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Rating: 
Summary: Everything you'd want in a murder mystery
Review: Dr. Larry Karp certainly can write! In his Thomas Purdue series he manages to keep you entertained and guessing to the end and at the same time manages to introduce you to the highly competetive world of antique collecting. I'm a fairly advanced collector myself but I've always got more that I can learn in this subject and I'm amazed but I always find something new in this series. It's a definate keeper.
Rating:
Summary: Everything you'd want in a murder mystery
Review: Dr. Larry Karp certainly can write! In his Thomas Purdue series he manages to keep you entertained and guessing to the end and at the same time manages to introduce you to the highly competetive world of antique collecting. I'm a fairly advanced collector myself but I've always got more that I can learn in this subject and I'm amazed but I always find something new in this series. It's a definate keeper.
Rating:
Summary: fasten your seatbelts -- !
Review: For whatever reason, all kinds of wonderful explanatory words kept running through my mind while reading this book. Rowdy, raucous, rascally. Rambunctious. Romp. Revenge. Even romance. Oh, there were a few others, most notably 'politically incorrect'. Or should that be 'uncorrect'? Whichever, it most certainly is that, too. However, it is also one of the most enjoyable books I've read in a long time. Some of the people we encounter in our daily lives are so not-at-all-nice, it's truly enjoyable to see them brought down a few pegs. One could almost--almost, but not quite--feel sorry for Vincent LoPriore when he lands in the exceptional world of Thomas Purdue. Of course, had not Vinny (known as the Birdman because of his fondness for collecting musical automata featuring birds) perpetrated a gigantic fraud against one of Purdue's fellow collectors and long-time friends, Hugh Curtis, Vinny would not have placed himself in jeopardy. Trust me, this is not the tv version of jeopardy, either. (Aside here: this would make a WONDERFUL movie, however, being a very visual book. It virtually screens itself in the mind's eye of the reader.) Another 'R' word is Runyon, as in the great Damon and his truly unforgettable characters. One might think that Larry Karp studied at the feet of Runyon, given his ability to create the same kind of memorable personages to tramp so blithely through the pages of his novels. Just the names alone go trippingly off the tongue, creating a smile on the reader's face: Broadway Schwartz, Big Al, Frank the Crank, Cleveland Gackle (his real name!), Mick the Dick and Soapy Sandy, plus Nozey Espinoza and Fenton Dassidario (another real moniker). And not least, two extraordinary women with ordinary names: Edna Reynolds and Sarah Purdue. This is a rare adventure caper, sometimes raw, sometimes rollicking, and always realistic. At least I think it is that latter, for I certainly have no exposure whatever to the world of Thomas Purdue, but I'm grateful to Larry Karp for letting me visit it occasionally. Scamming the Birdman is a rara avis, indeed. You won't be sorry if it comes into your sights, unless of course, you don't focus in on it. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Scamming the Reader
Review: Scamming the Birdman is a wonderful book. It's funny, it's well-written, and it's truely creative in its plot and structure. Dr. Larry Purdue is the scam artist. The novel opens with his scam of his friend Hugh Curtis...and the joke includes us as readers. The gun doesn't fire, the bad guy isn't killed, and none of us watch the well-deserved revenge we all so badly wanted. But Dr. Purdue is gonna get him! He is gonna make the Birdman twist in the wind. He sets an elaborate plot into motion, and it works! Throughout the novel the Birdman sinks deeper and deeper into punishment, and the good guys win and win and win. So where's the suspense, you ask? Well, for one thing we learn to have faith in Purdue's ability to anticipate the problems. For another, his partnership with his wife Sarah saves the whole intricate design from disaster, despite their unconventional marriage arrangements. And for the third, we find that the villan, who is indeed a villan, is not the REAL murderer...this whole giant concoction is designed to bring to justice the true 'bad guy', and in the last few pages, we open our eyes in surprise and shock. We were scammed!
Rating:
Summary: Scamming the Reader
Review: Scamming the Birdman is a wonderful book. It's funny, it's well-written, and it's truely creative in its plot and structure. Dr. Larry Purdue is the scam artist. The novel opens with his scam of his friend Hugh Curtis...and the joke includes us as readers. The gun doesn't fire, the bad guy isn't killed, and none of us watch the well-deserved revenge we all so badly wanted. But Dr. Purdue is gonna get him! He is gonna make the Birdman twist in the wind. He sets an elaborate plot into motion, and it works! Throughout the novel the Birdman sinks deeper and deeper into punishment, and the good guys win and win and win. So where's the suspense, you ask? Well, for one thing we learn to have faith in Purdue's ability to anticipate the problems. For another, his partnership with his wife Sarah saves the whole intricate design from disaster, despite their unconventional marriage arrangements. And for the third, we find that the villan, who is indeed a villan, is not the REAL murderer...this whole giant concoction is designed to bring to justice the true 'bad guy', and in the last few pages, we open our eyes in surprise and shock. We were scammed!
Rating: 
Summary: Thomas is back!
Review: This time his friend Hugh Curtis has just been unwillingly relieved of his musical snuffboxes, and his wife has died under what Thomas considers suspicious circumstances. Without a doubt, they know who the culprit is because every time a collector in their group finds a rare treasure with a mechanical bird, Vincent LoProire climbs out of his expensive hole and effectively claims it. After years of being bullied, threatened, and now murdered for their precious musical treasures, Thomas heads a caper that rivals "The Sting" to extract revenge. I enjoyed reading Larry Karp's first mystery The Music Box Murders, which introduces us to Dr. Thomas Purdue, but after reading SCAMMING THE BIRDMAN I have to say it's my favorite of the two. Scamming the Birdman is extraordinary! It's a rousing escapade with some eccentric, hilarious characters. Our lead sleuth/scammer, Thomas, teaches us a lesson: just when you think you know someone, they prove you wrong. The ending will take you by surprise, and some readers may feel judgmental about it, not me, I enjoyed an incredible caper with a surprising twist.
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