Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | MYSTERY FIF | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
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.
Author Notes
Sharon Fiffer lives in the Chicago area with her husband, Steve. Together they edited a couple of widely acclaimed collections of literary memoirs, Home: American Writers Remember Rooms of Their Own and Family: American Writers Remember Their Own. After this, Sharon began writing mystery novels. Her series about her main character, Jane Wheel, currently contains seven books.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In Sharon Fiffer's third winning antiques mystery (after 2002's Dead Guy's Stuff), The Wrong Stuff, series heroine Jane Wheel goes undercover to investigate a dealer accused of murder as part of a counterfeit furniture operation, but the case has a personal angle she didn't anticipate. Haunters of flea markets and yard sales are in for a collectible treat. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Antiques picker Jane Wheel has vowed to reduce the clutter in her home after losing her son's field-trip permission slip. At the same time, she must decide whether to join former police detective Bruce Oh's private detective agency. Events come to a head when Oh's wife, Claire, an antiques dealer, is accused of substituting a fake chest for an extremely rare find. When the buyer is murdered, leaving Claire the prime suspect, Jane agrees to investigate; so she and her longtime friend Tim go off to Campbell and LaSalle, the company where the chest was restored, and Jane finds a second body. The plot has a few holes--it's unrealistic to think that Jane would be able to search and remove evidence from the second victim's cabin and vehicle before the police do--but readers will respond to the likable characters and their amusing interrelationships. The details of antiques picking, dealing, and restoring, as well as clutter removal, offer added dimensions to an enjoyable series. --Sue O'Brien Copyright 2003 Booklist
Kirkus Review
Something for nothing turns out to be a really bad buy. When antique dealer Claire Oh admires a battered old chest in a basement, the owners, thinking it's trash, present it to her. Believing it's a genuine, extremely rare Westman Sunflower Chest, Claire carts it home, sells it to Horace Cutler, another dealer, for a nice profit, and agrees to drive it to the Campbell and LaSalle country workshops for restoring. When Cutler gets it back, though, he screams that it's a fake. Then he turns up dead with a lovely carved bone handle knife in him and Claire is accused of murder, which does not sit well with her husband, a retired police detective, and his new p.i. apprentice Jane Wheel, who salvages antiques herself, mostly from yard sales, flea markets, and street corners (Dead Guy's Stuff, 2002, etc.). Jane and her best friend, the ebulliently gay floral and interior designer Tim, reconnoiter the toney Campbell and LaSalle enclave, a live-in community of artisans, and befriend Rick Moore, who may or may not have restored that chest. When Rick is drowned, Sgt. Murkel closes the premises, and the race is on to find the killer before the killer finds Jane. The plot is merely serviceable, but Jane and Tim, who fantasize about their pretend offspring, the darling Patina and the smart Veneer, are absolutely charming. Added bonus: the amusing admonitions to pack rats that head up each chapter. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
Series sleuth/antique picker Jane Wheel (Killer Stuff) begins work in a P.I. office with friend Bruce Oh. Her first murder case involves an antiques dealer and counterfeit furniture, so she feels right at home. Unfortunately, the dealer accused happens to be Bruce's wife. A lively diversion. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
