Double Dealer: A Bert and Nan Tatum Mystery [Paperback]

Barbara Taylor McCafferty (Author), Beverly Taylor Herald (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Twin authors McCafferty and Herald are up to form in another lively adventure featuring sisters Bert and Nan, namesakes of one pair of Bobbsey twins. When Bert's daughter Ellie confesses to shooting flea-market dealer Franklin Haggerty, her mother and aunt are convinced she's covering up for someone. But who? The girl seems to be enamored with Chris, another flea-market dealer, but she isn't so smitten that she would take such a foolish step, or would she? When the police, convinced they have their killer, make sure she stays in jail, Bert and Nan decide to do a little sleuthing on their own to prove Ellie's innocence. They discover that the deceased had no shortage of enemies; he apparently cheated just about everyone he could, misrepresenting his wares, under-bidding his fellow dealers and even blackmailing people unlucky enough to have left sensitive personal items in furniture he acquired. Puzzled by Chris's lack of scruples about leaving Ellie in jail, they learn that the young man feels robbed of his rightful inheritance. A chest sold to Haggerty may have contained a will entitling Chris to half his late foster parents' estate. Was Haggerty withholding the will from Chris--or did Chris's adoptive sister, who rejects his claim, shoot the man and steal the will? In their search for answers, Bert and Nan give readers plenty of thrills as well as an entertaining glimpse into the lives of identical twins. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Double Dealer ($20.00; Feb.; 256 pp.; 1-57566-507-7) Those irrepressible twins, Nan and Bert Tatum, are up to their identical necks in murder again. The victim now is antiques dealer Franklin Haggerty, whose business practices are as sharp as his temper; the leading suspect is Bert's daughter Ellie, who'd swapped legally charged accusations with him; and the range of whimsical/threatening/didactic adventures among the crowd of antique suspects is just what you'd expect from Nan and Bert's first three cases (Double Cross, 1998, etc.). -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Kensington; Reprint edition (December 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575666421
• ISBN-13: 978-1575666426
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 3.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #239,524 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun and Witty Suspense, January 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Double Dealer: A Bert and Nan Tatum Mystery (Bert & Nan Tatum Mysteries) (Hardcover)

These twins will keep you in stitches! It is rare to find a good mystery that keeps you in suspense and smiling at the same time. I have read all of the twin books and Barbara's other series, and I haven't been disappointed yet.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A double delight!, July 19, 2000

By 

Brenda "MYSHELFDOTCOM" (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Double Dealer: A Bert and Nan Tatum Mystery (Bert & Nan Tatum Mysteries) (Hardcover)

This is an enjoyable cozy with an unforgettable cast of characters who will ingratiate themselves in to your heart and onto your keeper shelf. I realize there is nothing funny about murder but the way these two go about solving it you can't help but chuckle from time to time.

Bert and Nan Tatum, whose mother named after them after the Bobbsey twins, Nan and Beatrice, are soon to be forty, identical twins and a one of a kind sleuthing team. Their mysteries take place in Louisville Kentucky, home of Six Flags Over Kentucky Kingdom and the Gigantic Flea Market.

In this the third Nan and Bert mystery, the twins, against their better wishes, return to sleuthing in order to find out who killed a unsavory flea market booth owner. When this mystery hits too close to home Nan worries as she watches her genteel twin sister change before her very eyes. Bert's maternal instincts transform her from a kind, sensitive woman to a protective mother with an agenda, the agenda being, to keep her daughter Ellie out of prison and to catch the murderer who is making her family suffer.

The plot is strong and current; in fact the contemporary atmosphere is so up to date that even Monica Lewinsky gets a mention. The mystery is hard to solve and the authors exercise good timing when introducing the suspects. As the ladies sleuth, the reader is entertained by their identical yet individual personalities.

Mystery readers, especially cozy fans, if you haven't read a Nan and Bert Tatum Mystery you are in for a double treat.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Double your laughs as well as your fun, February 21, 2000

By 

Doris Ann Norris (Fostoria, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Double Dealer: A Bert and Nan Tatum Mystery (Bert & Nan Tatum Mysteries) (Hardcover)

"Double Dealer" is the best yet in the superb series featuring bright and witty identical twins, Bert and Nan Tatum. In this episode, featuring a Louisville flea market, mother Bert and Aunt Nan have to find the real killer of a sleazy dealer. They are driven to the detecting game by the fact that Bert's daughter has been arrested for the murder. The mystery is good, the characters are three dimensional and the dialogue sparkles. If you haven't met the Tatums, you will want to read the others in the series as well.