Customer Reviews

Estate of Mind (Den of Antiquity)

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

 

 

Don't get me wrong I enjoyed this book. Tamar Myers has a wonderful sense of humor and a writing style that kept me interested in the mystery that was unfolding. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a lighthearted whimsical farce. But my enjoyment was eroded by the heroine's and her mother's wailing. I counted twenty instances where this word was used perhaps with the intent of providing a sound effect that was inappropriate or as a more colorful way of complaining. In either case, it didn't work; it distracted me from the story and made me want to scream "Shut up!" I blame the editor for this. An author who has been through several rewrites is bound to overlook word usage, especially when it seems correct to her. That wouldn't have been so bad but there is one glaring instance where the painting she had left in an oven at home suddenly appears under her arm. I had to go back and read where she left it in the oven again just to make sure I didn't miss something. But no she left it there. The painting under her arm was probably a remnant of a rewrite. The editor should have caught that. It weakened the story tremendously. And how many times do you have to hear that the heroine slept through the turning off of her alarm clock to explain why she slept late? I still liked the book. There is one interchange between the heroine and an author about humor writing which I found quite clever. Three stars could have easily jumped to five if not for the editing goofs.

I am a big fan of Tamar Myers. I eagerly snap up all of her books, both the Den of Antiquity series and the Penn Dutch mysteries. As usual, this book is superb. The characters are richly drawn and the story is a twister. A must read. It won't let you down.

This book, like the others in the Den of Antiquity Series, is a quick, light read. Yet, it seems that something is missing in this one. The plot sort of meanders and it plays for laughs instead of being a coherant whole. Abby and her mother go to an auction at her mother's church. Since the proceeds are to go towards a van for the youth of the church, Abby decides to participate. She buys a painting which she knows is a cheap imitation, but she likes the frame that it is in. She pulls the picture out of the frame in order to sell it to her ex-boyfriend and in doing so, she discovers a VanGogh masterpiece underneath it. There are a few shady characters who show up wherever Abby is, but no clear-cut suspects. Also, there are not the usual red herrings and twists and turns of the plot which Myers usually delivers. Her mother becomes almost a caricature in this novel and the humorous CJ is just a minor player. Also, she has used about as much mileage out of the character of Hooter as the law allows.

This is one of the "Den of Antiquity" series featuring the hilarious Abigail Timberlake as the tiny but powerful owner of an antiques store. It's set in modern-day North Carolina where some of the characters -- and I do mean characters -- are still hoping the South will win the Civil War. Abigail's sarcasm is the real joy here -- sometimes it's pretty acidic. But where Tamar Myers's constant humorous touches abound in this book as in her Pennsylvania Dutch series, some of the funnies here are in-jokes about other mystery series, and if you don't know about them, they fall flat. But who cares, what with the bitingly sarcastic Abby running all over North Carolina doing admittedly stupid things and yet ending up solving a crime. Or did she? Anyway, it got solved. And she and Mama came out OK! I believe the first in the series is "Larceny and Old Lace," but you don't need to read them in order. I never miss one of these! And here's a fun touch: This edition has a little taste of several other mystery writers at the end of the book. It's like a little appetizer for the mystery lover. .

I bought Tamar Myers' book because it was recommended to me first by Amazon.com because of my purchase history and then by the reader reviews. I was so disappointed that I didn't even finish the book. The characters I encountered were shallow and not very compelling. I found the writing to be silly and immature and the plot completely unbelievable. A woman finds a priceless painting and hides it in her oven? Give me a break. My advice; save your money for something worth reading.

I have come to really like this series but the author really needs to pay more attention to her overall story line. In this book the author claims that Abigail Timberlake inherited her antique shop from her aunt but anyone who read the leadoff book of the series knows that Abby already had her shop before the aunt in question dies. In the second book, the man who had inherited the shop had disappeared and Jane Cox, CJ to her friends, was in that shop. There was never any explanation as to how CJ got the shop but Abby certainly didn't inherit it. One wonders just how much attention Ms. Myers pays to her own stories. There are also several typographical and grammatical errors in this book that the editor most certainly should have fixed. Those I can live with but the inconstancies have to stop.

Beyond these problems, this is another fun mystery featuring the feisty Abigail Timberlake and her oddball friends and family. I always begin these books with a great deal of anticipation in regards to what Abby's mother will be up to in the new installment. This book finds her learning an African language so that she can go to Africa and be a missionary. She doesn't plan on going through her church or consulting the Bishop, she is just going to hop on a plane, fly to Africa and start doing missionary stuff. She finally agrees to at least talk to the Bishop who urges her to pray about it and in the end she decides that instead of being a missionary she will join a health club that masquerades as a sex emporium. Along the way she openly lusts after a young biker named Fred.

This story revolves around a very important and valuable painting that Abby buys at a church auction. The valuable painting is covered by a rather shabby fake but Abby buys it for the frame, only to discover the treasure she has once she gets home. Almost immediately, she finds herself being followed and watched by a guy named Mouse Trap among others, and once again, without waiting for the police to take action, Abby begins to investigate on her own. As normal, Abby stumbles and bumbles along, nearly gets killed, looses her cat to a catnapper, and only solves the mystery when the principles confess. While all of this is happening Abby manages to alienate all of her friends but CJ whom she sets up with a policeman who is, like CJ, from Shelby and who tells the same kind of scatterbrained stories.

Tamar Myers has a great talent for writing and for creating a wonderful set of characters. The mysteries are seldom the central focus of the plot but the story is so much fun that I seldom care. This book, like the previous ones in the series is great fun and often laugh out loud funny. No, this is not a deep scintillating mystery but it was never meant to be. It was meant to be a warm fuzzy mystery that is a load of fun, and that is exactly what it is.

Why do Tamar Myers' characters have to wail? What a whiny, annoying thing to keep writing. It's very distracting, since I have to roll my eyes every time I see it, which is often! Abby lets everyone walk all over her and stands around and wails. I'd have told Mama where to get off a long time ago. Yes, Magdalena Yoder from Myers' other series is mentioned here; a police officer is also named Yoder. Can't she find another name to use? Both Abby and Magdalena are the same character, or should I say caricature? One is huge and Mennonite, the other tiny and Southern Christian. Otherwise, indistinguishable from each other.
All that said, these are easy, quick reads and the stories are pretty fun. They'd get 5 stars if not for the irritating main characters!

Like many mysteries I have read lately, this had a good premise but fell down along the way. So the heroine is short - we get it. Please don't repeat it through every chapter. Makes me want to lock in her in a bathroom with a door handle taller than she can reach. The heroine finds a supposedly "real" Van Gogh painting which she puts in the worst places possible (an oven? her car in 90 degree heat? a bidet?) It makes you yearn for Abbot & Costello. The editing of this book was poor. The painting moves from the oven to Ms. Timberlake's arm without explanation. Her best friend can't make a popcorn garland for her Christmas tree as she eats her results before finishing yet in a later chapter she can't make the garland because she has a hard time getting the needle through the kernels of corn & has to be told to pop the corn first. The endless jokes about Southern girls in Charlotte & their upbringing were boring. No one has crinolines any more & if they do we should have a closet burning. The author knows how to turn a phrase but she should get a better editor, give her heroine some backbone & eliminate the heroine's mother. I gave this book 3 stars in case you want a book to read during an IRS audit. I'm getting tired of 3 star & less books.

When Abby buys a bad painting for the frame at a church auction, she discovers a Van Gogh underneath. Life isn't the same after that in this page-turner. Ms. Myers is in top form, with many new characters thrown into the plot pot, as well as the usual gang of family and friends. Lovable goof C.J. is matched up with a cop by Abby and Greg. As for Abby and Greg themselves - it's hard to tell where they're headed. I feel like shaking Abby and saying, "Wake up! He's a hunk - he loves you! What are you waiting for??" (I get involved.) Congratulations to Ms. Myers for another winner.

Estate of Mind is another marvelous entry in the Den of Antiquity series. Abigail Timberlake is at the top of her (tiny - g) form in this engaging mystery. Full of liveliness and wit, you can't miss with Abigail.