Sometimes the best way to know a person is by asking questions, where you can learn more about what makes them tick. Let’s see what Edie has to say with her answers below.
What is your full name?
Edie Brown
How old are you?
I’m 27
What is your profession?
I was raised by grandparents who had an art and antique business. It became my passion as well. While I was working on my master’s degree and during various internships, I specialized in New England folk art and furnishing. But after my mother went to prison for art forgery, I returned home to takeover running the family business.
Do you have a significant other?
Yeah, Shane Payton—my ex-probation officer.
What is their name and profession?
Shane is now a detective with the Vermont State Police.
Do you have any children?
No, and no current plans to have any. My rekindled relationship with Shane is still at an intense but early stage.
Do you have any siblings?
Not that I know of.
Are your parents nearby?
My previous answer is because I don’t know much about my father, and he might have other kids. He and my mother married in their teens and divorced before I was born. My mom is currently in prison, but she’s not doing well mentally. I’m hoping to prove her innocence and get her released.
Who is your best friend?
Shane, my uncle Tuck, and Kala, our latest employee.
Do you have cats, dogs, or other pets?
Rumor has it—at least in Whisper of Treasure and Lies—that I hate puppies. That’s because Kala wants one, and I don’t think having a puppy running around an antique shop is a good idea. They are a huge commitment.
What town do you live in?
A Vermont town called Scandal Mountain. It’s where I grew up. I’ve lived other places, like NYC while working on my degrees, but Scandal Mountain is the place of my heart.
What type of dwelling do you own or rent?
I live up on a forested hill in a large brick house that was built in the 1830s. It’s surrounded by gardens that resemble those at Claude Monet’s home, a location my grandmother and Tuck intentionally emulated when they planned the landscaping. Next to the house is an old carriage barn. The back of the barn holds my mom’s art studio. The rest of the two-story building serves as our antique shop.
What is your favorite spot in your home?
In the warm months, I love relaxing on the front porch. In the cold months, it would be on one of window seats in our downstairs library.
What is your favorite meal and dessert?
It’s lucky I’m active because I love eating. I like brick-oven pizza at the Jumping Cafe, bagel sandwiches from the shop in St. Albans, chef salads, ice-cream, pie, cookies…Uncle Tuck does most of the cooking at our house and his food is to die for wonderful. I am fussier when it comes to alcohol. I like my drinks simple—ice-cold beer or citrus vodka with a twist.
Do you have any hobbies?
When I was a kid, I used to dig antique bottles out of an old dump on the end of my grandparent’s airstrip. I sold them and other antiques at a local flea market for good money. As an adult, my childhood hobby and life-long love of antiques and art has become my fulltime profession.
What music do you listen to?
In the shop, Tuck insists on classic instrumental music. One of his favorites is “Serenade to Spring” from A Secret Garden. Classic music always gives me a warm feeling because it reminds me of him. Still, sometimes I get a bit bored of listening to it all day. I love dancing to the live country music at the Jumping Café, and I blast rock when I’m alone and driving (fast). Let’s just say I have eclectic taste in music.
What is your favorite color?
It’s not really a color, but I love dark jewel tones—like the color of stained-glass windows.
What is your favorite vacation spot?
There’s a little cabin in the Adirondacks where Shane and I spent our first night together.
Are you a morning or night person?
Morning. I love getting up, fixing a coffee, then going out onto the porch where I can relax and think before the day gets going.
What is your idea of a really fun time?
The most fun thing to me is finding—or hunting down—a truly special piece of art or antique. The only thing better is buying it.
If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
Hmmm…Let me think. “Trust Your Instincts” because mine seem to be fine-tuned. Plus, it’s something Tuck, and my grandparents told me over and over again.
Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
I’m an amateur when it comes to sleuthing. But I’m not alone. Tuck and Kala form the rest of my crew—with a few outside helpers like Kala’s girlfriend, Pinky, and Pinky’s brother Butthead Bill, the state forensic scientist. I haven’t snooped into Kala’s background yet, but it is weird how she knows so much about sleuthing—like how she knows her way around on the dark web. Also, her murder boards are amazingly organized. Shane, of course, comes into play. But I try to not get him too tangled up in our adventures because I don’t want him to get in trouble and loose his detective job—sometimes I succeed at keeping him in the dark, but he’s got good instincts too and most often I don’t totally pull anything over on him.
What is a typical day in your life like?
There’s no such thing as a typical day in the antique business, and that’s just another reason I love it. There’s always a new adventure on the horizon.
Whisper of Treasure and Lies – A Scandal Mountain Antiques Mystery, Book 3
Genre: Traditional Mystery
Release: April 2025
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link
Some secrets die with their owners. Others hide in silence, waiting to be set free.
Edie Brown despises the bigwig antique and art dealer Felix Graham. She even suspects he had a hand in her mom being set up for the art forgery charge that sent her to prison. However, when Graham is drugged and robbed after purchasing a valuable antique bottle and a box of local historical items, Edie agrees to hunt down the thieves for him. In payment, she wants one thing: everything Graham knows about her mom being set up—who was involved, how they did it…all the information that could lead to her mom’s freedom.
But the number of possible thieves is as plentiful as the potential motives. Graham’s womanizing ways and slippery business practices barely outweigh the stolen pieces’ rarity and value. As Edie, her uncle Tuck, and enigmatic employee, Kala, dive into the dangerous search, evidence that the crime is tied to the stolen pieces’ history surface. Both the bottle—known as the Glass Widow—and the box of ephemera are related to a tragedy that occurred the night before the grand opening of a Victorian-era hydropathic resort, a shocking fragment of Vermont history that involved a peculiar dowry, concealed murder, and a fire that claimed lives and gutted the lavish resort.
With her mom’s mental health rapidly declining in prison, Edie must fight against the clock to expose the thieves by untangling a mystery with roots that stretch from the Victorian-era to the recent robbery, and perhaps into Edie’s own past as well.
About the author
Trish Esden loves museums, gardens, wilderness, dogs and birds, in various orders depending on the day. She lives in northern Vermont where she deals antiques with her husband, a profession she’s been involved with since her teens. Don’t ask what her favorite type of antique is. She loves hunting for old bottles and rusty barn junk as much as she enjoys fine art and furnishings. Trish is the author of the Scandal Mountain Antiques Mystery series which explores the secretive and adrenaline-charged underbelly of Vermont’s antique and art world. Her novel A Wealth of Deception was a IPNE Silver Award winner, and The Art of the Decoy was a Killer Nashville Silver Falchion finalist. Her short fiction has appeared in a number of venues including Deadly Nightshade: Best New England Crime Stories 2022.