Customer Reviews

Scamming the Birdman: A Dr. Thomas Purdue Mystery

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

 

 

I've been eagerly awaiting Larry Karp's next mystery ever since I read his first one. This fast-moving caper brings back the quirky characters that fascinated me before, and introduces new ones as well. And I didn't guess the twist at the end! Karp's plots are witty enough to keep intelligent readers entertained, and devious enough not to be obvious. Discover this fine new series for yourself!

I came late to "Scamming the Birdman," having become a Larry Karp fan upon reading his wonderful Ragtime mysteries of more recent vintage. In those books his scenes are set in the past - places like Sedalia, Missouri around 1900 and New York City a few years later. His research is always spot on. I don't know of another author who better combines time and place with good fiction than Karp. In this yarn, the time is today and the place New York, and the fiction is a dizzy caper combining mechanical birds, snuff boxes, and other "automata" from the 18th and 19th centuries, with murder, mayhem and lots of money. Halfway into the book I couldn't resist casting the movie version. With characters like Cleveland Gackle, Broadway Schwartz, and Frank the Crank, it would be a box office winner for sure. So far it's my favorite summer read.

Karp has put together a wonderful cast of characters, devised an elaborate plot and allowed us to go along for the ride. The information on music boxes is fascinating and doesn't slow down the story. My criticisms are small; for a wealthy doctor he never seems to practice, and I'm a little tired of couples who love each other but can't live together. On the positive side, it's fun and suspenseful with a great twist at the end. I'll definitely go along with Purdue and pals on their next adventure.

Dr. Larry Karp certainly can write! In his Thomas Purdue series he manages to keep you entertained and guessing to the end and at the same time manages to introduce you to the highly competetive world of antique collecting.

I'm a fairly advanced collector myself but I've always got more that I can learn in this subject and I'm amazed but I always find something new in this series. It's a definate keeper.

Scamming the Birdman is a wonderful book. It's funny, it's well-written, and it's truely creative in its plot and structure.

Dr. Larry Purdue is the scam artist. The novel opens with his scam of his friend Hugh Curtis...and the joke includes us as readers. The gun doesn't fire, the bad guy isn't killed, and none of us watch the well-deserved revenge we all so badly wanted.

But Dr. Purdue is gonna get him! He is gonna make the Birdman twist in the wind. He sets an elaborate plot into motion, and it works! Throughout the novel the Birdman sinks deeper and deeper into punishment, and the good guys win and win and win.

So where's the suspense, you ask? Well, for one thing we learn to have faith in Purdue's ability to anticipate the problems. For another, his partnership with his wife Sarah saves the whole intricate design from disaster, despite their unconventional marriage arrangements.

And for the third, we find that the villan, who is indeed a villan, is not the REAL murderer...this whole giant concoction is designed to bring to justice the true 'bad guy', and in the last few pages, we open our eyes in surprise and shock. We were scammed!

This time his friend Hugh Curtis has just been unwillingly relieved of his musical snuffboxes, and his wife has died under what Thomas considers suspicious circumstances. Without a doubt, they know who the culprit is because every time a collector in their group finds a rare treasure with a mechanical bird, Vincent LoProire climbs out of his expensive hole and effectively claims it. After years of being bullied, threatened, and now murdered for their precious musical treasures, Thomas heads a caper that rivals "The Sting" to extract revenge.

I enjoyed reading Larry Karp's first mystery The Music Box Murders, which introduces us to Dr. Thomas Purdue, but after reading SCAMMING THE BIRDMAN I have to say it's my favorite of the two. Scamming the Birdman is extraordinary! It's a rousing escapade with some eccentric, hilarious characters. Our lead sleuth/scammer, Thomas, teaches us a lesson: just when you think you know someone, they prove you wrong. The ending will take you by surprise, and some readers may feel judgmental about it, not me, I enjoyed an incredible caper with a surprising twist.

What a fabulous caper! If you've already read the author's first book, The Music Box Murders (and you should), you'll be delighted to read the new adventures of some old friends and to meet new ones. Even if you haven't read the first book, you'll find yourself laughing aloud at the antics of this zany crew as they follow their fearless leader, Thomas Purdue, in a revenge-seeking effort. Just be careful not to bite your fingers when you laugh while you're chewing your nails in suspense! You'll agree that Purdue plans a punishment that truly fits the crime.

For whatever reason, all kinds of wonderful explanatory words kept running through my mind while reading this book. Rowdy, raucous, rascally. Rambunctious. Romp. Revenge. Even romance. Oh, there were a few others, most notably 'politically incorrect'. Or should that be 'uncorrect'? Whichever, it most certainly is that, too. However, it is also one of the most enjoyable books I've read in a long time.

Some of the people we encounter in our daily lives are so not-at-all-nice, it's truly enjoyable to see them brought down a few pegs. One could almost--almost, but not quite--feel sorry for Vincent LoPriore when he lands in the exceptional world of Thomas Purdue. Of course, had not Vinny (known as the Birdman because of his fondness for collecting musical automata featuring birds) perpetrated a gigantic fraud against one of Purdue's fellow collectors and long-time friends, Hugh Curtis, Vinny would not have placed himself in jeopardy. Trust me, this is not the tv version of jeopardy, either. (Aside here: this would make a WONDERFUL movie, however, being a very visual book. It virtually screens itself in the mind's eye of the reader.)

Another 'R' word is Runyon, as in the great Damon and his truly unforgettable characters. One might think that Larry Karp studied at the feet of Runyon, given his ability to create the same kind of memorable personages to tramp so blithely through the pages of his novels. Just the names alone go trippingly off the tongue, creating a smile on the reader's face: Broadway Schwartz, Big Al, Frank the Crank, Cleveland Gackle (his real name!), Mick the Dick and Soapy Sandy, plus Nozey Espinoza and Fenton Dassidario (another real moniker). And not least, two extraordinary women with ordinary names: Edna Reynolds and Sarah Purdue.

This is a rare adventure caper, sometimes raw, sometimes rollicking, and always realistic. At least I think it is that latter, for I certainly have no exposure whatever to the world of Thomas Purdue, but I'm grateful to Larry Karp for letting me visit it occasionally.

Scamming the Birdman is a rara avis, indeed. You won't be sorry if it comes into your sights, unless of course, you don't focus in on it. Enjoy!

I tried to finish this book. I almost never put a book away unfinished. I can almost always find some reason to complete what I started, but this time I just couldn't. I couldn't relate to the characters, the plot was silly and the whole thing was boring. What else can I say? I didn't like it.