Thursday, January 7, 2010

Monet Talks by Tamar Myers: A Den of Antiquity Mystery

#10 in this mystery series, Abby Timberlake, owner of the Den of Antiquity antique store, fighting off some very high bidders, has purchased at auction the world's most beautiful birdcage. Built in the form of the Taj Mahal, it arrives with a mynah bird named Monet. Monet turns out to be quite a one bird show, he can not only voice obscure phrases but he can switch genders (in voice) without a break.

First Monet disappears, then people start to disappear. But if there is something about the birdcage that someone wants, why take the bird? Tamar Myers is well-known for her off-beat comic heroines in her series'. This almost tops it in content. Although maybe not quite as laugh out loud as earlier books, it is still giggly humorous. But then, after crashing a high society party, one of the main characters, who usually plays a truly priceless part for Abby to bounce off of so gleefully, is quickly among the missing.

This is how the story begins and Ms. Myers soon has us all embroiled in guessing and suspecting, also wondering why everything keeps coming back to the bird. There are serious accusations to sort out and downright hilarious ways in which four-foot-nine Abby goes about investigating. It takes her awhile to realize there is more to this crime than stealing the bird because she can't understand the phone calls she's getting. It's not really until she gets a package that fear takes over. Her friends the Rob-Bobs stay right with her almost every complaining step of the way... usually Rob complaining about Bob's "epicurean" cooking. All in all, another entertaining cozy mystery from Myers and certainly different.

Also see my review on Tamar Myer's Death of a Ruglord

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