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In a Treasure-Laden Mansion Unflappable and resourceful, Abigail Timberlake, antique dealer and owner of Charlotte, North Carolina's Den of Antiquity, relies on her knowledge and savvy to authenitcate the facts from the fakes when it comes to either curios or people. Her expertise makes Abby invaluable to exceptionally handsome Tradd Maxwell Burton, wealthy scion of the renowned Latham family. He needs her to determine the most priceless item in the Latham mansion and then split the proceeds of it with her. A treasure hunt in an antique-filled manor? All Abby can say is "let the games begin." It's Tough to Keep Help Accompanied by her best girlfriend, C.J., Abby arrives at the estate and is met with cool reserve, if no downright rudeness, from the members of the Latham clan. Trying to carry out Tradd's request, Abby finds that she could cut the household tension with a knife. But someone has beaten her to it by stabbing a maid to death with an ancient kris. Suddenly all eyes are on C.J., whose fingerprints happen to be all over the murder weapon. it's up to Abby to use her knack for detecting forgeries to expose the fake alibi of the genuine killer.
Flora the Floozy Found Fricasseed
| Customer Rating:   | I have become quite fond of the books in this series and was especially fond of this one if for no other reason than the setting. Although Abigail Timberlake, the heroine of the series, resides in Charlotte North Carolina, this story is set in the lovely town of Georgetown South Carolina. Just last week my family and I visited this charming little town and the author's description of places that I had just been to may have colored my opinion a little, but I really liked this book.
The problems that exist in the previous books in this series are still evident here but after a while one gets used to them. Abigail is still overly abrasive and despite her best efforts the mystery is only solved when the killer makes an out of the blue confession. There are also far too many descriptions of Abigail's friend CJ that form some variation of "she is a few bricks short of a load." About one more of those little sayings and I think that I would have screamed.
The whole story begins when Abby returns home from a cruise and finds that burglars have literally cleaned out her antique shop. The had even taken the phone jack and swept the floor, leaving nothing but some markings on a wall in which Abby's mother sees an angel. At the height of her despair, a man she had met on the plane ride back to Charlotte shows up and asks her to spend the weekend helping him with a scavenger hunt at his grandmother's plantation just outside of Georgetown. Since her daughter Susan had forgot to mail the premium check to the insurance company causing the cancellation of her policy, Abby had nothing to loose and accepted the invitation which had been extended to cover her friend CJ.
Arriving at the plantain, they found a family that could be the poster children for dysfunctional families. They were for the most part, just sitting around waiting for the family matriarch to die so that they could get their hands on her money. On top of that, most of the males in the family were sleeping with the maid who turns up murdered. For some reason that Abby can't fathom, CJ confesses to the crime and is taken to jail even though the Sheriff knows that she didn't really do it. It is CJ's arrest that puts Abby on the trail of the killer and as usual she bumbles and stumbles along until the killer for no good reason confesses. As in the previous books in this series, Abby gets herself into grave danger but unlike the other times she escapes her attacker in this book by using her wits. In the previous books it was mostly just pure dumb luck that saved her.
This book is not quite as laugh out loud funny as some of the previous installments in the series but Abby's mother is still a hoot as she sets up a Shrine in Abby's empty shop. CJ and her stories about her family are also hilarious, especially the one about her cousin that makes dentures from pig's teeth. The writing is warm and conversational and best of all, all of the clues are there for the reader to figure out the mystery before the ever-looming confession rolls around. In short, this is a nice warm fuzzy book that is a pleasure to read despite the shallow nature of the mystery itself. Reading these books is a worthwhile endeavor if for no other reason than to find out what Abby's mother does next. |
An OK Story
| Customer Rating: | | As long as you don't get into a Tamar Myers book expecting great literature, and as long as you can ignore glaring editorial mistakes and misses, you can enjoy reading one of her mysteries. I like the Abigail Timberlake series a bit more than Magdalena Yoder because Abigail is a little less abrasive, and I find there's not as much background repetition in these books like there is in the Penn-Dutch series. This book is a fun read as we see Abby coming home from a holiday to an empty shop (she was robbed while she was out of the country). So in order to regroup she and her wonderful friend CJ go to a manor house for a weekend of parlour games. They come across a truly disfunctional family, and while there the maid is found dead in her bed. This sends Abby on a quest to find a killer, since CJ has been arrested for the murder. The best part of this book is CJ herself. She's a wonderful character. The worst part is the ending. It seems hurried and doesn't make a lot of sense. But Abby unmasks the killer, and saves CJ so all's well that ends well. |
Middle of the road.
| Customer Rating: | | Tamar Myers, Baroque and Desperate (Avon, 1999) I've been an ambivalent fan of Tamar Myers for a while now. I'm never quite sure what I'm going to get with one of her books. I've finished Baroque and Desperate, the fourth Den of Antiquity mystery, and it's done nothing to change my perceptions either way. The book opens with fearless detective and antique shop owner Abigail Timberlake getting back into town after a vacation to find that the Den of Antiquity has been robbed. Well, robbed may not be the word for it; the shop is as clean as a whistle. Everything, including the cash register, the wastebaskets, and even the shelving is gone. Just as she's starting to wonder what's going to happen in her life, a guy sitting next to her on the plane home shows up at the store with a proposition. His grandmother, a very rich, very eccentric woman, has hidden an antique worth at least a hundred thousand dollars somewhere on her estate. He needs a professional eye to help him. Desperate for a quick buck to save the business, she agrees. (Don't worry, folks, the intrepid sidekick, not to mention Dmitri the cat, come along for the ride.) If you've read a Tamar Myers mystery before, you know what to expect. The wit is fresh, the puns are awful, the mystery is fun (albeit capped, always, with the annoying "ah, and here's how I did it!" section). She does go a bit overboard here with her descriptions of C.J.'s insanity (there must be at least four dozen variations on "one king short of a full deck" here, and it gets annoying after a while), but everything else seems to be clicking on all cylinders. So Baroque and Desperate ends up getting the same lukewarm recommend as most of Tamar Myers' catalogue. I keep waiting for the book that will push me one way or the other; looks like I'm going to continue waiting. *** |
Stylish, but lacking
| Customer Rating: | | There were many elements I enjoyed about this novel; the main one: the language. Author Tamar Myers has a wonderful sense of wordplay and wit that makes many passages a joy to read. However, in my opinion, this element detracts from the rather flimsy plot: returning home from a vacation, protagnist Abigail Timberlake finds her business -- the Den of Antiquity antique store -- burgled, and her finances in shambles. Depressed, she accepts an offer from Tradd Latham, part of an old Southern family with loads of money, not to mention the requisite odd relations, to join him for a possibly profitable adventure. The plot concerns a contest, in which participants have to find a specific antique hidden by the family matriarch. What's found first, however, is a dead body: the sluttish maid. Abigail's dim friend, CJ, confesses to the murder, and that sends Abigail, Tradd, and a host of other colorful characters looking for the real murderer. The resolution of the plot is standard, with the wit overshadowing everything (favorite witty moment: Tradd's number of children sprinkled throughout the community, referred to as 'Traddpoles'). Entertaining, but not for the hardcore mystery fan. |
'Desperate' is Delightful
| Customer Rating: | | Another page-turner by Ms. Myers, who has taken the top slot as my favorite author this past year. Abby takes part in a "find the missing antique" game weekend, given at a wealthy woman's mansion. Someone ends up dead, and poor "C.J." - an ongoing character who is at times hilarious - confesses. Abby meets a new boyfriend, quite different from the drop-dead gorgeous types she always seems to get - a character I hope remains in the series in whatever capacity is his fictional fate. It's starting to get just a little bit unbelievable that Abby keeps getting these fabulous looking guys one right after another. This deviation from her usual path makes it a little more down to earth. I have to say I don't like Abby as much as I do the heroine of Ms. Myers' "Pennsylvania Dutch" mysteries, Magdalena Yoder. She is a little on the nasty side more times than I care for. She gets sympathy for her husband having left her and taken everything from her. Maybe that's why Ms. Myers makes her a little tough. In any event, this book does not disappoint. It's worth every penny. |
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