Faith's catering business has been slow with the downturn of the economy, so when her friend Patsy Avery proposes that she take over the cafรฉ at Aleford's Ganley Art Museum, it seems like a not-to-be-missed opportunity. And Patsy has an ulterior motiveโshe discovers that the Romare Bearden piece she lent the museum has been switched with a fake and wants Faith to snoop around to find the culprit.
Life at the museum doesn't stay calm for long and Faith is soon enmeshed in the Ganley's murky past and present as she struggles to make connections among apparently disparate items: the fake Bearden, Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers, and a Jane Doe corpse that turns up as an unintended part of an art installation. At home, son Ben, now in the hell known as middle school, becomes involved in a cyberbullying escapade and husband Tom wants his wife to morph into June Cleaver.
Her investigation takes Faith into Boston's art scene and historic Beacon Hill, as well as into the lives behind the faรงade of the Ganley's very proper board of trustees. She is at her wit'sโand almost deadโend, as the killer strikes again, and again.
From Publishers Weekly
Is it art or murder? In Page's savory 17th Faith Fairchild mystery (after 2006's The Body in the Ivy), the caterer/chef uncovers sinister doings at the Ganley Museum of Art in Aleford, Mass. When Faith's friend Patsy Avery, the president of the museum's board of trustees, asks her to investigate a potential forgery, Faith is reluctant to jump back into the detecting world. She finally agrees to open a cafe in the museum at Patsy's urging, but soon discovers a bald female corpse floating in a tank intended for an art installation. Faith's subsequent investigation reveals that the woman, who called herself Tess Auchincloss, had a stolen Degas sketch stashed in her apartment. Joining forces with Det. Lt. John Dunne, Faith scrambles to solve the case even as the list of suspect grows and another murder occurs. Along with fun foodie details, Page provides an entertaining subplot involving Faith's rebellious teenage son, Ben. (May)
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From Booklist
Fans of culinary and especially catering cozies like those of Diane Mott Davidson should eat up the latest in the Faith Fairchild series. Like Davidson, Agatha Awardโwinning Page injects cooking lore and advice (and recipes at the back) into her conventional body-found-by-caterer plot. This latest Fairchild is further enlivened by intriguing information on art theft and art forgeries. A friend of Faithโs is convinced that someone has forged a copy of a painting she has loaned to an exhibit. Then Faith stumbles across the body of a young woman (floating in a giant fish tank installation) at the gallery. Page has to work a bit to get Faith on scene for the investigation, since the local cops want nothing to do with her, but a temporary posting to the gallery cafรฉ gives the intrepid sleuth all the opportunity she needs. A bit formulaic but worth it for the atmosphere, cooking, and art expertise. --Connie Fletcher