Buried Stuff: A Jane Wheel Mystery [Mass Market Paperback]

Sharon Fiffer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2005

THE WORLD'S LARGEST GARAGE SALE...MURDER INCLUDED
Antiques picker Jane Wheel is going home, back to Kankakee, Illinois. In this little town that time forgot, a farmer friend of Jane's parents has dug up some mysterious old bones and relics. Jane just has to take a look, and she's bringing her husband and son along. The whole family plans to camp out in a cornfield and have a rip-roaring good time. And the added bonus? Kankakee is about to host the biggest town garage sale, ever. Every block will be filled with the great stuff that is one man's junk, but another man's treasure--McCoy, Bakelite, vintage clothes, Depression glass, Griswold frying pans. What could possibly go wrong? A murder on the old man's farm, just for starters...and development plans for Kankakee that spell trouble. That's Trouble, with a capital T.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Jane Wheel is trying to survive a disastrous garage sale designed to rid her house of the less desirable items she has gathered as an antiques picker. Fortunately, a call from her parents ends the sale, and Jane and her family head to Kankakee, Illinois, to help an old family friend, Fuzzy Neilson, who has discovered what appear to be human remains on his property. Jane's husband, Charley, is a geologist, and Fuzzy wants his help dealing with various government officials who have descended on the farm. The murder of an investigative reporter follows the discovery of the remains, and Jane attempts to determine why he was killed. While investigating the murder, she also helps a friend plan the world's largest garage sale, which is intended to help revitalize Kankakee. Quirky characters, intriguing family relationships, antique lore, and the history of Kankakee are all entwined in this entertaining mystery, the fourth in a series. Sue O'Brien
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"We get in abundance...what we came in for: a taste of a quickly vanishing small-town American past." --Chicago Tribune

"Quirky characters, intriguing family relationships, antique lore, and the history of Kankakee are all entwined in this entertaining mystery." --Booklist

"Charming." --Publishers Weekly

"Fiffer's plotting is on the upswing." --Kirkus Reviews

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312989512
• ISBN-13: 978-0312989514
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,702,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Memoir led to mystery for writer Sharon Fiffer

Before finding her inner Nancy Drew,Fiffer co-edited three collections of literary memoirs: Home, Family, and Body.

Editing the memoirs of others prompted her to write about her own childhood--growing up in the EZ Way Inn, her parents' tavern in Kankakee, Illinois. When she began creating the character of antiques picker and scavenger, Jane Wheel, she decided to merge her own memories with those of her fictional heroine, giving Jane a giant helping of her Kankakee childhood.

"It's great fun to rewrite one's childhood and work out all the humor and glitches and heartbreaks of being a grown-up daughter while also struggling to be a mother, a wife, a professional, and a friend. It's also fun to shop at garage sales, rummage sales, flea markets and estate sales--all in the name of research."

Sharon Fiffer admits to having a few collections of her own, but is happy to work out any obsessions with Bakelite buttons, crocheted potholders and vintage sterling silver charm bracelets on the pages of her novels.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Mystery!, December 3, 2004

By 

Robert Bissell "robertbissell" (Northampton, Ma United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Buried Stuff (Jane Wheel Mysteries, No. 4) (Hardcover)

Sharon Fiffer has created a terrific mystery. I've read each of the Jane Wheel books - this is the best yet. Absorbing plot. Excellent use of language and description. Artfully developed characters - they're all quite believable, yet each is quirky in some entertaining way. We've all known a "Nellie" - someone we're in love with one moment and would like to strangle the next. Then there is the unflappable Detective Oh, and his elegant wife, Claire. And Jane's family relationships (with husband Charley, and son Nick) are portrayed in considerable depth and with just the right amount of humor. The story moves quickly along, and the mystery keeps the reader guessing until the end. Mystery lovers should not miss this book. I believe there will be more Jane Wheel editions in our future - and I am thankful for that!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All about the stuff we bury, August 24, 2006

By 

valentine03 (Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Buried Stuff (Jane Wheel Mysteries, No. 4) (Hardcover)

Sharon Fiffer's Stuff series does indeed keep getting better. Heroine Jane Wheel doesn't think there's a lot to her, but we're all the product of our "stuff"--our parents, our histories, our artifacts--and Jane finds out a little bit more about how her stuff is arranged in this mystery that takes her back to her hometown of Kankakee and her friend Tim's all-city garage sale.

Fiffer's got some important things to say about popular culture and personal needs, and she makes it a fun, yet thoughtful, read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars So NOT in keeping with the first books in the series, April 4, 2006

By 

Ms. Honest Opinion (WDM, IA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Buried Stuff: A Jane Wheel Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

The first several books in this series were amazing, wonderful, really creative. This one lagged in a lot of places, was confusing in some and just plain NOT a very good read. I bought it with high hopes, and got rid of it immediately afterwards, definitely NOT worth rereading. I sure hope the new one is back to her old style!