Props & Pretense: A Novels and Needles Cozy Mystery - Book 5

About Props & Pretense: A Novels and Needles Cozy Mystery - Book 5

Jessica Mitchell has been looking forward to the Bath Jane Austen Festival for months — the Regency costumes, the promenades, the excuse to spend three days surrounded by people who understand why a well-placed bonnet matters. It might have stayed a lovely weekend if she hadn't looked too closely at the props. If she had just enjoyed the spectacle, bought an overpriced scone, and not noticed that a festival prop manager's collection of Regency-era antiques was rather more convincing than it should be.

Things might have stayed pleasant. But Jessica looked. Now there's a provenance card that doesn't quite hold up, a September 1804 letter that smells more like fresh ink than old paper, and a pattern of originals quietly disappearing while their reproductions take centre stage.

This isn't carelessness. It's a very elegant fraud — and it's been running long enough that someone has built a career on it. Nathan Vickers is asking the right questions, which means he's also making the wrong enemies.