Killer Stuff (Jane Wheel Mysteries, No. 1) [Mass Market Paperback]

Sharon Fiffer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 2002

In this dynamite series debut, Sharon Fiffer has introduced an engaging and enterprising heroine in Jane Wheel. Recently laid off from her advertising job, separated from her husband Charley, and colliding head-on with a midlife crisis, Jane is trying to make ends meet as an antique "picker" foraging for killer stuff at suburban Chicago's estate sales and auctions, garage sales and flea markets.

Before long she's addicted to the hunt, spending her Friday nights with the classified ads and a street map, outlining her weekend plan of attack. Jane knows that finding the real treasures is all about being in the right place at the right time.

But just as she's settling in to her new routine, Jane finds herself in just the wrong place and at quite the wrong time: stumbling over her neighbor Sandy's dead body. Soon she's the prime suspect. After all, everyone on the block seems to have seen her kissing Sandy's husband at a recent dinner party. Leaning on her best friend Tim, a flower shop owner and fellow junk hound, as well as Evanston police detective Bruce Oh, Jane has no choice but to hunt for the truth. Hopefully her knack for uncovering valuables in the least likely of places will extend to discovering clues as well. Like the vintage postcards, Bakelite buttons, and Fulper lamps that she dreams of finding, to Jane the truth just might be priceless.

Sharon Fiffer's mystery debut is a fabulously entertaining read and an intriguing puzzle featuring a heroine that's a dynamic mix of Miss Marple, Kinsey Millhone, and Leigh and Leslie Keno.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After making their way through this engaging debut mystery, readers will be scrounging through their attics looking for neglected treasures of all kinds. Jane Wheel, recently laid off from her PR job and separated from her professor husband, is making ends meet by foraging through garage and estate sales, flea markets and the odd auction in search of "killer stuff." Jane often borrows her neighbor Sandy's Suburban so she can haul her finds home, but after one trip she returns to find Sandy dead. Since too many people caught Jane sharing a furtive kiss with Sandy's husband at a dinner party months before, she fears the neighbors will consider her the prime suspect in the murder. Luckily, Chicago homicide detective Bruce Oh seems to have an open mind, and when Jane discovers a second corpse, as well as a peculiar object used in the murder, Oh is willing to let Jane employ her special expertise in the sleuthing. Aided by best friend Tim, a gay antiques dealer, Jane persists in her dual hunts for the killer and for overlooked bargains. Jane's casual attitude toward her estrangement from her husband might be off-putting to some, but her addiction to Bakelite and other unusual relics of the American past will endear her to many cozy readers, especially those who are fans of TV's Antiques Roadshow. The publisher would have done better to create a dust jacket that makes this connection clear, however; the bland design of what appear to be two rings, one large, one small, certainly won't help.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Readers whose idea of heaven is picking through boxes of junk at a dusty flea market are certain to love this entertaining first novel starring Chicagoan Jane Wheel, who's facing a midlife crisis after having been laid off from her advertising job and separated from her husband. As someone with McCoy flower pots and vintage dish towels in her kitchen and a stack of old fiber suitcases in her living room, Jane can think of no better therapy than working as a "picker" for an antiques dealer. Being able to spot an item of value among a mound of junk is a nice analogy for a criminal investigation, and Jane finds her antiquing skills helpful when a neighbor is murdered. Thanks to an untrue rumor that Jane was having an affair with the victim's husband, she finds herself a prime suspect. The world of antiques and collectibles provides the clues as the plot takes the reader from estate sales to auctions (a Fulper lamp drives the unexpected cllimax). An auspicious debut featuring a popular pastime. - Stuart Miller
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (September 16, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312983700
• ISBN-13: 978-0312983703
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,537,458 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

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Killer Read!, September 14, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Killer Stuff (Jane Wheel Mysteries, No. 1) (Hardcover)

What separates this novel from others in the genre is that the writing is so superb. Also, what happens around the plot (the flea market material) is fascinating enough on its own. I'd recommend this book to anyone from those accustomed to reading more literary fiction to anybody wanting a brisk, satisfying entertainment. I look forward to how this author will let her character unfold. This is one I could hang with for ten years at least!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I'm off to hunt Bakelite and glass frogs!, November 30, 2001

By 

Patricia O'Tuama "rissa" (Illinois) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Killer Stuff (Jane Wheel Mysteries, No. 1) (Hardcover)

This book was very favorably reviewed on our local (Chicago) NPR station which is what prompted me to read it. I liked it a great deal, it's beautifully written, the characters come alive, the mystery is definitely mysterious and all the bits and pieces of pottery and postcards and vases and embroidered tea towels that make up Jane's life are wonderfully detailed. I learned a lot from this book, in particular, how to figure out which garage and estate sales to avoid and which ones might have "killer stuff," as well as how to organize my searching.

I was a bit disappointed with the ending, however. I don't want to give away anything but I found the some of the motives for the various crimes to be rather implausible. They are woven together well and there is a delightful twist at the end of the book, but it just didn't seem realistic. I also think we aren't told enough about Jane's character -- we get all kinds of tantalizing hints into her psyche but having finished the book, I still don't understand why she rejected her husband (or, alternatively, why she was unable to balance her family with her "picking").

That said, I sure hope this is the start of a series of books featuring Jane Wheel, although I'd be more than happy to buy any books Sharon Fiffer writes.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Help! I'm in love!, August 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Killer Stuff (Jane Wheel Mysteries, No. 1) (Hardcover)

This book was just pure and solid fun from the first word.This mystery writer has not forgotten her obligation to the reader: to make the time spent between the covers of a book a sheer delight. The personalities in this book -- both major characters and minor -- are so well detailed and so deeply human that for me, they rivaled the joy of unspinning the mystery itself. Fiffer is truly destined for more writing and I am destined for more reading. A splendiforous acheivement. Viva!