I couldn't guess whodunit, next one please. ( )

Even though I had to skip from books 3 to 12 I was not lost at all by missing the few in between. I admit this one was a little slow at first, but picked up and I enjoyed reading it. I will go back and read the ones I have missed as I love this series. ( )

#12 in this mystery series, Abby Timberlake, owner of the Den of Antiquity antique store, fighting off some very high bidders, has purchased at auction the world's most beautiful birdcage. Built in the form of the Taj Mahal, it arrives with a mynah bird named Monet. Monet turns out to be quite a one bird show, he can not only voice obscure phrases but he can switch genders (in voice) without a break.

First Monet disappears, then people start to disappear. But if there is something about the birdcage that someone wants, why take the bird? Tamar Myers is well-known for her off-beat comic heroines in her series'. This almost tops it in content. Although maybe not quite as laugh out loud as earlier books, it is still giggly humorous. But then, after crashing a high society party, one of the main characters, who usually plays a truly priceless part for Abby to bounce off of so gleefully, is quickly among the missing.

This is how the story begins and Ms. Myers soon has us all embroiled in guessing and suspecting, also wondering why everything keeps coming back to the bird. There are serious accusations to sort out and downright hilarious ways in which four-foot-nine Abby goes about investigating. It takes her awhile to realize there is more to this crime than stealing the bird because she can't understand the phone calls she's getting. It's not really until she gets a package that fear takes over. Her friends the Rob-Bobs stay right with her almost every complaining step of the way... usually Rob complaining about Bob's "epicurean" cooking. All in all, another entertaining cozy mystery from Myers and certainly different. ( )

Antiques dealer Abigail Timberlake Washburn outbids several people to buy a birdcage shaped like the Taj Mahal. With the cage is a Mynah bird named Monet. At first, Abigail cares more for the cage than the bird, but she soon grows to like the bird and is upset when Monet is birdnapped. The kidnappers demand a real Monet in exchange for the feathered version. Abigail doesn't have the real Monet, but the kidnappers soon strike again, this time kidnapping Abigail's mother, Mozella. Abigail works frantically to figure out what the kidnappers are really looking for as well as where they have hidden her mother.

This is a very funny book. Readers may be laughing so hard they may not notice that the book is long on humor and short on plot. The "mystery" of Abigail's mother and bird being kidnapped is ignored for long stretches as Abigail encounters one eccentric character after another. While the regular characters of C.J. and the Rob-Bob's are always amusing (although jokes about Bob's cooking are overdone), minor characters such as FBI agents that Abigail nicknames Moldy and Scowler, seem thrown in the book just for the pun of it. I'd like to see less emphasis on the eccentric characters and more emphasis on the plot.

This is a light but amusing series. ( )

this series is always fun ( )