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North Carolina native Abigail Timberlake, owner of the Den of Antiquity, is quick to dismiss the seller of a hideous old vase--until the poor lady comes hurtling back through the shop window minutes later, the victim f a fatal hit-and-run.

Tall, dark, and handsome Homicide Investigator Greg Washburn--who just happens to be Abby's boyfriend--is frustrated by conflicting accounts from eyewitnesses. And he's just short of furious with his ever-loving, when he learns it was a valuable Ming vase, and Abby let it vanish from the crime scene. Abby decides she had better find out for herself what happened to the treasure--and to the lady who was dying to get rid of it.

It turns out the victim had a lineage that would make a Daughter of the Confederacy green with envy, and her connection with the historic old Roselawn Plantation makes that a good place to start sleuthing. Thanks to her own mama's impeccable southern credentials, Abby is granted an appointment with the board members--but no one gives her permission to snoop. And digging into the long-festering secrets of a proud family of the Old South turns out to be a breach of good manners that could land Abby six feet under in the family plot.

North Carolina native Abigail Timberlake, owner of the Den of Antiquity, is quick to dismiss the seller of a hideous old vase--until the poor lady comes hurtling back through the shop window minutes later, the victim f a fatal hit-and-run.

Tall, dark, and handsome Homicide Investigator Greg Washburn--who just happens to be Abbys boyfriend--is frustrated by conflicting accounts from eyewitnesses. And hes just short of furious with his ever-lovin, when he learns it was a valuable Ming vase, and Abby let it vanish from the crime scene. Abby decides she had better find out for herself what happened to the treasure--and to the lady who was dying to get rid of it.

It turns out the victim had a lineage that would make a Daughter of the Confederacy green with envy, and her connection with the historic old Roselawn Plantation makes that a good place to start sleuthing. Thanks to her own mamas impeccable southern credentials, Abby is granted an appointment with the board members--but no one gives her permission to snoop. And digging into the long-festering secrets of a proud family of the Old South turns out to be a breach of good manners that could land Abby six feet under in the family plot.

Average Customer Rating:

I will not read again	Customer Rating:
The character is shallow and ignorant. I also don't appreciate the yankee jokes. It was distasteful and stuck in the past with a war that's been over for so long that Yankees don't care until they meet the southeners who make it an issue. It was not funny and the social climbing was also stuck in the past. I will not read this author again.

Easy to read	Customer Rating:
Funny and easy to read.Little bit of culture about the South,enough to make me decide to go visit next fall.Loved all the charactere.

Mozella Wiggins Goes Cow Tipping

Customer Rating:

Mozella doesn't actually go cow tipping but she wants to. She also wants to get a tattoo on her fanny, one that consists of a heart with Lawrence Welk's name inside of it. Mozella is the mother of Abigail Wiggins Timberlake, who is the heroine of this series and her mother's quirks are just a small part of what makes this book and it's predecessors so delightfully fun to read. Abigail owns an antique shop named the Den of Antiquity and she seems to always find her way into dangerous situations. This book starts out with a little lady trying to sell Abigail an ugly gray vase. Abigail declines and a few seconds after the lady leaves the shop she flies back in by way of the window, having been struck by a hit and run driver. A short time later the vase is discovered in her shop by one of the Rob-Bobs, owners of another antique shop near by. The Rob-Bobs immediately recognize the vase for what it is and after a little cleaning a rare Ming vase appears. Then the vase disappears and then it reappears again. This vase travels more than Jimmy Carter does. Not having the patience to wait for her policeman boyfriend and his fellow officers to figure out what is going on, Abigail starts to investigate on her own. As in the previous books, she is about as subtle as a chain saw and ends up in terrible danger. Along the way she hears the legend of the Yankee soldier that was killed at the plantation that the trail of clues have led her to. She actually meets the soldier's ghost as do her mama and her friend CJ. The whole scene reminded me of a scene on the "Andy Griffith Show" when Barney and Gomer were confronted by a floating ax while inside a haunted house. In the end, Abigail figures out the answer to the mystery, although how she did it was never really explained. Still, the mystery in question is enticing and the book is laugh out loud funny at times. The new characters introduced in this book will be quite familiar to any resident of the South and the returning characters are just as fun and charming as can be. Abigail is still a little more brash than most Southern women but she tries very hard to be the Southern lady her mother brought her up to be. Now if she can just talk her mama out of getting that tattoo.

Formula, but fun.

Customer Rating:

This book was a bit predictable, but it was still funny, and I still enjoy Abigail. She's a lot of fun, and she still makes me laugh. Her description of her conversation with "Maynard" in this book is hilarious. In this book, someone is run over right in front of Abby's shop. This happens just after the woman had left her shop after unsuccessfully trying to interest her in an ugly gray vase. Anyway pursuit of this particular murder puts Abby shoulder-to-shoulder with the creme de la creme of Rock Hill population. She gets in a bunch of scrapes and a few more bodies turn up before Abby solves the mystery of the old Roselawn plantation.

Predictable but fun anyway

Customer Rating:

As the third book in the Den of Antiquity Series, The Ming and I will not disappoint fans of the first two books. The same characters we loved in Gilt By Association are back as is the humor. Unfortunetly, I think Myers had a few too many characters in this installment just as she did with the first. It became a little confusing around the middle of the book to keep track of who was who. The good part though is that the regular characters are even more fun than before. Abigail's June Cleaver-like mother, Mozella is developed more in this book and with wonderful results. The "Rob-Bobs" supply us with their usual knowledge and humor and CJ is there to keep our eyes rolling and heads shaking. The mystery itself is a little too predictable even with so many extra characters. The ending seemed almost like the ending of an episode of Scooby-Doo. The sleuthing in Gilt By Association is much better than this one. What saves this book from becoming blah is the sense of humor. The laughs are even bigger in The Ming and I than they were before. There is a classic scene with Abigail, Mozella and CJ in a haunted house that was so funny, I had to read it again. Whether or not you enjoyed the first two books in this series, make sure you read The Ming and I. The Den of Antiquity Series get better (and funnier) with each installment.