A Ring of Deception (Antique Shop Mysteries #5)

When a nervous young girl arrives at Carriage House Antiques looking to sell an extravagant gold-and-emerald ring, owner Maggie Watson is intrigued. Where would the teen have come across such a valuable relic? And why is she so desperate to sell it?

Maggie soon learns that the fascinating ring bears the insignia of Soloman Zane, a bloodthirsty pirate who terrorized the coastal town of Somerset Harbor, Maine in the 18th century. Zane’s fate is a mystery, but one that seems irrevocably linked to the family history of one of the town’s wealthiest and most well-connected matrons, Willa Ravenhurst.

As the story goes, Mrs. Ravenhurst’s ancestor was kidnapped by Zane’s band of cutthroats and held for ransom. The incident was resolved under strange circumstances, and Maggie is left to wonder why a priceless piece of Zane’s jewelry should show up at her shop now, over three hundred years later. Yet when Maggie begins to dig deeper, she starts to connect the dots between the Ravenhurst family lineage and the sudden reappearance of the ring.

Willa Ravenhurst has been known to tell her family’s story of adventure on the high seas to anyone who would listen, but lately she seems reluctant to discuss the event. Have recently unearthed secrets made her change her tune? Maggie’s investigation is hampered when a local blogger bent on circulating salacious gossip about the town’s past closes in on her latest acquisition. With each new development, the mystery of the ring -- and the fate of its murderous owner -- continues to slip through Maggie’s fingers.

She turns to the local historical society, her dear friend June McGillis and handsome town alderman James Bennett for help. The more she learns, the more convinced Maggie becomes that this series of unusual events is begging for answers.