Avery Ayers Antique Mystery Books in Order

The Avery Ayers Antique Mystery series follows an amateur sleuth whose work puts her in the path of valuable objects and dangerous people. Avery Ayers runs Antiquities & Artifacts Appraised, a family business that handles everything from jewelry and paintings to historic treasures. She knows how to spot the real thing, which becomes a risky talent when fakes, thefts, and murder enter the picture.

Avery's home base is Lilac Grove, where she works alongside her younger sister Tilly, eccentric Aunt Midge, and a memorable Afghan hound. The business also reaches into Manhattan, giving the series room to move between small-town familiarity and the more polished, competitive world of collectors and museums. Her father William and colleagues Micah Abbott and Sir Robert Lane add to the lively circle around the appraisal firm.

The mysteries are built around objects with histories. In Ruby Red Herring, Avery is asked to assess a rare ruby that may connect to a long-unsolved theft and painful questions from her own family. The case soon brings threatening notes, a suspicious death, and a growing sense that someone is willing to kill to keep the truth buried.

Nothing stays safely behind glass.

In Peril at Pennington Manor, Avery's team heads to a castle-like Hudson River estate to catalogue and appraise its contents. A missing timepiece, a fatal fall, and heirlooms replaced by convincing fakes turn a glamorous assignment into another tightly knotted investigation. The series uses the practical details of appraisal work to make each clue feel connected to the case rather than dropped in for decoration.

These books are cozy mysteries, but Avery's cases carry real personal stakes. She has to balance a demanding family business, the people she loves, and a growing connection with Detective Art Smith while deciding whom to trust. The pleasure comes from following the evidence through art and antiques lore, sorting honest mistakes from deliberate deception, and watching Avery refuse to leave a question unanswered.

Start with Ruby Red Herring. It establishes Avery, her family and business, and the emotional undercurrent that makes Peril at Pennington Manor more rewarding when read next.