Leaping fishes. Prowling bobcats. Frosty penguins and mute moose heads...These are the things that fill Garth Carson’s life as he buys, sells, and rents exotic taxidermy from his funky New York City storefront. But now Garth and his gal, Angie, have acquired the most sinister stuffed critter in the world: a certain white crow in a bell jar that Angie swoons over–and that other people are dying to get their hands on.

When the crow is stolen, along with $50,000 worth of their best taxidermy, Garth and Angie are plunged into the spooky heart of old New England and a realm of crazed carnies, bumbling feds, and a couple of freshly snuffed collectors. To save their bird–and their lives–these two reluctant sleuths must penetrate a zany, highly illegal international treasure hunt...and confront a freak who has a thing for murder.

“The funniest tough-guy writer there is.”

–Lee Child

“Audacious and always original. Wiprud twangs funny bones I never knew I had.” –T. Jefferson Parker

"Garth Carson, the fast-talking, wisecracking New York taxidermy dealer of Wiprud's second mystery, Pipsqueak, goes on a dizzying and sometimes dangerous romp across multiple state lines in this equally zany sequel. When Carson purchases a white crow from a Vermont shop for his girlfriend Angie's birthday, it seems that nearly everyone, from the cops to the carnival freaks, wants to get their hands on the coveted dead bird. After masked men beat him up and steal all his prized animal wares, Carson becomes determined to find out why this white crow is ruffling so many feathers. With the help of Angie and his rough but well-meaning Russian handyman, Otto, Carson attempts to sort out the shady dealings in the underbelly of the taxidermy world. Wiprud's imagination runs wild here, and he skillfully brings the reader along as the plot moves more and more out into left field. His protagonist's frequent and eccentric musings about everything from the joy of cheap moose heads to the pain of parking signs add to the lighthearted tone, though some may be put off by the occasional rant. Agent, Alex Glass at Trident Media. (May)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Wiprud’s imagination runs wild here.... a dizzying and sometimes dangerous romp across multiple state lines."--Publishers Weekly

New York taxidermy collector Garth Carson is pulled into another unusual escapade in this prequel to Wiprud's Pipsqueak.

Diabolical

Profession: Mystery Author, Outdoor Writer, and Photographer

Publisher: Bantam Dell

Agency: Trident Media Group

Latest Accomplishments:

*2002 Lefty Award for Most Humrous Novel

*2003 Barry Award Nominee for Best Paperback Original

*2004 Independent Mystery Booksellers Association Bestseller

Favorite Books: I, Squid, Chuck Flink

Tubing Badgers for Fun and Profit, Bubbles Tenzer

Favorite Movies: Bowanga! Bowanga! Eegah!

Favorite Albums: Arrg! Johnny Neanderthal & The Cave Dwellers

Hobby: Cutting Edge Top-Secret Devices

Favorite Lines: "What a gorgeous day. What effulgent sunshine. It was a day of this sort the McGillicuddy brothers murdered their mother with an axe." WC Fields.

Favorite Scotch: Bourbon

Home: New York City