Stuffed

This is fun, fun stuff. Written in a Sam Spade style with Monty Python characters, this novel is a blast to read. The action is nicely paced, and the characters are great. It gets pretty weird, a fact that you fully appreciate when trying to explain it to somebody else. There are lots of inside jokes, but you don't have to get them to enjoy the book. Highly recommend.

There aren't many books I read where I fear wetting my pants with laughter. STUFFED is one of them. A worthy follow-up to the cult fave PIPSQUEAK, STUFFED is even crazier, crammed full of moments where I almost hurt myself laughing. It's also a well done mystery, with a great ending. Searching for the perfect summer beach read? Look no further. Wiprud is a genius.

I thought Brian Wiprud's last book, Pipsqueak, was a riot, and was looking forward to the return of Garth, the crime-solving taxiderist. It was well worth the wait. Wiprud has a unique style in a time when most of the mysteries out there are in a cookie cutter format. His humor is like a tidal wave, almost pushing you over the edge at times. It is a funny, funny book. It is hard enough to find a good mystery, but to find one that is funny to boot was a real pleasure. I highly recommend this book. I've since passed on my copy to two friends, and they loved me for recommending it. I can't wait for the return of Garth!

Manhattan taxidermy collector fortyish Garth Carson is touring New England looking for treasures. He stops in Vermont where he purchases an albino crow that he plans to give to his girlfriend Angie for her birthday. As he leaves the store, a young man wearing a Portland College sweatshirt accosts him claiming the "raven" is his. A few moments later, the younger man Bret Fletcher collapses at Garth's feet. The local constable arrives and reluctantly allows Garth with his New York plates and the stuffed bird to drive away. Angie thinks the crow is a remarkable one of a kind item though she teases her beau that he only gives her dead things. Not long afterward, Jim Kim enters Garth's taxidermy collectibles store insisting he has friends in the market for an albino crow. Soon others follow with each new player seemingly more dangerous than the previous one, which include the Feds. Garth has no idea what he wrought when he bought this present as this gift is for the birds. As with PIPSQUEAK, STUFFED is a wild insane thriller starring a white crow in a jar, but kept together by the bewildered Garth who cannot understand why the Feds, thugs, and crazy "collectors" want Angie's birthday present. The story line is amusing and wacky as Garth receives offers from daft souls some of which he delicately better take careful consideration if he refuses them. Brian M. Wiprud provides a terrific thriller STUFFED with the zanies that showcase a likable collector who proves he is no PIPSQUEAK. Harriet Klausner

Taxidermy collector and businessman Garth Carson has the most foul luck when it comes to buying and selling taxidermy. His girlfriend, Angie, is usually dragged into whatever mess Garth gets himself into. During a buying tour Garth purchases a white crow under a bell glass for Angie's birthday present. Even before he gets it out of the store and into his car someone is trying to take it from him. When Angie receives it, she instantly loves it. Yet within a VERY short time Angie and Garth are locked in the basement while two thugs steal the white crow. With Garth's talent for troubling trouble instead of allowing trouble to trouble him, he soon finds himself and Angie running for their lives from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife, a bunch of murderous pygmies, a funeral home director, various "carnies", special agents of all kinds, a crazed Penguin Boy, and (of course) Detective Walker who has wanted to arrest Garth for an extended amount of time now. ***** I did not believe that author Brian Wiprud could possibly do any better than he did with his previous book "Pipsqueak". Thankfully, I have been proven wrong. This novel had me laughing so hard at times that I had to wipe my eyes in order to keep reading. I found myself actually putting several bookmarks in spots just so I could go back later and reread some funnier sections! Now THAT is talent, Readers. So sit back and enjoy the most wacky, humorous, yet serious mystery story of your life. ***** Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.