Scamming the Birdman: A Thomas Purdue Mystery

Life's been routine for Thomas Purdue since he and his friends solved the music box murders last Christmas. It's the following summer now, a steamy August in New York, and Thomas' friend Hugh Curtis has just burst in with the appalling news that someone ripped off his world-class collection of musical snuffboxes. Not just any someone, either: the thief is Vincent LoPriore, a very nasty, intimidating man who happens to be an ardent collector of elegant antique singing mechanical birds. Not only that: LoPriore enlisted the aid of Hugh's wife Maddy to make off the with the collection and all proof of Hugh's ownership. Worst of all, Maddy is now in the Manhattan Medical Emergency Room, with nine toes in the grave.

Lost collection ... lost wife ... Hugh Curtis has no recourse. Or does he? Thomas has an idea. With the help of his old friends Broadway Schwartz, Big Al Resford, and Frank the Crank, he sets out to put matters right. But it's a big job, so Thomas recruits some new players into the gang; Edna Reynolds, makeup artist; Cleveland Gackle, lockpicker extraordinaire; Mick the Dick and Soapy Sandy, strong-arm and pickpocket team; "Nozey" Espinoza, hotel owner; and Fenton Dassidario, electronic genius.

And then there's their mark: The Birdman. "What Vincent LoPriore wants, Vincent LoPriore gets," he said to Hugh Curtis. In this marvelous sequel to The Music Box Murders, Thomas sets out to give LoPriore a lot more than he wants!