Dead Guy's Stuff [Hardcover]

Sharon Fiffer (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 307 pages
• Publisher: New York, New York, U.S.A.: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (October 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312278225
• ISBN-13: 978-0312278229
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,361,596 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

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I wish it were summer..., February 23, 2003

By 

Corinne H. Smith (Athol, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Dead Guy's Stuff (Hardcover)

...so I could run off to garage sales and flea markets like Jane Wheel does! That's the hazard of reading Sharon Fiffer's series during the dead of winter. If you've ever been even temporarily addicted to sifting through other people's wretched refuse, you know what Jane's weekends are like, and you know what her house looks like. You might even know the touch of Bakelite, or feel your heart a-poundin' as you thumb through a box of old discarded photos and papers. It may sound awful or silly to the unexperienced picker, but the sights and sounds and smells of this diversion are wonderfully portrayed in these mysteries. In most instances in real life, you don't find EXACTLY the same things Jane does. (Thank goodness!) Read the books; they're almost like being there.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Stuff, September 18, 2002

By 

Gail Duberchin - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead Guy's Stuff (Hardcover)

Sharon Fiffer's DEAD GUY'S STUFF is a smart, funny and satisfying must read. Fiffer's weaving of family, career and murder is impeccable and lots of fun. By twists and turns the story is jampacked with surprises and revelations about life that tickle the reader's funny bone while at the same time evoking the deep "Aha" that makes reading a story so satisfying. I can't wait until the next book comes out so I can learn more secrets about Jane Wheel and everyone whose life she touches.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Absolute Must Have for Mystery Lovers!, April 16, 2003

By 

Silmarwen (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Dead Guy's Stuff (Hardcover)

Dead Guy's Stuff continues the story of Jane Wheel (Killer Stuff), an antique "picker" who has made a career of going through old stuff and finding treasures to sell to dealers. However, Jane is not that successful yet because she has a hard time letting go of her finds and she has a tendency to buy memories instead of valuable items, such as Elmira's old schoolwork. Needless to say, Jane is ecstatic when she finds a whole room of 1950s saloon ephemera - just what she needs to redecorate her mother and father's tavern in Kankakee. She loves the Bakelite darts and dice, advertisements from long-defunct liquor suppliers, old bar games, bowling trophies, old photographs and a severed finger in a jar? Jane immediately calls her friend Detective Oh and asks him what she should do. Oh graciously comes over and takes a look, but, while a little macabre, it isn't as if Jane found a dead body or anything. So Jane tucks the finger away in the glove compartment of her car and heads for home to redecorate. There she finds the dead body of her parents' former landlord - with a finger that is almost completely cut off. Jane is positive that there is a link between her finger and the dead guy. Now she just has to find it while dealing with her parent's attempts to keep their past secret, decorating her friend Tim's kitchen for a house show, rooting through the dead guy's three houses of stuff, her mother's kidnapping, her friend's suicide and a fascinating group of little old ladies...

Once again, Sharon Fiffer has presented readers with an absolutely fabulous book. Those who were captivated by her attention to detail and great characters in Killer Stuff will not be disappointed with this follow up. Again, there are great details about antiques and collectibles, as well as fascinating glimpses into small town life in Kankakee. Jane Wheel's associations with her fellow characters are always entertaining and her mother is a real kick. Don't wait for this one to come out in paperback - it is well worth the cost of the hardbound price!