"Charming cozy"

The Den of Antiquity, a high end antique store in Charleston, South Carolina is owned and run by Abigail Timberlake, a woman who spends more time on homicide investigations than she does managing her business. Her co- worker and close friend C.J. persuades Abigail to attend a séance at her house so they can exorcise the ghost that haunts it. Abigail, with her mother and her friends arrive at Cid's house when she spots a tape recorder under the table.

The medium, Madame Woo-Woo put it there the day before as part of her scam. When the séance begins, the so-called medium punches the button on the tape recorder and shortly thereafter dies. The police discover that someone put poison on the tape recorder and Abigail knows it is one of the people who attended the séance. Placing herself in peril, she starts her own investigation; questioning everyone who was there.

Tamar Myers, the author of the Magdelena Yoder series, has written a charming cozy filled with warmth and humor. The heroine, a four foot nine dynamo goes into her sleuth mode asking intelligent questions of all the suspects while trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. Her perseverance and intelligence makes her an ideal amateur sleuth.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted March 10, 2003