Shadows at the Spring Show Hardback - 2005

An antique print dealer and American Studies professor at Somerset Community College in New Jersey, Maggie has overcommitted herself yet again: she's agreed to run an antiques show to benefit a local adoption agency, Our World, Our Children. And her new love Will Brewer has agreed to take a booth "and" help Maggie set up, so she's looking forward to his visit despite the chaos.

Planning the show seemed like a great way to find out more about adoption -- an avenue Maggie is seriously considering herself -- and help a deserving organization.

She's called in her antique-dealer friends, decided on the prints she'll exhibit from her own collection, and used her connection to the college to host the show in its brand-new gymnasium facilities. Everything is going like clockwork.

That is, until the agency, and then Maggie herself, begins receiving anonymous letters and calls threatening to sabotage the show. Who could bear such a grudge against Our World, Our Children?

With dealers on their way from out of state, including Maggie's dear friend Gussie for whom traveling is already a hardship, Maggie's hands are tied. She can't cancel the show or the dealers will never speak to her again. Despite further menacing calls and letters, neither Maggie nor the agency wants to give in to the demands.

Soon, though, the gymnasium is filled with Chippendale furniture, delicate art glass, Victorian toys, and Maggie's prints, and she grapples with second thoughts. Is it foolish to put those valuables -- not to mention the people who will be attending the show -- at risk?

Tension escalates when an adoptive mother is shot, one of herthirteen children goes missing, and the threats become more specific. Someone doesn't want the antiques show to move forward, and Maggie is determined to find out who -- before a final act of terror harms hundreds of innocent people and destroys everything she and Our World, Our Children have worked for. She turns to her antique prints -- safe, secure, and familiar -- and discovers the clue that helps her solve the mystery.

"Shadows at the Spring Show" tackles thorny emotional issues of race, heritage, and personal identity, causing Maggie to reconsider some of her own beliefs. With Lea Wait's hands-on knowledge of antiques shows, a colorful cast, and deft handling of issues such as mixed-race families and single-parent adoption, this is a superb addition to an already acclaimed series.