The Antiquarian: A Barton & Brooks Cosy Mystery Book 1 - Paperback

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by Ned Hoste (Author)

When a brilliant historian is found dead in Exeter Cathedral Chapter House, the secrets buried in centuries-old books prove more dangerous than anyone imagined.

Exeter is a city where the Cathedral cast long shadows over the city and history presses close against the present. On the sunlit Cathedral Green, rare books change hands in hushed transactions, academic rivalries simmer beneath academic smiles, and the past, if disturbed, has a habit of striking back with deadly force.

Detective Inspector Whipton Barton prefers the quiet rhythms of life in the estuary town of Topsham: morning walks along the River Exe with his golden retriever, Pip, the easy warmth of home with his wife Lydia, and the steady satisfaction of a case solved with patience rather than drama. His second-in-command, DS Saxon Brooks, is the perfect foil, forensically systematic, quietly tenacious, and rarely unsettled by anything the job throws at him.

When Dr Evelyn Merton, a renowned medieval historian, is found dead in the Cathedral's Chapter House, Barton and Brooks are drawn into a shadowy world of rare manuscripts, bitter academic rivalries, and a hoax so audacious it rewrites everything they thought they understood about the case. At the heart of it all is Edward Voss - antiquarian bookseller, Dr Merton's former protégé, and a man whose early brilliance has long since curdled into obsession. He wanted recognition. He wanted control. And when neither came willingly, he took something else entirely.

As Barton unravels a web of deception that stretches back years, he discovers that the pursuit of knowledge, in the wrong hands, is no different from the pursuit of power. Those closest to Evelyn find they are not untouched by what she left behind, including Lydia, whose own quiet research into medieval history draws her closer to the truth than anyone anticipated. The race to uncover what really happened in the Chapter House becomes deeply personal, and Barton must move fast before a killer who believes himself untouchable decides to tidy up loose ends.

History isn't just a passion in this corner of Devon. It is a motive.

Perfect for readers of Richard Osman, Ann Cleeves and M.C. Beaton - for anyone who loves their detectives deeply human, their settings richly evoked, and their mysteries rooted in the kind of place where everyone knows everyone, and secrets run centuries deep.

The Antiquarian is the first book in the Barton & Brooks Cosy Mystery series, set in and around the historic city of Exeter and the beautiful Devon estuary. Book Two is available now. Book Three arrives in 2027.

Number of Pages: 214

Dimensions: 0.45 x 8 x 5.25 IN

Publication Date: April 01, 2025