so is the auctioneer .. .--