Art of Murder by Elaine Viets

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Helen Hawthorne has held a lot of dead end jobs in her time—it’s a long story, but involves an ex-husband who wanted alimony—but she’s settled into being a private eye. This time around, she was just touring a wonderful historic home when a woman in an art group dies suddenly.  It appears to be natural causes at first, but Helen one of the woman’s friends insists Annabelle must have been poisoned and hires Helen to investigate.  Helen goes undercover as an aspiring artist to try to discover who had motive, means, and opportunity. 

Meanwhile, Helen’s new husband Phil has a case of his own, involving a thief who targets upper floor condos and who may have murdered one of the residents.

Viets has done several series, but the Dead End Jobs series in one of my favorites. As Helen takes on new temporary positions, I learn about what it takes to be a salesperson, telemarketer, etc.  And yes, Viets really did work all of these odd jobs in real life, so she knows her subjects!

I also thoroughly enjoy the south Florida setting and the strong supporting cast who all live at an older apartment building with a spritely landlady.  I love mysteries, but I also like well-developed characters who change and grow as a series progresses.  I may have figured out whodunit before the end of the book, but the journey was a pleasure—helped along, I have to say, by Phil’s hare-brained scheme to catch a thief which had me giggling as I walked on the treadmill. The mix of interesting characters, well-considered plots, good locations, and a dollop of humor is just up my alley.

Sadly, this was the last in this series so I would advise starting with an earlier book. In order:

Shop Till You Drop

Murder Between the Covers

Dying to Call You

Killer Blonde

Just Murdered

Murder Unleashed

Murder with Reservations

Clubbed to Death

Killer Cuts

Half-Price Homicide

Pumped for Murder

Final Sail

Board Stiff

Catnapped!

Checked Out

The Art of Murder

Viets is the author of several different series, so be sure to check them out!

Rick Steves Europe’s Top 100 Masterpieces: Art for the Traveler by Rick Steves & Gene Openshaw

Reviewed by Jeanne

Rick Steves is probably one of the best known travel guide writers around.  Part of his popularity can be traced to his mission to help travelers enjoy the culture of foreign climes: the local foods, music, shopping, and art.  In this volume he has made a list of the 100 top works of art in Europe, including paintings, sculpture, and architecture and explains a bit about each to heighten appreciation for each piece.

The book is divided up chronologically, starting with pre-history (Lascaux cave paintings, for example) then moving through ancient Greece and Rome to the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, 19^th Century and ending with the 20^th century. The full color photos are lovely, and the text is informative but informal.  I could practically hear Steves’ narration and indeed there’s a list of video clips by Steves about individual pieces that are available on his free Classroom Europe site.  These is also a handy map at the back showing where the pieces are located, since some are not held where they were created.  For example, the Greek Elgin marbles are in London as are some of Dutch artist Van Gogh’s paintings. 

While serious art students might find the descriptions to be a bit simplistic, I found them to be interesting and insightful, sprinkled with Steves’ light humor. I feel that Steves’ goal is to heighten appreciation for the works, make people take time to appreciate what they are seeing and to have fun with it.  For the “Mona Lisa,” he gives a bit of the painting’s history and includes the fact that Leonardo was using “new-fangled” paints and mentions that the portrait is one of the few art pieces one can locate by sound because of all the people sure to be clustered around it. The chatty tone and feel of inside information is like catnip, making me want to keep reading.  That portrait of Louis XVI? It’s designed to show off the elderly king’s athletic legs, as well as show him as anointed by God to be a ruler. His sartorial choices were copied throughout Europe, from the lacy cravat to the elaborate wig to the red heels on his shoes.

On a couple of my favorite pieces I felt Steves didn’t explain enough or else blurred some of the facts but like Elsa I decided to “let it go.”  Those were picky things in an otherwise very enjoyable book.  If I ever head out on a trip to Europe, I’ll be sure to check this book to see what art I don’t want to miss.

Rock Painting for Beginners: A Complete Guide to Techniques and Supplies with 50 Original Designs to Inspire You by Christine Rechl

Reviewed by Jeanne

Remember when everyone was painting rocks and leaving them in public spaces for others to find?  While the craze may have slowed down, it was still a fun thing to do, and a small rock is nowhere as intimidating to many folks as a big white canvas.  I even painted a few in a group project. While I wasn’t satisfied with the finished product, I did enjoy the painting itself and even went out and bought a bucket of rocks and some paint to do some at home.

Needless to say, that didn’t happen, but every time I see that bucket of rocks, I think I should really do something about them.  I thought this book might just jump start the process.

Author Rechl is all for fun, but she also sees rock painting as a serious business- though not in the monetary sense, as she is in favor of giving the rocks as personal gifts.  She discusses the best place to find rocks (not at the rock yard where I got mine) and how to evaluate the ones you find.  She likes the process of finding rocks and being inspired by them, seeing the potential in their size, texture, and shape.  She suggests using sandpaper if the rock has some rough patches and putting down an undercoat.  

Nearly a third of the book is devoted to selecting the right paints and tools, and offering tips on using the various kinds.  There are acrylic paints, acrylic inks, glass paints, color blockers and so on, not to mention brushes, pens, and even special dotting tools. It could be a bit overwhelming but Rechl has wonderful photographs to illustrate each concept.  Also, while discussing each part, she shows a technique using the specific material or tool. 

She points out things such as if you want to put the stones outside, be sure and use waterproof paint/ink—and that not all that claim to be waterproof really are.  Non-toxic is something else to keep in mind no matter where you plan to leave your rocks. 

Finally, there are step by step instructions on creating different types of designs, whether you’re doing abstract designs, monster faces, comments, or cute animals.  There are also templates for those among us ungifted in drawing our own figures.

What I liked most was seeing some pretty abstract designs, spirals, dots, stripes, etc. that would be easy to do and yet looked very nice indeed. 

Now if all that paint I bought hasn’t dried up yet, I’ll be set!

Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough

Reviewed by Christy

            Artemisia Gentileschi was a talented painter in the 1600s, unusual for a woman at the time. She is known for her differing takes on the subjects of Judith beheading Holofernes and Susanna and the Elders.

            McCullough tells a fictionalized version of Gentileschi’s teenaged life while she is still her father’s apprentice and learning new painting techniques. Her father hires Agostino Tassi to tutor her as well. Gentileschi is immediately drawn to Tassi and a flirtatious relationship blossoms. Their relationship takes a dark turn, however, when Tassi rapes her. In the traumatic aftermath, Gentileschi is determined to publicly accuse Tassi even though she knows she will be shamed and perhaps suffer even more consequences than her attacker. Throughout the narrative, McCullough weaves in the stories of Judith and Susanna (as Gentileschi’s mother relayed them), and Gentileschi finds strength in these women.

            I picked this up on a whim since I had heard of Gentileschi and knew of her Susanna painting (being one of the few during that time to depict the Elders’ sexual advances as traumatic) but I didn’t know much else about her. I didn’t realize this novel was told in verse, something I’m not usually into, but I’m so glad I didn’t let that deter me. This book was wonderful, and I already feel like it might be one of my favorites for the year. McCullough’s writing style is lovely and poetic, and I teared up several times throughout the book. I like that Judith and Susanna’s stories are weaved in as well, giving the novel just a little extra dimension.

            This novel was a challenging read (though sexual assault is not explicitly shown on the page, the aftermath is discussed extensively) but it was interesting, and, I think, important. Gentileschi was a beautiful painter but even now her talent is questioned from those who want to believe her father did most of her paintings. But she loved to paint, and it seems to have been a kind of therapy for her after her assault. McCullough did a fantastic job of bringing Gentileschi’s pain and rage over her treatment in society to life. Artemisia Gentileschi was a very interesting person, and I can’t wait to read more about her.