Death of a Rug Lord (Den of Antiquity)

by Tamar Myers

Business isn't booming for antiques dealer Abigail Timberlake Washburn. A local rug store is luring away her customers with its rock-bottom prices. Eager to check out the competition, Abby is... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060846593
• Release Date: May 2008
• Publisher: Avon
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.8" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Suspicious Reader

I am truly enjoying this book but could do without the subtle pro/anti one political party imbedded in the text. I have observed this in the first few chapters of several paperback mystery novels the past few months. I am wondering if this obvious political bias is an editorial must, paid advertising or just the political view of the author. I've even seen an alternative version of the political message paragraphs printed in the introductory pages of this book.

Great writer - great book!

Tamar Myers is one of my favorite fiction writers. This book is a wonderfully playful story with a gross crime and a fabulous heroine. I strongly recommend this book and anything else she's written. Especially check out her book "The Dark Side of Heaven". It's a beautiful book.

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, No It's Just a Chicken

I absolutely love this series and I couldn't wait for this installment to be published. The world of antique dealer Abigail Washburn is always a pleasant place to visit despite the high murder rate in her vicinity. Even she has noticed it and after a dead body shows up early in this book Abby makes a quip about finding as many bodies as Jessica Fletcher. Despite the murder and mayhem though it is always fun to pay a visit to Abby and her family and friends. This is one mystery series where one just never knows what might happen next. Despite my enthusiasm for this book or more probably because of it, I found the first half of the book to be a bit of a let down. The dialogue between the characters seems a tad forced and not nearly as crisp as it usually is and the comedic timing that this author usually has down to a science was way off the mark on occasion. The whole bit with Aunt Nanny and the tomato aspic was just way over the top and while the Aunt Nanny side plot is usually entertaining in this case it was just very flat. To be honest a good part of the first half of the book was flat and I found myself struggling to read it. Some of the funniest characters in the series barely make an appearance in this book and their absence is very noticeable. On the bright side, things really pick up in the second half of the book. Once Abby and her mother hit the road in search of a bunch of Oriental rug counterfeiters the story finds itself and roars to life. Abby and her mother Mozella are the only two recurring characters in this series that play any role at all in the road trip but despite the lack of the supporting cast the author pulls off the second half of the book beautifully. The dialogue becomes crisp again and the laughs just keep on coming. Before the trip back to their hometown of Rock Hill is over the bad guys go down, (It's a cozy so it obviously has a happy ending.) Abby learns that she was conceived in a vehicle on a dirt road outside of town and half the state of South Carolina is put to work catching live chickens that have gotten loose on I-26. Apparently they did a good job too because I just traveled that stretch of road and I didn't see one single chicken. Despite the strong finish this isn't by any means the best book in this series but I still enjoyed it a great deal. The slow start may have had something to do with how long it has been since the last book in this series came out or it may just be that it is hard to keep the laughs coming like this author usually does. Whatever the reason I do hope that we see the next installment of this series without having to wait so long. I look forward to new books in this series like most people look forward to Christmas.

Wonderful cozy mystery

Here is another delightful cozy mystery from Tamar Myers "Den of Antiquity" series. It features antique shop owner and sleuth Abby Timberlake and her family in Charleston, South Carolina. This is a series where every book can stand alone. It can be read out of order. There is usually a paragraph or two near the beginning to remind the reader or bring the new reader up to date about the characters and the setting. Abby runs an antique store. Each book in the series is about a different kind of antique. This book's plot revolves around antique Persian carpets. There are snippets of interesting information about them scattered throughout and some tips on how to spot fakes. There is a warmth to Tamar Myers' characters that I enjoy. They are quirky, sometimes eccentric, and gently humorous. But they are never put down. Instead they are embraced and woven into the story. I highly recommend all of Tamar Myers' books. I especially love the "Den of Antiquity" series to learn interesting things, the good and the bad, that go on behind the scenes of the antiques world. She can't write them fast enough for me.