SummaryJane Wheel has a lot of stuff. Vintage flowerpots,
postcards, Bakelite buttons, pencil sharpeners, mismatched
china, linens, even old report cards from children she
never knew peek out from the deepest corners of her home,
threatening to envelop her entire life. Of course, she's
not just a pack rat (or so she tells herself), it's her
job: Jane is an antique picker, cruising garage sales and
rummage tables looking for items she can turn around and
sell to dealers or collectors, picking up a tidy profit.
Trouble is, she does a lot of buying and so far only a
little selling. When a school permission slip lost among the towering boxes
in Jane's kitchen causes her son, Nick, to miss a field
trip, Jane vows to get rid of it all, organizing her house
and, in the process, she hopes, her life. Meanwhile, she's
entertaining two offers of employment---as an associate
with her friend Tim Lowry's antiques dealership and as a
consultant in a private investigations firm with former
police detective Bruce Oh. Unable to decide, Jane figures
she'll take a crack at splitting her time between the two
pursuits. Immediately, and with fragile emotions swirling from her
great house-cleaning project, Jane finds herself smack in
the middle of a case that will draw on both her new jobs.
An antiques dealer has been accused of murder, perhaps as
part of covering up an extensive furniture-counterfeiting
operation. Jane can hardly wait to investigate---that is,
until she learns the identity of the accused: Claire Oh,
wife of her new partner Bruce. Rich in the details of junk-
sale ephemera that have intrigued fans of previous Jane
Wheel adventures, The Wrong Stuff is another fascinating,
meticulously crafted mystery.
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