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Den of Antiquity #2
Gilt by Association
It’s a nightmare in shining armoire…
Petite, indomitable North Carolinian Abigail Timberlake rose gloriously up from the ashes of divorce—parlaying her savvy about exquisite old things into a thriving antiques enterprise: the Den of Antiquity. Now she’s a force to be reckoned with in Charlotte’s close-knit world of mavens, eccentrics and cuttthroat dealers. But a superb, gilt-edged 18th-century French armoire she purchased for a song at estate auction has just arrived along with something she didn’t pay for: a dead body.
Suddenly her shop is a crime scene—and closed to the public during the busiest shopping season of the year—so Abigail is determined to speed the lumbering police investigation along. But amateur sleuthing is leading the feisty antiques expert into a murderous mess of dysfunctional family secrets. And the next cadaver found stuffed into fine old furniture could wind up being Abigail’s own.
Petite, indomitable North Carolinian Abigail Timberlake rose gloriously up from the ashes of divorce—parlaying her savvy about exquisite old things into a thriving antiques enterprise: the Den of Antiquity. Now she’s a force to be reckoned with in Charlotte’s close-knit world of mavens, eccentrics and cuttthroat dealers. But a superb, gilt-edged 18th-century French armoire she purchased for a song at estate auction has just arrived along with something she didn’t pay for: a dead body.
Suddenly her shop is a crime scene—and closed to the public during the busiest shopping season of the year—so Abigail is determined to speed the lumbering police investigation along. But amateur sleuthing is leading the feisty antiques expert into a murderous mess of dysfunctional family secrets. And the next cadaver found stuffed into fine old furniture could wind up being Abigail’s own.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 1996
21 people are currently reading
319 people want to read
About the author
Tamar Myers
74 books292 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 38 reviews
April 17, 2021
When antiques dealer Abby Timberlake finds a body in a recently purchased 18th-century French armoire, she's introduced to a money-hungry family who'd stab each other in the back (or other body parts) to get a rumored fortune. There's lots of humor, and a fun cast of characters here, though like the first book in the series - things wrap up a little too quickly AND neatly for my taste.
This made for a nice, fluffy palate cleanser between heavier books, and the tale was even more delightful when I started picturing Amy Sedaris as the main character.
This made for a nice, fluffy palate cleanser between heavier books, and the tale was even more delightful when I started picturing Amy Sedaris as the main character.
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.)
September 28, 2018
This is just a plain fun series.
March 21, 2022
I think I just need to stay away from Tamar Myers. I don't find it humorous at all - Abby is a 4'9" divorced owner of the Den of Antiquity. Her ex is a big shot lawyer who got full custody of her kids and is married to a 20 something. She finds a body in an armoire of a set that she purchases from a local wealthy family. The extended group of relatives are mostly horrible people with weird names. Here's some of the 'amusing' people in her book: Abby's best friend makes her own clothes out of mismatching pieces of fabric, there is a young woman who owns the shop next to her who keeps telling outlandish stories of people she knows who had horrific things happen to them, she also has a gay couple who she's friendly with Rob/Bob and one of them cooks non typical gourmand meals and she just wants donuts. I find the author hokey and not funny at all.
February 17, 2024
This is the first I have read from this author. I found it to be an easy read, the story was interesting, there were some colorful characters and bits of humor. Was the story entirely plausable? Perhaps not, but I have read so many cosies that are not that I don't consider that a negative. I liked the characters, especially our lead Abby Timberlake. I hope to find more books by this author.
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January 4, 2020Enjoyed this book a lot
May 19, 2021
Entertaining read. Ending was a little abrupt with some loose ends I guess we'll just never know...
November 3, 2022
Great author. I love her books. She builds the characters up and is great in her descriptions.
January 27, 2024
This was another fun read. I enjoy this author!!
February 3, 2024
Good series. Always a few chuckles along the way. As with all of Tamar Myers books they are a fun read.
May 5, 2024
An ok mystery solved by a woman who never seemed to need to be at work.
September 7, 2024
Got the book at a library sale and enjoyed the plot and characters
June 28, 2025
Fun mystery, clever lines.
November 17, 2017
It's quite a while since i read the first book in this series, and to be honest, I can't decide if I actually liked the POV character.
March 18, 2024
Pretty good
May 6, 2016
In North Carolina, Abigail Timberlake owns and operates an antique store, Den of Antiquity. She buys several items from an estate auction and finds a dead body in one piece of the furniture after it's delivered. She's questioned and her entire shop is impounded. Even though she has an on-off relationship with a detective, she feels the police aren't going to be in any hurry to solve the crime and Christmas is her busiest time of the year. So she starts to interview every member of the family related to the estate. The elderly matriarch of the family is murdered and Abigail suddenly finds herself in over her head.
Tamar Byers is a new author to me. My library suddenly got in a lot of books by this author and I wanted to try one out. This book was easy to read and I found it entertaining. I liked the wittiness of the main character and all her quirky friends and family. I also liked reading descriptions of the antiques in Abigail's shop. I will eventually read every book in this series.
Tamar Byers is a new author to me. My library suddenly got in a lot of books by this author and I wanted to try one out. This book was easy to read and I found it entertaining. I liked the wittiness of the main character and all her quirky friends and family. I also liked reading descriptions of the antiques in Abigail's shop. I will eventually read every book in this series.
March 31, 2012
Abigail Timberlake lives in Charlotte, NC. She owns an antique furniture store and has just received four pieces of Louis XV furniture that she won at auction. Imagine her dismay to find a dead body in the armoire! Since the local cops shut her store as the sight of a crime during the Christmas season, she feels she has to help solve the crime or her store will be closed a long time. And, so begins the efforts of this Southern amateur sleuth to find out who killed Arnold Ramsey.
The writer, Tamar Myers, develops Abigail Timberlake as a true Southern - country gal full of sayings and manners that rang true to me, having been raised in the same general area of the South. I felt right at home with Abigail, and I thoroughly enjoyed my sojourn into her world through this book.
I certainly will enjoy looking for more books to read in the Den of Antiquity series.
The writer, Tamar Myers, develops Abigail Timberlake as a true Southern - country gal full of sayings and manners that rang true to me, having been raised in the same general area of the South. I felt right at home with Abigail, and I thoroughly enjoyed my sojourn into her world through this book.
I certainly will enjoy looking for more books to read in the Den of Antiquity series.
January 19, 2012
Book 2 in the Den of Antiquity series. Overall, I found it to be an entertaining story although the ending felt a little abrupt. Compared to the1st book in this series, Abby is less sarcastic, there is more humour, and the story is more focused on the mystery rather than providing background information on Abby's family and colleagues. There is the requisite number of dead bodies and quirky characters to keep the plot moving along, some information about antiques, and references to southern hospitality that help establish the setting for the story. Buford continues to be his typical nasty self and Greg wants to be more than Abby's on-again off-again boyfriend. Although the mysteries aren't overly complex, they are interesting enough that I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
March 10, 2013
Snicker, snicker. This author seems to not think highly of Ohio either. I know most Southern born and bred people resent the Yankees to this day. As a Michigander, I just find it hilarious that most of the obnoxious Yanks described in Southern set novels are either from New York, New Jersey, or Ohio.
Later on, a Michigan man is cheating on his wife. Not exactly morally upright, but not necessarily rude.
Finished the book. There were several laugh worthy and witty lines in the book. I enjoyed this one more than the last. I echo another reviewer in the unnecessary use of the f-bomb. Other than that, this book made me want to keep reading this series. Glad I didn't quit after the first one.
Later on, a Michigan man is cheating on his wife. Not exactly morally upright, but not necessarily rude.
Finished the book. There were several laugh worthy and witty lines in the book. I enjoyed this one more than the last. I echo another reviewer in the unnecessary use of the f-bomb. Other than that, this book made me want to keep reading this series. Glad I didn't quit after the first one.
June 14, 2015
#2 in the Den of Antiquity series. This 1996 cozy follow on the heels of prolific author Myers' 1996 series debut Larceny and Old Lace (1996).
Den of Antiquity series - Abigail Timberlake buys some Louis XV pieces at an estate sale but when they are delivered there is a body in the armoire. The Charlotte PD has her shop behind crime scene tape during the Christmas shopping season, so Abby resolves to solve the case and reopen her store. She begins by interviewing the members of the dysfunctional Barras clan.
Den of Antiquity series - Abigail Timberlake buys some Louis XV pieces at an estate sale but when they are delivered there is a body in the armoire. The Charlotte PD has her shop behind crime scene tape during the Christmas shopping season, so Abby resolves to solve the case and reopen her store. She begins by interviewing the members of the dysfunctional Barras clan.
October 4, 2019
This is obviously not a hard core mystery but there are still areas of the book where I couldn't wait to see what happened next. This is a light-hearted, happy mystery that will make you laugh out loud and maybe even crave some stir-fried collards. The last chapter is almost like a scene out of the Waltons that ends not with "good night John-Boy" but with "shut up Jane" and "a Merry Christmas was had by all", even Jewish Rob. Just like the merry time you will have as you journey with Tamar Myers through this engaging and hilarious Southern mystery.
August 31, 2012
I found this book at the library and thought I'd give it a try. There were some weird editing mistakes and profanity (including the "f-word") peppered the dialogue throughout the whole book.
Another Goodreads member reviewed this story and they explained it as being like cotton candy (with lots of fluff and very little substance). I think that's a very accurate description, and perhaps I'd say that it's cotton candy from a very second-rate fair.
Another Goodreads member reviewed this story and they explained it as being like cotton candy (with lots of fluff and very little substance). I think that's a very accurate description, and perhaps I'd say that it's cotton candy from a very second-rate fair.
November 29, 2016
Abby's antique store is finally starting to make a profit and her life is settling down after her divorce and her aunt's murder. Then she purchases a set of antique furniture from an estate sale and goes to inspect it the next morning, only to find a dead body inside the armoir. Abby is worried about how this will affect the reputation of her shop and the police are moving too slow, so she decides to help them out and find some clues on her own.
March 26, 2009
Overall, this was a good book. There were times I couldn't put it down, but also times I wanted to skip a few pages. It kept me guessing and had enough twists to keep it interesting. I plan to read some of the other books in this series, because I really enjoyed the writing style, and the plot was very original.
July 17, 2013
Another re-read. This one did not get any better with a 2nd read. Written in the 1st person, Abagail Timberlake just is too cute. At least she thinks she is. It would be a better read if the cute/sarcastic/funny remarks were toned down a bit. Instead of liking the woman, I found myself thinking she was just egotistical and while she's almost likeable, she just doesn't make it.
July 2, 2011
sometimes I like Tamar Myers, but sometimes I don't. This one's a don't. It just didn't seem very well written, with stereotypical and predictable characters, dialogue and action. Abigail Timberlake's Den of Antiquity should be interesting because antiques can be, but not this one. a potboiler?
February 29, 2012
This was better than the first in the series, particularly as regards the editing (which matters a lot to me). I will read the third and see if it improves enough to make the entire series worthwhile.
May 26, 2014
Extra twists
"Larceny and Old Lace" was a bit better, but still love all the characters. I think the ending left a few unanswered questions but might find them in the next book. Still a good story.
"Larceny and Old Lace" was a bit better, but still love all the characters. I think the ending left a few unanswered questions but might find them in the next book. Still a good story.
January 7, 2009
A fun read, but a book of no substance of any kind whatsoever. Kind of reminds me of cotten candy.
Read
June 4, 2009smart writer, smart reader, tongue-in-cheek humor, lots of punning
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews