Backstage Stuff
A Jane Wheel Mystery No. 7
By Sharon Fiffer
Hardback, 290 pages, $24.99

If you’re a fan of estate and garage sales and plays that include murder mysteries, "Backstage Stuff" by Sharon Fiffer will hold a double appeal.

But first, a word of caution: Don’t start this book unless you have time to spend hours in Kankakee, Ill. I read this book it two sittings, so plan your day accordingly.

Sharon Fiffer’s Jane Wheel series grabs readers from the first sentence and doesn’t let go. Each book in the series is a treasure of perfect pacing, terrific characters, and plots that shine as brightly as a piece of polished silver.

You’ll meet Jane Wheel, who is dealing with an impending divorce from her husband, Charley, who has headed off on yet another archeological dig, but this time he’s taken their son, Nick.

Jane’s home alone, trying to figure out what she wants to do when she grows up, or at least for the summer while Nick’s off on his newest adventure.

“Each member of this odd triangle of a family had a method and a madness for getting lost in work, in play, in passion.”

She’s got two careers, one as a ‘picker’ at flea markets, garage and estate sales, and a second as private investigator; and she's found she's pretty good at both.

Plus, she has the help of her trusty sidekicks. Tim Lowry is her best friend and antique expert, and Detective Bruce Oh, is a top-notch investigator and her mentor.

Jane admits that she’s "a magpie-at-large, who had never found a broken bit, a lost thingamajig, a worn scrap, or a discarded odd and/or end that she didn’t, at least for a short while, slip into her pocket and keep.”

And for more family fun, you’ll head to the EZ Way Inn and meet Don and Nellie, Jane’s parents, plus their cast of regular customers.

“We never had a particularly warm mother-daughter thing going, but at least Nellie treated her like a favorite customer.”

And in this installment, there’s a new cast of characters, but of the actor variety, who are in "Murder in the Eekaknak Valley" by Frederick Kendell. (Eekaknak is Kankakee spelled backwards.)

A play that Jane called “a silly old play … complete with a silly old mystery attached,” until she learned it was being directed by her friend, Tim.

It's a play with a history that everyone says is unlucky. And, I guess two murders and a slew of mishaps might make it seem that way. But the show must go on.

This is a great series filled with lots of fun stuff, but fans of Fiffer's series know even when you get to the last page, you can never get enough "Stuff" when it comes this author's terrific series.

Lisa Allmendinger is a reporter for AnnArbor.com. Her Cozy Corner mystery book reviews run every Wednesday.