Our featured women detective writer this month is Tamar Myers. She writes the Abigail Timberlake in the Den of Antiquity series. She also writes two other series but we are focusing on this one this month. Ms. Myers was born in the Congo in a missionary village and her latest series is focused in that area. She started writing when she was in college and tried to get published but she never hit until over 20 years later. Now there is no stopping her. We like the Den of Antiquity series as it has fun titles, quirky characters and actually comes to an end. Cozy mysteries are always great to read as they take an unlikely person as the “detective” and in this case an antique dealer. You just never know what you are going to find when you are browsing through estate items, rummaging around in old barns or helping a family get rid of some junk in the attic or basement. Of course, books that take place in the southern states are always my favorite. There are 16 books in the series so there is lots of reading to be had. Enjoy!
Check out her website at http://www.tamarmyers.com/
The Series in order of publication
1. Larceny and Old Lace (Den of Antiquity)
“As the owner of the Den of Antiquity, recently divorced(but never bitter!) Abigail Timberlake is accustomed to delving into the past, searching for lost treasures, and navigating the cutthroat world of rival dealers at flea markets and auctions. Still, she never thought she’d be putting her expertise in mayhem and detection to other use — until crotchety “junque” dealer, Abby’s aunt Eulonia Wiggins was found murdered!
Although Abigail is puzzled by the instrument of death — an exquisite antique bell pull that Aunt Eulonia never would have had the taste to acquire — she’s willing to let the authorities find the culprit. But now, Auntie’s priceless lace is missing, and somebody’s threatened Abby’s most priceless possession: her son, Charlie.It’s up to Abby to put the murderer “on the block.”
2. Gilt By Association (A Den of Antiquity Mystery)
“Petite, indomitable North Carolinian Abigail Timberlake rose gloriously up from the ashes of divorce–parlaying her savvy about exquisite old things into a thriving antique enterprise: the Den of Antiquity. Now she’s a force to be reckoned with in Charlotte’s close-knit world of mavens, eccentrics, and cutthroat 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 antique 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.”
3. The Ming and I (A Den of Antiquity Mystery)
“North Carolina native Abigail Timberlake, the owner of the Den of Antiquity, is quick to dismiss the seller of a hideous old vase–until the poor lady comes hurtling back through the shop window minutes later, the victim f a fatal hit-and-run.
Tall, dark, and handsome Homicide Investigator Greg Washburn–who just happens to be Abby’s boyfriend–is frustrated by conflicting accounts from eyewitnesses. And he’s just short of furious with his ever-loving when he learns it was a valuable Ming vase, and Abby let it vanish from the crime scene. Abby decides she had better find out for herself what happened to the treasure–and to the lady who was dying to get rid of it.
It turns out the victim had a lineage that would make a Daughter of the Confederacy green with envy, and her connection with the historic old Roselawn Plantation makes that a good place to start sleuthing. Thanks to her own mama’s impeccable southern credentials, Abby is granted an appointment with the board members–but no one gives her permission to snoop. And digging into the long-festering secrets of a proud family of the Old South turns out to be a breach of good manners that could land Abby six feet under in the family plot.”
4. So Faux, So Good (A Den of Antiquity Mystery)
“Abigail Timberlake, the owner of the Den of Antiquity, has never been happier. She is about to marry the man of her dreams AND has just outbid all other Charlotte, North Carolina, antique dealers for an exquisite English tea service. Then Mama (who is running off to be a nun) stops by to deliver an early wedding present, and it rains on Abby’s parade. The one-of-a-kind tea service Abby paid big bucks for has a twin. A frazzled Abby finds more trouble on her doorstep — literally — when a local auctioneer mysteriously collapses outside her shop and a press clipping of her engagement announcement turns up in the wallet of a dead man. (Obviously, she won’t be getting a wedding present from him.)
Tracing the deceased to a small town in the Pennsylvania Dutch country, Abby heads above the Mason-Dixon Line to search for clues to the origins of faux tea services. Accompanied by a trio of eccentric dealers and her beloved but stressed-out cat, she longs for her Southern homeland as she confronts a menagerie of dubious characters. Digging for answers, Abby realizes that she might just be digging her own grave in — horrors! — Yankeeland.”
5. Baroque and Desperate (Den of Antiquity)
“Unflappable and resourceful, Abigail Timberlake, antique dealer and owner of Charlotte, North Carolina’s Den of Antiquity, relies on her knowledge and savvy to authenticate the facts from the fakes when it comes to either curios or people. Her expertise makes Abby invaluable to exceptionally handsome Tradd Maxwell Burton, wealthy scion of the renowned Latham family. He needs her to determine the most priceless item in the Latham mansion and then split the proceeds of it with her. A treasure hunt in an antique-filled manor? All Abby can say is “let the games begin.”
Accompanied by her best girlfriend, C.J., Abby arrives at the estate and is met with cool reserve, if no downright rudeness, from the members of the Latham clan. Trying to carry out Tradd’s request, Abby finds that she could cut the household tension with a knife. But someone has beaten her to it by stabbing a maid to death with an ancient kris. Suddenly all eyes are on C.J., whose fingerprints happen to be all over the murder weapon. it’s up to Abby to use her knack for detecting forgeries to expose the fake alibi of the genuine killer.”
6. Estate of Mind (Den of Antiquity)
“When North Carolina antique dealer Abigail Timberlake makes a bid of $150.99 on a truly awful copy of Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, she’s just trying to win Mama’s approval by supporting the church auction. Hopefully, she’ll make her money back on the beautiful gold antique frame. Little does she expect she’s bought herself a fortune…and a lot of trouble.
When her ex-boyfriend shows up and offers ten bucks for the ugly Starry Night, Abby pops the frame and is stunned to discover hidden behind the faux Van Gogh canvas a multi-million dollar lost art treasure. Suddenly she’s a popular lady in her old hometown, and her first visit is from Gilbert Sweeney, her schoolyard sweetheart (according to him), who claims the family’s painting was donated by mistake. But social calls quickly turn from nice to nasty as it’s revealed that the mysterious masterpiece conceals a dark and deadly past and some modern-day misconduct that threatens to rock the Rock Hill social structure to its core. Someone apparently thinks the art is worth killing for, and Abby knows she better get to the bottom of the secret scandal and multiple murders before she ends up buried six feet under a starry night.”
7. A Penny Urned (Den of Antiquity)
“All that remains of Lula Mae Wiggins-who drowned in a bathtub of cheap champagne on New Year’s Eve-now sits in an alleged Etruscan urn in Savannah, Georgia. Further north, at the Den of Antiquity antique shop in Charlotte, North Carolina, plucky proprietor Abigail Timberlake is astonished to learn that she is the sole inheritor of the Wiggins estate. Late Aunt Lula Mae was, after all, as distant a relative as kin can get.
Arriving in picturesque Savannah, Abby makes a couple of startling discoveries. First, that Lula Mae’s final resting spot is more American cheap than Italian antique. And second, that there was a very valuable 1793 one-cent piece taped to the inside lid. Perhaps a coin collection worth millions is hidden among the deceased’s worldly possessions-making Lula’s passing more suspicious than originally surmised. With the strange appearance of a voodoo priestess coupled with the disturbing disappearance of a loved one-and with nasty family skeletons tumbling from the trees like acorns-Abby needs to find her penny auntie’s killer p.d.q…or she’ll be up to her ashes in serious trouble!”
8. Nightmare in Shining Armor: A Den of Antiquity Mystery
“Den of Antiquity proprietress Abigail Timberlake’s Halloween costume party is a roaring success—until an unexpected fire sends the panicked guests fleeing from Abby’s emporium. One exiting reveler she is only too happy to see the back of is Tweetie “Little Bo Peep” Timberlake—unfaithful wife of Abby’s faithless ex, Buford. But not long after the conflagration is brought under control, the former Mrs. T. discovers an unfamiliar suit of armor in her house. And stuffed inside is the heavily siliconed, no-longer-living body of the current Mrs. T.
Certainly, some enraged collector of medieval chain mail has sent Abby this deadly delivery. But diving into their eccentric ranks could prove a lethal proposition for the plucky antiques dealer/amateur sleuth. And even a metal suit may not be enough to protect Abby from the vicious and vindictive attentions of a crazed killer.”
9. Splendor in the Glass: A Den of Antiquity Mystery
“Antique dealer Abby Timberlake Washburn is thrilled when the Mrs. Amelia Shadbark—doyenne of Charleston society—invites her to broker a pricey collection of Lalique glass sculpture. These treasures will certainly boost business at the Den of Antiquity, and maybe hoist Abby into the upper crust—which would please her class-conscious mom, Mozella, no end. Alas, Abby’s fragile dream is soon shattered when Mrs. Shadbark meets a foul, untimely end. And as the last known visitor to the victim’s palatial abode, Abby’s being pegged by the local law as suspect Numero Uno. Of course, there are other possible killers—including several dysfunctional offspring and a handyman who may have been doing more for the late Mrs. S than fixing her leaky faucets. But Abby’s the one who’ll have to piece the shards of this deadly puzzle together—or else face a fate far worse than a mere seven years of bad luck!”
10. Tiles and Tribulations (Den of Antiquity)
“Abigail Timberlake Washburn would rather be anywhere else on a muggy Charleston summer evening — even putting in extra hours at her antique shop — than at a séance. But her best friend, “Calamity Jane,” thinks a spirit — or “Apparition American,” as ectoplasmically-correct Abby puts it — lurks in the eighteenth-century Georgian mansion, complete with priceless, seventeenth-century Portuguese kitchen tiles, that C.J. just bought as a fixer-upper. Luckily, Abby’s mama located a psychic in the yellow pages — a certain Madame Woo-Woo — and, together with a motley group of feisty retirees known as the “Heavenly Hustlers,” they all get down to give an unwanted spook the heave-ho. But, for all her extrasensory abilities, the Madame didn’t foresee that she, herself, would be forced over to the other side prematurely. Suddenly Abby fears there’s more than a specter haunting C.J. And they’d better exorcise a flesh-and-blood killer fast before the recently departed Woo-Woo gets company.”
11. Statue of Limitations (Den of Antiquity)
“Abigail Timberlake Washburn, the petite but feisty proprietor of Charleston’s Den of Antiquity antique shop, stopped speaking to her best friend and temporary decorating partner Wynnell Crawford a month ago — after questioning her choice of a cheap, three-foot-high replica of Michaelangelo’s David to adorn the garden of a local bed-and-breakfast. But now Wynnell has broken the silence with one phone call … from prison! It seems the b&b owner has been fatally beaned — allegedly by the same tacky statue — and Wynnell’s been fingered by the cops for the bashing. But Abby suspects there’s more to this well-sculpted slaying than initially meets the eye, and she wants to take a closer look at the not-so-bereaved widower and the two very odd couples presently guesting at the hostelry. Because if bad taste was a capital crime, Wynnell would be guilty as sin — but she’s certainly no killer!”
12. Monet Talks (Den of Antiquity)
“Charleston antique 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 mynah-less 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 bird-napper, Abby must leap into the fray to rescue mater and mynah alike … before the feathers really start to fly!”
13. The Cane Mutiny (Den of Antiquity)
“Abigail Timberlake Washburn understands the antiques game is a gamble — so she doesn’t know what to expect when she wins the bidding for the contents of an old locker that has been sealed up for years. It’s a delightful surprise when she discovers inside a collection of exquisite old walking sticks — and a not-so-delightful one when she pulls out a decrepit gym bag containing . . . a human skull!
The last thing the diminutive South Carolina antique dealer needs is to be suspected of foul play. So she grabs her chatty assistant (and future sister-in-law), C.J., and heads out to search for a killer they can stick it to. But this cane case will be no walk in the park — with its arcane clues hinting at poaching, counterfeiting, smuggling . . . and homicide, of course. And when a fresh corpse turns up, things are about to get really sticky for Abby and her staff of one.”
14. Death of a Rug Lord (Den of Antiquity)
“Business isn’t booming for antique 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 delighted to find a priceless Persian amid the cut-rate carpets—and shocked when Gwendolyn Spears, the store’s beleaguered owner, begs her to take it home! Abby feels more than a little guilty about getting such a great deal . . . especially when Gwendolyn is found dead the next morning.
Investigating the brutal murder, Abby soon discovers that the prized Orientals of Charleston’s society dames are nothing more than cheap fakes . . . and that a dangerous thief will do anything to pull the rug out from under her.”
15. Poison Ivory (Den of Antiquity)
“All antique dealer Abigail Timberlake Washburn wanted was to find a perfect gift for her darling (if not altogether together) mama Mozella’s birthday. She never expected her online purchase of an exquisite, seventeenth-century rosewood linen chest to place her in federal custody, accused of trafficking in illegal ivory! Then insult is heaped on her injury when she’s forced to turn to her lawyer-snake ex, Buford, to spring her—since ex-cop /current hubby Greg’s “good ol’ boy” contacts don’t happen to include any feds.
Abby may be small in stature, but she’s a force to be reckoned with when riled—and she’s determined to root out the real smugglers who she blames for her recent indignities. But in her zeal to stick it to the elephant eliminators who have invaded her beloved Charleston, Abby might just land herself and mama alike up to their pearly whites in lethally hot water!”
16. The Glass Is Always Greener (Den of Antiquity)
“After sixteen delightfully madcap books, Tamar Myers’s hilarious Den of Antiquity cozy mystery series comes to a close with The Glass is Always Greener. A real death at a fake wake gets Charleston, South Carolina antique dealer Abigail Timberlake Washburn into serious hot water”
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