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Den of Antiquity #12
Monet Talks
Charleston antiques dealer Abigail Timberlake Washburn is thrilled by her recent estate auction purchase of a spectacular bejeweled birdcage from India, but not so much by its occupant, a mouthy mynah named Monet. Still, her customers at the Den of Antiquity seem charmed by the insufferable birdbrain, so Abby figures she's stuck with him. That is, until she finds a stuffed starling resting on his usual perch with a ransom note demanding a real Monet (the painted variety) in exchange for her purloined pet.
Since she doesn't happen to have a priceless masterpiece on hand -- and since a mynahless existence isn't all that distasteful a prospect -- Abby figures she'll let the thief keep the annoying avian. But when her mama Mozella is abducted by the craven birdnapper, Abby must leap into the fray to rescue mater and mynah alike ... before the feathers really start to fly!
Since she doesn't happen to have a priceless masterpiece on hand -- and since a mynahless existence isn't all that distasteful a prospect -- Abby figures she'll let the thief keep the annoying avian. But when her mama Mozella is abducted by the craven birdnapper, Abby must leap into the fray to rescue mater and mynah alike ... before the feathers really start to fly!
325 pages, Paperback
First published April 26, 2005
7 people are currently reading
305 people want to read
About the author
Tamar Myers
62 books293 followersTamar Myers was born and raised in the Belgian Congo (now just the Congo). Her parents were missionaries to a tribe which, at that time, were known as headhunters and used human skulls for drinking cups. Hers was the first white family ever to peacefully coexist with the tribe, and Tamar grew up fluent in the local trade language. Because of her pale blue eyes, Tamar’s nickname was Ugly Eyes.
Tamar grew up eating elephant, hippopotamus and even monkey. She attended a boarding school that was two days away by truck, and sometimes it was necessary to wade through crocodile infested waters to reach it. Other dangers she encountered as a child were cobras, deadly green mambas, and the voracious armies of driver ants that ate every animal (and human) that didn’t get out of their way.
In 1960 the Congo, which had been a Belgian colony, became an independent nation. There followed a period of retribution (for heinous crimes committed against the Congolese by the Belgians) in which many Whites were killed. Tamar and her family fled the Congo, but returned a year later. By then a number of civil wars were raging, and the family’s residence was often in the line of fire. In 1964, after living through three years of war, the family returned to the United States permanently.
Tamar was sixteen when her family settled in America, and she immediately underwent severe culture shock. She didn’t know how to dial a telephone, cross a street at a stoplight, or use a vending machine. She lucked out, however, by meeting her husband, Jeffrey, on her first day in an American high school. They literally bumped heads while he was leaving, and she entering, the Civics classroom.
Tamar now calls Charlotte, NC home. She lives with her husband, plus a Basenji dog named Pagan, a Bengal cat named Nkashama, and an orange tabby rescue cat named Dumpster Boy. She and her husband are of the Jewish faith, the animals are not.
Tamar enjoys gardening (she is a Master Gardner), bonsai, travel, painting and, of course, reading. She loves Thai and Indian food, and antique jewelry. She plans to visit Machu Pichu in the near future.
Series:
* Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery
* Den of Antiquity Mystery
Tamar grew up eating elephant, hippopotamus and even monkey. She attended a boarding school that was two days away by truck, and sometimes it was necessary to wade through crocodile infested waters to reach it. Other dangers she encountered as a child were cobras, deadly green mambas, and the voracious armies of driver ants that ate every animal (and human) that didn’t get out of their way.
In 1960 the Congo, which had been a Belgian colony, became an independent nation. There followed a period of retribution (for heinous crimes committed against the Congolese by the Belgians) in which many Whites were killed. Tamar and her family fled the Congo, but returned a year later. By then a number of civil wars were raging, and the family’s residence was often in the line of fire. In 1964, after living through three years of war, the family returned to the United States permanently.
Tamar was sixteen when her family settled in America, and she immediately underwent severe culture shock. She didn’t know how to dial a telephone, cross a street at a stoplight, or use a vending machine. She lucked out, however, by meeting her husband, Jeffrey, on her first day in an American high school. They literally bumped heads while he was leaving, and she entering, the Civics classroom.
Tamar now calls Charlotte, NC home. She lives with her husband, plus a Basenji dog named Pagan, a Bengal cat named Nkashama, and an orange tabby rescue cat named Dumpster Boy. She and her husband are of the Jewish faith, the animals are not.
Tamar enjoys gardening (she is a Master Gardner), bonsai, travel, painting and, of course, reading. She loves Thai and Indian food, and antique jewelry. She plans to visit Machu Pichu in the near future.
Series:
* Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery
* Den of Antiquity Mystery
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
July 12, 2015
This story was just plain sillly. I'm not sure if it was a southern type of humor, or what but I did not get it. iIt just wasn't funny or cute to me. But they run around town trying to solve a crime. Also the cat on the cover is also a misnomer - it's about a bird (boo).
May 16, 2022
I don't expect much from this series other than a few chuckles, and a refreshing palate cleanse between more serious novels, but this one? Aye-yi-yi! What a mess.
Mama is kidnapped, (even though she's masquerading as another woman at the time?) and Abby takes her time trying to find her. A ton of food is eaten at local restaurants, including a big plug for IHOP, and a lot of suspects are grilled before the right one is basically tripped over by our intrepid heroine.
At least there were no cat heroics this time, but still . . .
The worst in the series . . . so far.
Mama is kidnapped, (even though she's masquerading as another woman at the time?) and Abby takes her time trying to find her. A ton of food is eaten at local restaurants, including a big plug for IHOP, and a lot of suspects are grilled before the right one is basically tripped over by our intrepid heroine.
At least there were no cat heroics this time, but still . . .
The worst in the series . . . so far.
March 30, 2013
Eh. I want to know if she ever got her money back at the end.
This wasn't one of my favorites. It just seemed really disconnected to me. Too many red herrings that weren't all the interesting and not enough dirt on the real perp.
This wasn't one of my favorites. It just seemed really disconnected to me. Too many red herrings that weren't all the interesting and not enough dirt on the real perp.
September 29, 2019
A cozy that is more comical than mysterious.
July 24, 2016
I have an affinity for cozy mysteries. They generally aren't written in pursuit of a spot on the bestseller list; rather, cozies are written to give the reader a sense of comfort and calm (ironically, by way of murder).
My mom read cozies to escape her three eccentric young daughters and grumpy husband: one daughter, the artist, painted five-foot tall green flowers on the side of the freshly painted rental when she was four; the adventurous daughter asked which way north was, and was found by neighbors five hours later walking up the beach, wearing a backpack, in pursuit of Santa in the North Pole (we lived on an island--she wasn't the brightest of the three of us); and the oldest daughter (that would be I) caused her first-year kindergarten teacher to quit by demanding that all classroom toy soldiers and toy weapons be removed from the classroom so that her classmates would not become violent adults, and that the teacher immediately stop smoking on her breaks because she would surely die of lung cancer. As to my mother's husband, he had some strange notion that feeding 40 stray cats, a stray goat, a duck, and 4 turtles (not stray) out of a 2-bedroom apartment was odd. He also became irrationally upset when the cat gave birth in his shoe. So you see, for my mother, it was either read a cozy or drink (or possibly dispose of the children and husband).
Years later, when my grandmother came to live with us (bigger house, different country, revolving pet door, dad retired and usually lost in Best Buy, girls now goth, theater geek, and raver) we slowly replaced her true crime books with cozies in order to keep her from roaming the house at night after taking her pain pills, looking for the Son of Sam whilst armed with a shoe horn.
And all this is how I came to read cozies myself, because they were always there to help me escape my crazy family, you could carry on a screaming match with a sibling and not miss much in the book, and thanks to grandma's Dahmer intervention, there were always a shitload in the house. (Serious reading was done away from the insane people.)
My mom read cozies to escape her three eccentric young daughters and grumpy husband: one daughter, the artist, painted five-foot tall green flowers on the side of the freshly painted rental when she was four; the adventurous daughter asked which way north was, and was found by neighbors five hours later walking up the beach, wearing a backpack, in pursuit of Santa in the North Pole (we lived on an island--she wasn't the brightest of the three of us); and the oldest daughter (that would be I) caused her first-year kindergarten teacher to quit by demanding that all classroom toy soldiers and toy weapons be removed from the classroom so that her classmates would not become violent adults, and that the teacher immediately stop smoking on her breaks because she would surely die of lung cancer. As to my mother's husband, he had some strange notion that feeding 40 stray cats, a stray goat, a duck, and 4 turtles (not stray) out of a 2-bedroom apartment was odd. He also became irrationally upset when the cat gave birth in his shoe. So you see, for my mother, it was either read a cozy or drink (or possibly dispose of the children and husband).
Years later, when my grandmother came to live with us (bigger house, different country, revolving pet door, dad retired and usually lost in Best Buy, girls now goth, theater geek, and raver) we slowly replaced her true crime books with cozies in order to keep her from roaming the house at night after taking her pain pills, looking for the Son of Sam whilst armed with a shoe horn.
And all this is how I came to read cozies myself, because they were always there to help me escape my crazy family, you could carry on a screaming match with a sibling and not miss much in the book, and thanks to grandma's Dahmer intervention, there were always a shitload in the house. (Serious reading was done away from the insane people.)
June 19, 2017
I almost could not stand to finish this book. There was too much junk in the book that had nothing to do with the plot and was very uninteresting to me. The only reason I finished the book is that it was the only library book I had at the time that Ihad not just read.
March 10, 2016
I read this book while I was in the hospital and not really quite on the mend, or I would ot have read it--just too silly. A woman buys a birdcage and bird in it, and becomes a target--but when her mother disappears, she doesn't panic at all really. Well, no cops. Odd cozy mystery.
March 30, 2022
A nonmurder mystery with plenty of humor and fun characters. When a talking bird and a mother are missing the roller coaster ride begins. I loved it. You probably should read a couple of books to the series first.
March 18, 2022
A missing bird, a crazy fancy Taj Mahal and a mystery. This one will be a tough one to crack!
I picked this book up, first because of the orange cat on the front and, second because I like a good cozy mystery. I’d never read a book by Tamar Myers, so this was a good introduction to her work. The story flew by, pardon the pun, and it had moments of great flash.
I did like that there is a cat in this story. Sometimes the books are marketed with having an animal that never actually shows up, so that was a plus for me. The main character, Abby, owns an antique shop and one of the things that goes missing is the Taj Mahal, the mynah bird that lived in it and her cat! So, I rooted for Abby to get the cat back.
One of the things that lowered enjoyment of this story for me was the sheer number of characters. I got so confused at times as to who is who and finally realized this is the fifth book in a series. It would probably help the reader to start at the beginning of the series in order to keep everyone straight. Another thing that sort of irritated me was the way the mystery took a backseat to the rest of the action. There’s also a lot of talk about just how hot it is in Charleston, SC, and that got a bit redundant, too.
Still, this is a good afternoon read and the conclusion of the mystery is worth the effort. You’ll want to pick this one up!
I picked this book up, first because of the orange cat on the front and, second because I like a good cozy mystery. I’d never read a book by Tamar Myers, so this was a good introduction to her work. The story flew by, pardon the pun, and it had moments of great flash.
I did like that there is a cat in this story. Sometimes the books are marketed with having an animal that never actually shows up, so that was a plus for me. The main character, Abby, owns an antique shop and one of the things that goes missing is the Taj Mahal, the mynah bird that lived in it and her cat! So, I rooted for Abby to get the cat back.
One of the things that lowered enjoyment of this story for me was the sheer number of characters. I got so confused at times as to who is who and finally realized this is the fifth book in a series. It would probably help the reader to start at the beginning of the series in order to keep everyone straight. Another thing that sort of irritated me was the way the mystery took a backseat to the rest of the action. There’s also a lot of talk about just how hot it is in Charleston, SC, and that got a bit redundant, too.
Still, this is a good afternoon read and the conclusion of the mystery is worth the effort. You’ll want to pick this one up!
July 1, 2020
Diverting read that does a good job capturing the feeling of being in Charleston, but I found it hard to get into and harder to keep up with the many characters introduced. Perhaps my fault for starting with the twelfth book in the series. 2.5 stars.
January 30, 2025
If you like cozy mysteries with eccentric characters and humorous narration, you'll like this story. Also, for those who care, no animal gets hurt. I started in the middle of this series, but I plan to start at the beginning now.
January 15, 2021
It did not win my attention as much as "Statue of Limitations" but I did enjoy reading this.
November 9, 2024
This was not by favorite since most of the secondary characters weren't in the story line.
January 8, 2010
#12 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.
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.
August 5, 2009
Antiques dealer Abigail Timberlake Washburn outbids several people to buy a birdcage shaped like the Taj Mahal. With the cage is a Mynah bird named Monet. At first, Abigail cares more for the cage than the bird, but she soon grows to like the bird and is upset when Monet is birdnapped. The kidnappers demand a real Monet in exchange for the feathered version. Abigail doesn't have the real Monet, but the kidnappers soon strike again, this time kidnapping Abigail's mother, Mozella. Abigail works frantically to figure out what the kidnappers are really looking for as well as where they have hidden her mother.
This is a very funny book. Readers may be laughing so hard they may not notice that the book is long on humor and short on plot. The "mystery" of Abigail's mother and bird being kidnapped is ignored for long stretches as Abigail encounters one eccentric character after another. While the regular characters of C.J. and the Rob-Bob's are always amusing (although jokes about Bob's cooking are overdone), minor characters such as FBI agents that Abigail nicknames Moldy and Scowler, seem thrown in the book just for the pun of it. I'd like to see less emphasis on the eccentric characters and more emphasis on the plot.
This is a light but amusing series.
This is a very funny book. Readers may be laughing so hard they may not notice that the book is long on humor and short on plot. The "mystery" of Abigail's mother and bird being kidnapped is ignored for long stretches as Abigail encounters one eccentric character after another. While the regular characters of C.J. and the Rob-Bob's are always amusing (although jokes about Bob's cooking are overdone), minor characters such as FBI agents that Abigail nicknames Moldy and Scowler, seem thrown in the book just for the pun of it. I'd like to see less emphasis on the eccentric characters and more emphasis on the plot.
This is a light but amusing series.
October 28, 2016
Charleston antiques dealer Abigail Washburn purchases a beautiful antique birdcage fashioned after the Taj Mahal. Unfortunately, the cage comes with a mynah bird named Monet. Monet is mouthy and rude to her customers but they all seem quite taken with him. Just as she decides not to get rid of him, he is bird-napped. The ransom note demands she exchange a real Monet painting for the bird. But Abby has no idea what the note is talking about. She has never owned a Monet, so she decides to let the thief keep the bird. But then her mother goes missing and the ransom note phone call is delivered by Monet the mynar bird.
October 30, 2013
I enjoyed this mystery. I thought the Charleston, SC setting was vividly described and felt like I was there. I have not read all the books previous to this one in the series but have read a few and I haven't read the one where the move from Charlotte to Charleston takes place and maybe that would help because it just seems unbelievable that not only does the main character move but all the regular supporting characters move as well - I guess that's the benefit of living in a fictional world.
February 6, 2015
Even though I had to skip from 3 to 12 I was not lost at all by missing the few in between. I admit this one was a little slow at first, but picked up and I enjoyed reading it. I will go back and read the ones I have missed as I love this series.
August 4, 2015
I think I need to back away from this series for a while.....it has become far too predictable for my liking and her jokes and descriptions of her characters are too similar to other novels. I need a break.
April 13, 2015
We loved this book! We listened to the audio version, it was laugh out loud hysterical in places. For a while, my son and I were on a train, laughing our heads off! The people near us were a little concerned, I think! Haha
March 8, 2009
This is the first Den Of Antiquities mystery that I read and enjoyed. I love her other series, I tried this one before and didn't care for it. But this one kept mu interest.
September 17, 2009
I think I am getting tired of this series. While it is still a simple, gentle mystery, I am not finding her sense of humor as funny or the characters as endearing. I think my tastes are changing.
February 27, 2010
Great little easy read with interesting characters and a good mystery plot. Not great literature, just fun.
March 17, 2010
Entertaining but not spell-binding. Part of the Den of Antiquity series.
March 30, 2010
reads fast, is a bit whimsical, but otherwise good lightweight entertainment...
September 25, 2011
maybe these are intended to be ridiculous, but it just doesn't do much for me, except pass some time and provide a little distraction from my aches.
December 5, 2015
punny, full of quips and humorous alliteration and expressions---mystery more far-fetched than usual.
Read
January 3, 2015Having trouble finishing this.......
January 11, 2016
I'm not sure why I keep reading this author. the plus are pretty sketchy and the puns she throws in are even worse. half the time they don't even fit into the story.
July 20, 2016
A quick cozy mystery filled with humor and her usual interesting characters.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews