Backstage Stuff

November 15, 2010
Undeveloped characters and a shortage of antiques lore mar Fiffer's fifth Jane Wheel mystery (after 2009's Scary Stuff), one of the weaker entries in her otherwise light and enjoyable cozy series. On the verge of a divorce, antique-picker Jane welcomes the chance to work on an estate sale at the largest mansion in her hometown of Kankakee, Ill. She's also happy to "dress" the set for a production of a play, a murder mystery written by the house's late eccentric owner. When a heavy beam falls on Marvin Gladish, the carpenter for the theater troupe putting on the play, the police think Marv's death is accidental, but Jane suspects murder and once again turns sleuth. The less than suspenseful plot never gains much momentum, and a closing twist doesn't make the denouement any less predictable.

November 1, 2010

Anyone can get through a divorce when she has a nice murder to occupy her.

What's a girl to do when her marriage is foundering, her son is off on an archeological dig with her soon-to-be ex and garage sales, which used to be the highlight of her day, have lost their appeal? Jane Wheel, antiques forager and sometime detective (Scary Stuff, 2009, etc.), is lucky to have Tim Lowry as her best friend. Tim nudges her off the couch to help him stage a play he's found while organizing the Kendell house sale for the heirs. The three-act melodrama, a stinker written 50 years ago by Freddy Kendell, loses one cast member to a broken leg and another to a falling beam. Almost as serious is the constant popping-up of Mr. Bumbles, a ventriloquist's dummy beloved by Freddy, and a series of notes signed "Bumbles" that promise dire consequences if the show goes on. In between soldiering through rehearsals and sorting through antiques in the Kendell house, Jane uncovers old playbills and versions of the script, all featuring members of Kendell's Theater Club, and surprisingly mentioning Jane's mother Nellie, who took part in the original production. One more will die before Jane, with her mentor Detective Oh's approval, resolves matters and begins her almost-divorced life with new enthusiasm.

Fiffer seems to be reworking her main characters, shifting their relationships and, in the case of Tim and Jane, making them more conventional and less amusing. Pity.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

December 15, 2010
Antiques picker Jane Wheel, in the midst of a divorce, is at loose ends with her son spending the summer on a dig with his father. Then her good friend Tim Lowry asks her to help him prepare for an estate sale in their hometown of Kankakee, Illinois. Jane finds Tim has an ulterior motive; in addition to her assistance with the sale, he also wants her to help him stage a play written by a local author. Trouble comes quickly: strange events occur at the mansion where the sale is to be held, and someone seems to want to sabotage the play. When one of the crew members dies, Jane investigates. As usual in this entertaining series, information on antiques and collectibles is intertwined with the mystery, and this time the dynamics of running a community theater are also in the mix.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)