The Wrong Stuff

Jane Wheel #3

by Sharon Fiffer

Jane Wheel has a lot of stuff. Vintage flowerpots, postcards, Bakelite buttons, pencil sharpeners, mismatched china, linens, even old report cards from children she never knew peek out from the deepest corners of her home, threatening to envelop her entire life. Of course, she's not just a pack rat (or so she tells herself), it's her job: Jane is an antique picker, cruising garage sales and rummage tables looking for items she can turn around and sell to dealers or collectors, picking up a tidy profit. Trouble is, she does a lot of buying and so far only a little selling.

When a school permission slip lost among the towering boxes in Jane's kitchen causes her son, Nick, to miss a field trip, Jane vows to get rid of it all, organizing her house and, in the process, she hopes, her life. Meanwhile, she's entertaining two offers of employment---as an associate with her friend Tim Lowry's antiques dealership and as a consultant in a private investigations firm with former police detective Bruce Oh. Unable to decide, Jane figures she'll take a crack at splitting her time between the two pursuits.

Immediately, and with fragile emotions swirling from her great house-cleaning project, Jane finds herself smack in the middle of a case that will draw on both her new jobs. An antiques dealer has been accused of murder, perhaps as part of covering up an extensive furniture-counterfeiting operation. Jane can hardly wait to investigate---that is, until she learns the identity of the accused: Claire Oh, wife of her new partner Bruce. Rich in the details of junk-sale ephemera that have intrigued fans of previous Jane Wheel adventures, The Wrong Stuff is another fascinating, meticulously crafted mystery.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Cozy

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Ricki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Sharon Fiffer's "Stuff" series!! I think The Wrong Stuff is one of my favorites. Great mystery, keeps you guessing right up until the end. I love the characters this author brings to life! Jane Wheel and those she meets along the way feel real to me. You feel like you are right along on the hunt for antiques and collectibles. Waking early in the morning for estate sales with your trusty fanny pack filled with the tools of the trade, going to the basement or the back of the house first and working your way to the front, all ring true!

[Cathryn Ferrara · Rating 2 out of 5]

A nice enough cozy about an antique picker, Wrong Stuff was easy enough to read and a decent only somewhat predictable mystery, but overall not that interesting and many of the cliche jokes, charters and comments got old quickly, I think reading the entire series would make them very grating. Once again a series where the author seems to think you have to have too many stereotypes represented to appeal to everyone.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Wheel is wife, mother, and antique picker. She finds stuff she loves at garage sales and rummage sales, and sells to dealers, who have stores and customers. Her best friend Tim wants to train her as a high-end antiques dealer, retired police detective Bruce Oh wants to train her to be a private investigator, and Jane worries that she's shortchanging her husband and child by the storage needs of her piles of stuff. When Oh's wife, a high end dealer, is suspected of murder, Jane and Tim set off to an exclusive colony of artists and craftsmen who do antique restoration on a remote estate in Michigan, where Jane promptly finds another body. I enjoyed this series when it first came out, but somehow think I must have missed this particular title.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane is involved in helping Bruce Oh's wife prove she didn't sell a fake antique and kill the buyer when he claimed it was a fake in front of hundreds at an antique show.

She and Tim go to an artist commune where many antiques are authenticated and restored, only to find a body and another murder to investigate.

Bruce and Claire Oh arrive and the group look into each of the artists and find who is making forgeries, who is covering for others and who is the murderer.

Full of information on decluttering your life.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jane Wheel is a “picker” for antiques shops and as such her live is more than a little disorganized, but her mind is not. With the help of her life-long best friend Tim, the owner of one of the shops she picks for, and at the behest of Clair Oh, also an antique store owner, Jane sets out to investigate how an exceedingly genuine looking antique chest seemingly morphs into an obvious fake. The answer leads to a very unexpected conclusion.

[Ewa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was expecting a nice, enjoyable cozy, but was disappointed. The first few pages made me consider putting this book back on the shelf - it was so boring and hard to read. I disliked the main character right from the start. Other characters were not better either. Plot was really slow, mystery not interesting.

[EmmyT · Rating 2 out of 5]

What happened? I liked the first 2 books. This one was trying (to be funny?) with that weird dialogue in the 1st chapter! Only kept reading because of the earlier books. The entire book was boring. It was not her adventures being a picker and reading about heirloom, mid-century modern treasures. Guilt about clutter with no treasure hunting and rewards was not a cute, cozy mystery.

[Cat. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series, happened upon last year, is fun to read in the cozy sort of mystery sense. There's barely a dead body in this one, even though there are two murders, so it's just a lot of discussion of old furniture and other antiques.

[Jan P · Rating 2 out of 5]

Light, amusing amateur detective novel featuring Jane Wheel, a junk sales picker who moonlights as a private detective. Pleasant and mindless.

[Peggi Warner-Lalonde · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of fun!

[Doris Raines · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE THIS BOOK WELL SAID🤙

[Marseydoats · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. Loved the Oh's. The arts and crafts community sounded like some place I would like to visit, especially with all the treehouses. Fast, fun read.

[Jennifer Coffman Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these books! Great mysteries and fun to read. I love the descriptions of the things she collects! I got hooked when she talked about McCoy pottery, my favorite. Jane is aware of her hoarding/collecting and how it is affecting her life. With every book we learn a little more about her, her family and her friends. I can’t wait to read the next one.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light, amusing amateur detective novel featuring Jane Wheel, a junk sales picker, who finds choice items for two dealers (one, her good friend Tim) but who can't resist bringing home anything for which she can imagine a good story. When her stash of goods obscures her son's field trip permission slip, Jane decides it's time to de-clutter but then Detective Bruce Oh asks for her help in clearing his wife, an antiques dealer accused of murder. Jane and Tim travel to a haughty restoration/artists' resort to investigate. How can Jane de-clutter when she's busy de-tecting? One reviewer described this series as Antiques Roadshow meets I Love Lucy, which is pretty accurate.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mysteries have all kinds of amateur detectives: caterers, needlework shop owners, knitters, etc. In this book, the main character is an antique picker. I would call her a compulsive hoarder. In factthere are two mysteries in this book. Who committed the murders surrounding a rare chest that may or not be a fake? and Will Jane finally get rid of the stuff that engulfs her home?

I enjoyed this story as Jane and her friend Tim find the murderer, even though some of it is improbable and the author didn't tie up all the loose ends.

An enjoyable read.

[Nicole Diamond · Rating 1 out of 5]

If it has one star I liked it a lot
If it has two stars I liked it a lot and would recommend it
If it has three stars I really really liked it a lot
If it has four stars I insist you read it
If it has five stars it was life changing

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Enjoyable third in the series of Jane Wheel, Evanston sleuth. Here she investigates a murder which leads her to Campbell and LaSalle with her friend Tim, a remote retreat of sorts for a colony of furniture refinishing artist types. Fun and funny."

[Judym · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started this series with book 8 as an audio book. I liked the characters and took book 3 out of the library. I would suggest reading them in order because there is a life progression of the main character, Jane. That being said it is a good cozy mystery series.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third time around. Really enjoyed the Tim and Jane moments, the Nellie stuff, but have to say, the mystery itself too more pages than I was interested in reading to be solved. That said, there are no more Jane Wheel books, so I'll keep it around and enjoy the fun!

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series and this book is proving to be good so far.

[Mary B · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could not finish. Too boring.

[Ruth Kevghas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can relate to the main character Jane Wheeler- I love estate sales too!

[Harry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mediocre and repetitive. The guilty party is rarely mentioned and little evidence given.

[Mich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just fun!!

[M.E. Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane is an antique picker, cruising garage sales and rummage tables looking for that special thing, maybe the valuable antique that's only she can recognize. Don't we all do that? but when an antique dealer finds what she thinks is a treasure, only it's a fake and there's murder to be had, then Jane's not looking for a valuable antique but a murderer.

A breezy little story, well crafted mystery, nice little plot, conflict both personal and professional, Jane Wheel manages to pull it all together as she makes the transition from antique picker to private investigator.

[Norla Chee]

The rambling tangents are fun to a point. More interesting than the actual plot, really.