Customer Reviews

A Penny Urned: A Den of Antiquity Mystery

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Abigail Timberlake, intrepid owner of the Den of Antiquity, seems to lead a life filled with surprises. This time it's an inheritance from an aunt she never knew. Abby is puzzled over this, but cannot resist a trip to Savannah to bring back her aunt's remains and have a look at the house she has inherited. She takes her best friends, Wynnell and C.J., and her eccentric mother. This foursome is always good for a laugh and there are many funny scenes with them during their trip to Savannah. Abby encounters some interesting characters, especially Diamond, a woman who seems to be wherever Abby is and who dabbles in "second sight" and juju. This is one of the best of this series and is recommended for fun, light reading.

Tamar Myers is, as always, dead on in a witty yet not over-punned whimsy of a mystery. Once again Ms. Abigail Timberlake has inherited; a house and rare coin collection in Savannah, but this time she is going to have to "urn" it the hard way, because she has to locate the coins before she can inherit them. Touristing her way through the cemetaries and gardens of Savannah, off-beat characters and improbable plot lines, Ms. Myers engages and entertains with delightful and frothy fun and gentle pokes at Savannah's love affair with "In the Garden of Good and Evil." Better and less fattening than chocolate; and that(from a Coats)is a HUGE compliment.

For those not familiar with this series, the heroine is one Abigail Timberlake, an antique dealer from Charlotte, North Carolina. Abby has a knack for inheriting things and that knack is the basis for the plot of this book. I must mention however, that Abby did not inherit her shop but the author has made that claim in both this book and the previous entry in the series. Inconsistency in the overall story line is the biggest problem that I have with this series and I really wish that Mrs. Myers would try and do better.

Abby's knack for being an heir crops up early on in this story when she gets a dose of good news and bad news. The bad news is that a relative that she didn't even know existed has died. Drowned in a bathtub full of champagne. The good news is that this relative, Lula Mae Wiggins, has left her entire estate to Abby. Even better news comes to Abby when she finds out that Lula Mae lived in Savannah's historic district and her estate includes her house.

Soon Abby and her wonderfully quirky mother, along with Abby's two best friends, CJ and Wynnell are headed for Savannah. On the way down someone mentions "The Book." Mama thinks that they mean the Bible but as anyone familiar with Savannah knows "The Book" refers to "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" and from the time "The Book" is mentioned "A Penny Urned" often reads like a companion novel. Right down to an African-American lady who wears a big straw hat, wears a juju bag and talks to a dead girl in Bonaventure Cemetery.

After arriving in Savannah, CJ and Wynnell sort of go off on their own and basically run amuck on River Street. Wynnell ends up running off to Tokyo with a group of Japanese tourists after she and CJ fall into the river. Mama sticks with Abby, all the while trying to pick up a man either for herself or Abby and in the end she does find a man for CJ. After a while though, even mama disappears adding one more mystery to those that Abby has discovered since arriving in Savannah. In fact, the longer Abby stays in Savannah, the more questions she has and since the police aren't finding any answers she starts to sniff around on her own. In the end everything becomes clear but there are almost too many different plots floating around and most of the mysteries are only related to each other in the barest sense of the word. Its all just a little confusing but then the answers start coming and it all makes sense, but just barely. Of course there is one problem that Abby doesn't know about until it falls into her lap and almost gets her and her mama a one way trip on a boat. The books in this series always seem to end with a sudden and unexpected revelation that catches Abby completely off guard so it shouldn't be a surprise when this one also ends this way.

Although the plot is a little disjointed in places, the Savannah connection and the hilarious antics of some of the characters combined to make this one of my favorite entries in this series. From the Pirate House to the Waving Girl statue Savannah is thoroughly integrated into this story and the city itself almost seems like one of the characters in the book. Both hi-jinx and questions abound, making this a page-turner from start to finish so grab some pink champagne, climb in the tub and read till you drop.

Tamar Myers did it again with this delightfully written new novel. A PENNY URNED is filled with eccentric characters and witty dialogue as once again, Abigail "inherits" a mystery, this time in Savannah. A fast paced, fun filled mystery!

I usually enjoy reading Abigail Timberlake if for no other reason than it will usually make me laugh. I found with this book, that the comedy was forced and almost slapstick. This took away from the story and I just read to get to the end. In the book, Abigail, her mother and her two friends, Wynnell and CJ go to Savannah to claim an inheritance that Abigail gets from a long-lost cousin. While there they meet a number of local people who are scary, silly and downright dangerous. Abby tries to find her cousin's valuable coin collection, but there are a number of people that are after it too. Of course Abby and her mother end up in a pickle that they have to get themselves out of at the end. Pretty predictable stuff.

It took me a while to read this book, which is a rarity for me when I've got hold of a Tamar Myers mystery (Den of Antiquity OR her Penn-Dutch series). Although the book takes Abby to a different locale (Savannah) there isn't much action in it. Ms. Myers' humor is not up to par in comparison to her other books. Some of the plot and characters seem contrived - too coincidental, and it just didn't make her usual grade. I downright dislike what she did with Abby's mother in this one. It's way out there. Read if you must, but don't expect it to be one of her best.

I was so looking forward to the next book in this serier, but found myself disappointed instead. I felt like Ms. Myers woke up on the wrong side of the bed and took it out on her characters. I grew agitated with Abby and her mother at several different points in the book. There was also a reference to Magdaline Yoder that I thought was rather extreme. I can only hope that Ms. Myers is in a different mood when she writes the next book. There were still some very witty moments, and if you have read the other books in the series you won't want to miss this book.

Even if you haven't read another book in the Den of Antiquity series yet, you could start with A PENNY URNED and not have missed anything. Here we're with Abby, her mom, and friends in Savannah, where we get to enjoy some of the local color while we watch them on a search for all manner of things, including lots of answers. There's a ton of silliness and a satisfying mystery, and the ending is really fun. Tamar Myers always leaves me wanting the next book. This edition even very kindly provides you with little excerpts from each of the six preceding entries in the series that began with LARCENY AND OLD LACE.

Tamar Myers is an author I pick for days when I'm tired or depressed and need a laugh. "Urned" did that for me again! I love Savannah, and seeing that wonderful city through the eyes of her heroine was wonderful!

I've never understood the term "cozy mystery." Supposedly Ms. Myers writes "cozy mysteries." That's how reviewers and advertisers often describe them. However, the jeopardy is just as real, and the corpse is just as dead--drowned in champagne of the wrong color, in this case. Does "cozy" mean written by a woman? There's certainly nothing cozy about Patricia Cornwell's or Sue Grafton's crime fiction. Does it mean without a lot of "improper" words? Then, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, and Mary Roberts Rinehart would fit the genre. So what IS a cozy mystery?

This one is good fun, especially if the reader is familiar with the book, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil." The setting is quirky Savannah, and Tamar Myers populates her book with quirky locals to go with the quirky entourage from Charlotte/Rock Hill. The characters are fascinating, the atmosphere almost palpable. And the plot has one final twist that send the reader off satisfied.

But cozy? Murder is never cozy. Tea and crumpets are cozy. "Pride and Prejudice" is a little cozy, perhaps. But not Tamar Myers.