Customer Reviews

Baroque and Desperate (Den of Antiquity Mystery)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Tamar Myers' publisher needs to ease up on her schedule. This novel shows all the signs of having been written in haste and edited poorly (if at all). There are several pointless, not very humorous, scenes that appear to serve no purpose other than increasing the word count. And there must be at least two dozen variations on the metaphor for a person's not being very bright: e.g., "two sandwiches short of a picnic", etcetera ad nauseum. In general, I like the fast pace and loopiness of the Den of Antiquity series, but this book could be a lot better.

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. ***

Abigail Timberlake, owner of the Den of Antiquity, has her store robbed of all of its contents. A timely offer from Tradd, the handsome son of a wealthy family, includes a request for her presence at his grandmother's house to help advise him about her antiques during the course of a family game. She becomes acquainted with Tradd's siblings, none of whom appear to approve of her appearance in their game. Before long there is a murder, and Abby is in the middle of finding out which member of this avaricious family is responsible. In this book, author Myers continues to develop the characters of C.J., Abby's neighboring antique store owner, who is famous for her long, pointless stories, and Abby's mother who rebounds from her unsuccessful attempt to become a nun in the last book, to finding a holy image in Abby's store. Again, Myers creates a humorous and enjoyable book and manages to have the murderer be the one you would least expect.

This series tickles me almost as much as the PennDutch series. Different flavor, same nutritional values. I howled over the nightmare in the opening scene where our heroine is forced to drink diet pop instead of sweet tea and threatened with cornbread that has sugar in it. One mistake caught my eye. The Biltmore has not ever been and is not now a public property. It is owned by the grandson of the man who built it. It is run as a very much for profit business. They (the Cecil family, Bill's momma was Cornelia Vanderbilt)pride themselves that they have never received a penny of either state or federal funding to keep the old pile from falling down. Of course, some of the things they have done in the way of maintenance would make a curator cringe but that's their business. At any rate - Ms. Myer really should have verified that piece of information before going to press.

Abigail Timberlake has worked hard to pick up the pieces since her husband left her for a younger woman with bigger assets. Abby's antique shop, the Den of Antiquity, is successful, her children are safely in college, and her on-again, off-again relationship with gorgeous Charlotte detective Greg Washburn is...well, things can only get better. She deserves a vacation, so Abby goes on a fun-filled cruise for ten days, only to discover, upon her return, that burglars have cleaned out her shop, and her mother seems to be seeing holy images on the walls. But before she breaks down, Abby receives an invitation from rich, handsome Tradd Maxwell Burton. His grandmother, matriarch of the famous Latham family, hosts an annual treasure hunt in her palatial Georgetown home, and Tradd wants Abby to help him find the priceless antique his grandmother has hidden. Abby and her friend, CJ, drive to the Latham Family Plantation, where they are met by various members of the family, all hoping to discover the missing artifact. After all the rules are explained, the contestants turn in for the night, but awaken next morning to find that Flora, the ill-tempered maid, has been murdered, and CJ's fingerprints are all over the murder weapon. Abby must find a way to clear her friend's name and win the treasure hunt. But the Latham family seems determined to keep both events from happening. Baroque and Desperate is the fifth in the Den of Antiquity series, and it's even better than the ones before. Abigail Timberlake, reluctant heroine and owner of the Den, is colorful and charming. While sometimes too curious for her own good, she never intends to get into trouble - it just seems to fall in her lap. Good thing it's her lap, because Abby alone handles each calamity with grace and skill, using her familiarity with antiques to get to the bottom of thing every time. While Abby is busy following each problem to its conclusion, she is accompanied by her eccentric friends and neighbors - CJ, who has a story for every situation; Wynnell, a self-declared clothing designer; the Rob-Bobs, fellow antiquers and exotic chefs; and of course, the handsome, but elusive, Greg of the Wedgewood eyes. One of my favorite bits of this novel was the subplot concerning Abby's mother and the miraculour vision on the wall. While hysterically funny, the circumstances surrounding the appearance of the vision were completely realisitc, especially for our region. Tamar Myers is truly a master of the cozy mystery. She has a delightfully wicked way with a pun, which makes each book fun to read, and her light touch and vivid description entices the reader further, turning pages faster and faster, reaching the end much too soon. Don't let this one get away from you!

Loved it! I've read all the books in this series and this is the best one yet. The author's familiarity with the region and the people is obvious. Her characterizations are wonderful, and the humor is guaranteed to brighten my day. I'm already looking forward to the next one. Keep up the good work, Ms. Myers.

Although I normally find this an entertaining and fun series, this book was a disappointment. It was setting up to be a cozy "locked-door" mystery, when it suddenly took a turn in a different and inexplicable direction. I have to agree with the other reviewers that the constant references to C.J.'s intelligence were annoying, unnecessary, and distracting. The conclusion wasn't earth-shattering or even satisfying, but I won't give up on the series because of this one weak entry.

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.

I've never written in about an author before, but I have to now -- Tamar Myers has done it again! "Baroque..." is another 'can't-put-it-down' mystery. Her excellent writing style and great sense of humor had me chuckling all the way through Abby's treasure hunt at the Latham mansion. (And I learned a bit about antiques along the way! Always a bonus!) How do you keep doing it, Tamar? I wish both her book series ('Amish' and 'Antiques') would come out more often -- it's hard to wait between publishings. (And I'm particularly anxious to see her African story at the booksellers sometime soon.) Keep it up, Tamar!

Abby Timberlake returns from a cruise to find that the Den of Antiquity has been cleaned out by burglars. Her mother finds a bright spot, a supposed image of an angel on one of the very empty walls. Abby has no time for this nonsense, having been invited by a young hunk with a Jag on a sort of treasure hunt in the low counrty. CJ is invited along to help his brother. Alas, a slutty maid ends up dead and CJ confesses to the crime. Abby knows her looney friend couldn't kill anyone and sets out to prove it.

This mystery provides the usual weird cast of characters, pluse a whole new bunch of crazies. Georgetown makes Charlotte seem sane. This mystery is alot of fun, I didn't even care who committed the crime.