Rating: 
Summary: A good mystery
Review: Former FBI agent Jeff Talbot used to work cases involving stolen antiquities for the agency. Now he supplements his retirement income by working as a picker who visits estate and yard sales to purchase collectibles and antiquities for a select group of storeowners and other clients. His only unfulfilled wish is that his beloved wife Sheila would accompany him on his ventures, but agoraphobia keeps her home.
Jeff heads to Mackinac Island off the coast of Michigan for an estate sale. He bids on a cabaret set for Seattle client Blanche Applby, owner of All Things Old. When two people including the auctioneer are murdered, at the invitation of the local police Jeff reverts back to the old days to investigate the homicides.
Readers will receive an insider view of the cutthroat competitiveness of the antique business world. The characters seem authentic especially the hero who many female readers will measure their significant other against (mine holds up nicely). DEATH IS A CABARET includes a fascinating mystery that enables the audience to become an intricate part of the plot and will surely bring acclaim to Deborah Morgan. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: A good mystery
Review: Former FBI agent Jeff Talbot used to work cases involving stolen antiquities for the agency. Now he supplements his retirement income by working as a picker who visits estate and yard sales to purchase collectibles and antiquities for a select group of storeowners and other clients. His only unfulfilled wish is that his beloved wife Sheila would accompany him on his ventures, but agoraphobia keeps her home.
Jeff heads to Mackinac Island off the coast of Michigan for an estate sale. He bids on a cabaret set for Seattle client Blanche Applby, owner of All Things Old. When two people including the auctioneer are murdered, at the invitation of the local police Jeff reverts back to the old days to investigate the homicides.
Readers will receive an insider view of the cutthroat competitiveness of the antique business world. The characters seem authentic especially the hero who many female readers will measure their significant other against (mine holds up nicely). DEATH IS A CABARET includes a fascinating mystery that enables the audience to become an intricate part of the plot and will surely bring acclaim to Deborah Morgan. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly engaging characters and a terrific story.
Review: I bought this book because the description sounded promising,
and I liked the idea of setting the story among the search
for antiques. The story and characters grabbed my interest
immediately, and I could hardly put the book down. I am
definitely going to look for more books in this searies.
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly engaging characters and a terrific story.
Review: I bought this book because the description sounded promising,
and I liked the idea of setting the story among the search
for antiques. The story and characters grabbed my interest
immediately, and I could hardly put the book down. I am
definitely going to look for more books in this searies.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating glimpse into the world of antique collectors.
Review: I think one of the characteristics of mystery fans, besides a love of puzzle solving, is a genuine interest in other people, cultures, societies, worlds, etc. Why else would the mystery genre be so popular? We don't read mysteries simply to solve crimes; we read to meet new people, explore new places, and experience the unknown. Deborah Morgan's new "Antique Lover's" series is a shining example of what the mystery genre has to offer. Her sleuth, Jeff Talbot, is a "picker," someone who patrols garage and estate sales, looking for bargain antiques to sell to antique dealers. Talbot's enthusiasm for his job, his delight in discovering a hidden treasure in someone's attic, is tempered by the dog-eat-dog nature of the business. His chief rival is Frank Hamilton, a hot-tempered picker with a bullying nature and a lack of scruples. A run-in with Hamilton is enough to spoil Talbot's entire day. When Hamilton turns up dead at an auction in Michigan, an auction that Talbot is also attending, Talbot fears he is the chief suspect. But as a former FBI agent, he is in the position to call in some favors and do some sleuthing of his own. In the intimate world of antique collectors, Talbot soon discovers that Hamilton had many enemies and conspirators with both motive and opportunity. Can Talbot catch the murderer AND obtain the prize antique tea set that is the auction's focal point? I found this mystery to be thoroughly enjoyable, like stepping into a foreign world where everything is unfamiliar and fascinating. Talbot leads a truly unusual life, living in a mansion filled with antiques, employing a butler to keep things running smoothly, and living with a wife whose agoraphobia keeps her confined to the house (and prevents her from traveling with Jeff). Setting the auction on Mackinac Island in Michigan is an additional stroke of genius and lets the author take the reader into yet another world, where cars are prohibited and jackets required after 6 p.m. The mystery itself is engaging, although the denouement involves many sudden revelations (this is a pet peeve of mine since it prohibits the reader from solving the mystery herself). The setting is undoubtedly the central delight of this book, but it is so compelling that it compensates for the slight weakness of plot. I eagerly await the next installment.
Rating: 
Summary: Cabaret was Great!!
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this first book by Deborah Morgan and am anxiously awaiting more!! I love finding books with chacaters that you feel you know by the first chapter. Thank you Ms. Morgan!! R.Allen
Rating:
Summary: Not the cozy I thought it would be! Great read!!!!
Review: Jeff Talbot is an interesting guy. He used to work for the FBI, and now lives in Seattle making his way in the world hunting antiques as a "picker". I was able to understand much of this because it is very similar to hunting for books. While reading this book, you learn to appreciate the knowledge needed to be a picker. So for this aspect alone, I loved the book. But the book is much more than that. The characters are realistic and enjoyable, and the story is engrossing. I was drawn into it and stayed up much later than I planned reading the whole book through to it's conclusion. Jeff is on a quest. He's looking for a tea set with Napoleon ties, an object that has eluded a dear freind of his for years. He travels to an auction on Mackinac Island and plans to be the winning bidder. This being a mystery, of course things don't go as planned. Before long a body shows up. Some one Jeff knows. And he is drawn into the investigation. And then another body. And then some twists and turns and before long the teapot is second on Jeff's to do list. I really loved this book. I didn't think I would like it as much as I did. It seemed that an "antique lover's mystery" would not be my kind of thing. Boy, was I wrong. This book is super, and since it's a paperback, there is no excuse not to buy it and enjoy it for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Not the cozy I thought it would be! Great read!!!!
Review: Jeff Talbot is an interesting guy. He used to work for the FBI, and now lives in Seattle making his way in the world hunting antiques as a "picker". I was able to understand much of this because it is very similar to hunting for books. While reading this book, you learn to appreciate the knowledge needed to be a picker. So for this aspect alone, I loved the book. But the book is much more than that. The characters are realistic and enjoyable, and the story is engrossing. I was drawn into it and stayed up much later than I planned reading the whole book through to it's conclusion. Jeff is on a quest. He's looking for a tea set with Napoleon ties, an object that has eluded a dear freind of his for years. He travels to an auction on Mackinac Island and plans to be the winning bidder. This being a mystery, of course things don't go as planned. Before long a body shows up. Some one Jeff knows. And he is drawn into the investigation. And then another body. And then some twists and turns and before long the teapot is second on Jeff's to do list. I really loved this book. I didn't think I would like it as much as I did. It seemed that an "antique lover's mystery" would not be my kind of thing. Boy, was I wrong. This book is super, and since it's a paperback, there is no excuse not to buy it and enjoy it for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Murder at an Antique Auction
Review: Jeff Talbot used to work for the FBI. Now he's an antique picker (he searches out antiques) in Seattle. As a professional picker, his job is to find and buy unusual items, then resell them to Blanche Appeby, owner of the city's largest antique shop and she wants him to buy for her a cabaret set, a porcelain coffee server that used to be in her family and was originally owned by Napoleon. The cabaret set is up for auction at the Annual Antiques Festival on Michigan's Mackinac Island and Jeff is determined to get it back for Blanche. But he isn't the only one after it. Frank Hamilton, Talbot's main competitor in the trade, shows up at the Festival as well. Jeff knows his presence means trouble, but he doesn't realize how much until his rival turns up dead, and Jeff wonders who hated Frank enough to kill him. When a second death occurs, he is drawn deeper into the investigation and he turns to his wife for help. An agoraphobic, Sheila Talbot no longer ventures outside her Seattle home, but she's an expert at surfing the net. While Sheila researches clues on her computer, Jeff investigates the personal lives of the other auction attendees, hoping to discover a motive for the killings.
There is a nice surprise ending to this five star mystery that not only entertains, but takes us into the fascinating world of antique dealers. Reviewed submitted by Captain Katie Osborne
Rating:
Summary: A smashing debut novel
Review: Ms. Morgan makes use of a nineteenth century cabaret set to bring the twentieth century whodunit into the new millennium. This classic style mystery involves the reader in the search for the culprit. Mystery fans will love helping ex FBI agent Jeff Talbot sift through the clues as he seeks to identify the murderer. There are plenty of suspects, all with plausible motives and means, keeping the suspense level just right. The world of high-end antique dealing and trading is a new setting for a murder mystery but it fits beautifully. A one of a kind cabaret set commissioned by Napoleon for Josephine is the object of attention for some very sophisticated collectors as they come together for an auction at the beautiful and historic Grand Hotel on Michigan's Mackinac Island. Jeff Talbot has journeyed all the way from Seattle to bid for the precious treasure. He finds the usually peaceful island bristling with bidders, some above reproach and some downright unscrupulous, but all determined to possess this celebrated tea set. And then they begin turning up murdered. Deborah Morgan's love for antiques comes through loud and clear, right down to Jeff Talbot's own pride and joy, his 1948 Chevy Woodie. Morgan tells this story splendidly, capturing the aura of Mackinac Island while intertwining the struggle of Jeff Talbot's wife Sheila as she battles the demons in her own mind. This is the kind of book that will appeal to a very wide audience. It's suitable for all ages and has the unique charm of capturing the reader who has always dreamed of uncovering some long lost masterpiece at a local garage sale. I highly recommend it and sincerely hope that we haven't heard the last of Jeff Talbot.
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