Amazon.com Review
Kate McKinnon, a former cop turned philanthropist, art impresario, and socialite, is a heroine straight out of a Judith Krantz novel, which is not necessarily a bad thing: you can always count the brand names Jonathan Santlofer drops on almost every page, even if you're not particularly intrigued by the mystery of who's behind a string of ritualistic serial murders that are carefully staged to resemble famous paintings only a woman with Kate's arcane knowledge and aesthetic judgment might recognize. Or you could figure out who's next on the killer's list faster than Kate manages to--she can't rule anyone out, not even her husband. Despite that rather silly red herring, she finally manages to get to the bottom of things in this stylish thriller from a painter whose fantasies of murder and revenge--on critics, collectors, competitors, and gallery owners, evidently--must have required a wider than usual canvas. -- Jane Adams
From Publishers Weekly
Painter Santlofer turns his artists eye to murder in an alternately brutal and dishy debut whodunit about a New York copΒ€turnedΒ€art historian tracking down a serial killer who mutilates his victims to make them look like famous paintings. While many in the ostentatiously elegant cast of self-serving artists, curators, patrons and patronesses hide ugly secrets, only one takes the idea of the tortured artist to the extreme. His first victim, a museum board president with a taste for sadomasochism, is found in his bathtub, arm draped over the side in the same pose as Davids Marat. Inspired by both traditional and modern art and sensitive to color, line and light, the death artist next slashes the face of a female victim to match a Picasso portrait. It's enough to horrify but not to deter ex-homicide detective Kate McKinnon Rothstein, now a wealthy, beautiful hostess of her own PBS series. She puts her talents and her marriage to the test to pursue a criminal who seems to crave her appreciation for his handiwork. The exploration of the psychology of the death artist, along with gossipy insights into the politics of art, make this book a bloody funfest for the museum and gallery crowd, never mind that as Kate investigates sexual liaisons that cross social and moral boundaries, she uncovers an array of suspense novel cliches. When Santlofer, a Pratt graduate, NEA grant recipient and Yaddo board member, airs his insider views, his observations of art and the art world lift this enthusiastic if not totally original mystery to the ranks of a high-class art opening.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.