Customer Reviews

Larceny and Old Lace (Den of Antiquity)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This first in Ms. Myers' "Den of Antiquity" series was the most fun I've had reading since I finished her last book of her other series. Abby Timberlake is the owner of an antique shop in the south. When her aunt is murdered, she sets about to find the killer. You don't want to read ahead, because that would mean missing out on Ms. Myers' sparkling wit and humor that peppers each page. The reading goes fast since it's a page-turner, and the time spent is truly a relaxing, enjoyable escape. I won't even complain about the price of paperbacks with a book like this. Worth every penny. I've read all of Ms. Myers' Penn-Dutch mysteries. I was happy to see that this series is quite unlike her other. Characters are different, more liberal and not as restrained because of their religion as in the Penn-Dutch books. The plot was thick enough, and the killer a real surprise. A pure pleasure.

I was already reading Myers' Penn Dutch Inn Series when I began this one. The Den of Antiquity series begins with Larceny and Old Lace. After reading this first book in the series, I was hooked and almost lost interest in the other series.

I do not have a whole lot of knowledge or interest in antiques. I was not too sure if I would be able to keep up with that aspect of the story. As it turns out, you don't have to have either to enjoy this book. For antique buffs, you should enjoy the references and descriptions of the many antiques mentioned in Larceny and Old Lace. For those of us with little or no interest in antiques, Myers does an excellant job of not talking over our heads and bogging us down. The only complaint is that there are just a few too many characters so it is hard to get to know some of them. This is not all that uncommon with books that are the first in a series. If you continue to read the series, you will become more familiar with and, I think, grow to love the characters that are the major players in Abigail's life. So just be patient with this first book. The best thing about Larceny and Old Lace and the others in the series is the sense of humor. If you are like me, I enjoy mysteries that are not very complex and that will make you laugh. I have read many different series by various authors and have found Tamar Myers has the best sense of humor out of all of them. When you are done, you will remember the wonderful main characters, interesting story and laugh-out-loud humor. This is a series that only gets better as it goes. Start with Larceny and Old Lace and move ahead to Gilt By Association.

Abigail Timberlake is building a new life for herself after her divorce from Buford, who has run off with a woman named Tweetie. She has opened a place called the Den of Antiquity in her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. Her life is turned upside-down when her Aunt Eulonia Wiggins is found strangled to death by an antique bellpull. Immediate suspects are members of the Selwyn Avenue Antique Dealers Association of which Abilgail and her aunt are members. Eventually the suspect list grows to include a suspicious stranger who slips Abigail a fish with a threatening note attached. She pursues the woman and finds a solution to the murder which neither she nor the reader suspects. This is a light and humorous read, which I recommend.

Abigail Timberlake runs an antique store called Den of Antiquity, which she sometimes refers to as as a den of "iniquity". She is surrounded by a cast of interesting characters, her mama who resembles June Cleaver, her Aunt Marilyn Monroe who claims to have been the inspiration for a more well known Marilyn Monore, her on again off again friend Greg Washburn who resembles Gary Grant in more ways than one, and an eclectic group of antique store owners in Charlotte, North Carolina. I enjoyed this first in a series of four (so far) books by Ms Myers. It was hard to put it down. I recommend it to everyone.

I didn't much care for the plot of this story or the boiler plate murder mystery formula, and wish that the author would spend more time on the storyline, but I sure like the character. I liked the fact that she was making a new life for herself after her snake of a husband leaves her for a younger model.

I've read all of this author's Penn-Dutch mysteries and liked them. I'm looking forward to reading more Den of Antiquity mysteries.

I like the wit and dry humor of Tamar Myers...she makes me laugh out loud...

Enjoy!

I've been reading Tamar Myers since her first book. Both the "Den of Antiquity" and "Pennsylvania Dutch" mystery series are a hoot from start to finish. Buy her back-list while you still can!

I agree that the dialogue is humorous, but there were some flaws that drove me crazy. First of all, I've never seen a bell pull that was narrow and flexible enough to strangle anyone. Then Abigail says she got a customer's phone number when she charged a purchase--later she says the woman always pays cash. The cover blurb says the aunt had a lace collection, when she actually had only one priceless piece. And of course we know where it was hidden, because that's rather obvious. And how did the murderer get it? Some of the writers that Myers admires, Aaron Elkins and Nevada Barr, do a better job with the details that make a good mystery. Mistakes like hers are very distracting.

To be perfectly honest, I picked this book up because I liked the cover. I was looking for another mystery series to start and this one simply caught my eye. I was not disappointed.

Being the first book in the Den of Antiquity series much of this book is taken up in introducing the reader to the cast of characters and the setting. The setting being an antique district in Charlotte, North Carolina and the heroine's hometown of Rock Hill, South Carolina. Having been to both locations on several occasions I didn't need much of an introduction here. The heroine in question is Abigail Timberlake, a mid-forties divorced mother of two who owns an antique shop from which the series takes it's name. Among the other characters are Abigail's Aunt Marilyn, who claims that Marilyn Monroe stole her persona and a cop whom Abigail lusts after through the whole book. Her fellow antique dealers include a retired Army Major who has a pair of Hitler's pajamas for sale, a lady who blames all crimes in the area on the swarms of Yankees that have descended on the South, a Bible thumping Pentecostal who can't stand Abby's Episcopalian Faith, and a gay Jewish guy who's sister dresses like a woolly worm.

The mystery begins when Abigail's elderly Aunt Eulonia is murdered and only gets deeper when Abby finds out that her aunt was hiding something very valuable. One of the beauties of this story is that the main character does not consider herself an amateur sleuth at all but only butts in to defend a friend that is charged with the murder. Unfortunately she almost gets killed in her effort but she does find the real killer. She makes the discovery by pure accident and the solution came as a huge surprise to her and to me also for that matter.

Myers does a wonderful job of giving this story the flavor of the South and if your not careful you may just start craving grits. There is even a discussion of that great nemesis of all Southerners, kudzu. If you have ever been in the South you have seen kudzu, whether you knew it was kudzu or not. If you have stood still in the wrong place for more than ten minuets this vine from Hades has probably swallowed you up. There is a lot of humor in this book, like the dissertation on kudzu and I found myself laughing out loud on several occasions. The writing is clear and crisp but I did get lost in the dialogue a time or two.

I think that I have found a series that I am going to like very much but I would suggest to the author that Abby stop calling people Buster. I have never ever heard a Southern woman call someone Buster, unless of course that was his real name.

I started reading "Larceny and Old Lace " after finishing all of the books in the Pennsylvania Dutch series.
Although Magdalena and Abigail are as different as night and day, both have spunk, are funny and make great heroines for these cozy reads. Tamar Myers' style is definitely present in all its glory.
The only thing I was struggling with is the fact that one of the characters seems to change names about three quarters through the book: The slightly annoying, numbers crunching fellow antiques dealer Gretchen is suddenly referred to as Heather. Did I miss something or is this a serious oversight on behalf of Tamar Myers' proofreaders?
Despite this little flaw, I loved this book and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
Highly recommended to cozy mysery fans.

I had REALLY wanted to like this book. I'm from the Rock Hill/Charlotte area and was charmed (in the beginning) by heavy local references, but I soon discovered that that in no way made up for the serious plot flaws, including mistakes in clue references (for example on suspect supposedly gives her phone and address info on a charge slip, then later one we're told "she always pays cash", sending you back pages trying to figure out if you dreamt up that bit of info), also, since when can you 'test for sweat', and even assuming that were possible, determine that the murderer was a 'post-menopausal female--when the victim was as well!.
What really burns me up is that at the end some complete stranger shows up; has nothing to do with the plot and saves the day, and you NEVER really understand what the heck the murderer was trying to do in the first place, or how it was done, or how the murderer came into possession of the (completely unusable) murder weapon. in fact, she had an accomplice who is never completely introduced and the ending comes so suddenly that NOTHING is tied up and explained, least of all the romantic interest who just sort of disappears, or how this antique expert has never seen or heard of the piece that the murder was committed over...
Just a really feeble book that tries to rely on cheap quips and similes.