A Den of Antiquity Mystery
Tamar Myers
Avon Mystery/Harper Collins
February 2011/ ISBN 978-0-06-084661-9
Mystery/Amateur Sleuth
Amazon
Reviewed
by Laura Hinds
Tamar Myers is one of my favorite comedic-mystery authors. Her
books really do spotlight her wonderful sense of humor and incredible
imagination. I am hard pressed to even think of anyone with comparable
talent, and I enjoy all of her work.
That said, I reluctantly admit to some disappointment in The
Glass is Always Greener. It is a well enough plotted mystery,
with the usual cast of over-the-top wacky characters, and a healthy
dose of new outrageous characters too. This time out protagonist
Abigail Timberlake Washburn has taken a trip to Charleston with
her friend Rob. It seems that Rob’s Aunt Jerry has been told
by a psychic the exact date of her death, so she is throwing herself
a wake while she’s alive so she can enjoy it too. Unfortunately
for Abby, Aunt Jerry is all too soon really and truly dead; not
to mention her corpse being stuffed in a walk-in freezer and a valuable
piece of jewelry stolen.
Myers’ unique comedic sensibilities and out-of-the-box thinking
were indeed present, and I had quite a few good laughs. It’s
just too bad that I also had quite a few moments of being flat-out
annoyed by the author’s repetitive mentions of her other books
and random narrative comments such as “if this were in a book
I’d throw it across the room” type of thing. While I
didn’t want to throw this book across the room, I did shake
my head often enough that I felt a little dizzy.
All in all, I did stick with the book and mostly liked it. If you’ve
read the previous books in this series, you will want to read it
just to keep up with Abby and her friends and family. If you haven’t,
and you want to try the series anyway, this is not the one to start
with. What really threw me for a loop was the last couple of chapters.
They seemed hastily thrown together and I have to wonder if Ms.
Myers didn’t know herself who was guilty and then if she herself
didn’t like the outcome. I didn’t like the ending, and
that threw a damper on the whole thing. My recommendation is for
fans of Tamar Myers to read it, but if you are new to her work,
start with another in this series or a book from one of her other
series.
Reviewer's
Note:
Reviewer Laura Hinds is the author of 2009's Are You
Gonna Eat That Banana?
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