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Blue Smoke and Murder
written by Elizabeth Lowell
Studio : William Morrow
by William Morrow
Release Date : 2008-05-27
Publisher : William Morrow
Released : 2008-06-01
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780060829858
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 17 reviews)
List Price : $24.95
Our Price : $10.24
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Product Description |
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Jill Breck was just doing her job as a river guide when she saved the life of Lane Faroe, son of two of St. Kilda Consulting's premier operators. But when a string of ominous events—including a mysterious fire that kills her great-aunt and a furor in the Western art world raised by a dozen Breck family paintings—culminates in a threat to her life, Jill reluctantly calls in a favor. Zach Balfour works part-time as a consultant for St. Kilda. His expertise is gathering and analyzing information from unlikely and often dangerous sources. Though he's got the skills to be a highly effective bodyguard, being a bullet catcher isn't his preferred way to spend time. Protecting Jill will take him into familiar territory—among a strange, savagely competitive bunch of collectors who'll do anything to stay at the top. But Jill is in deeper waters than she's ever known; as she soon discovers, the perils of running wild rivers are tame compared with the hidden dangers in the high-stakes game of art collecting. From the cozy rooms of the Breck homestead cabin to the cold multimillion-dollar galleries of the Western art circuit, Zach and Jill must race against time to unmask a ruthless killer hidden in a blue smoke of money, threats, lies, and death. . . . |
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Deeply disappointed in this newest Lowell Novel |
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Normally, I take Maxwell/Lowell historical or subject specific novels with a grain of salt for inaccuracies, but this one will need a whole shaker. She surprisingly misrepresents the "Mormon West" in this novel as a wide-spread polygamist understanding between small towns in the west and the main-stream headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, UT. Her Anti-Mormon bias is so strong in this book, I simply stopped reading it half way through. I've read and own every Lowell novel, except this one, which I promptly returned, even though I find the St. Kilda series engaging and entertaining. What a bummer. I hope the next one isn't a anti-religious bias for Catholics. It's wearying. |
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Hype for this novel is blue smoke. |
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I have long been a fan of Elizabeth Lowell's work. A Lowell book is usually a "keeper." However, I wish I'd paid attention to the low-star ratings for Blue Smoke and Murder. The book does not live up to her usual standards. Her characters are not engaging. Both are generic romantic leads with little to distinguish them from others she's written. It's hard to believe that the hot-shot St. Kilda's expert would not immediately check out everything for bugs. Despite all the information on the genre of Western painting and the development of the "positional art market," somehow the basic plot never clicks. Shifts in points of view and many undeveloped characters make it difficult to become absorbed in the book. The resolution is particularly unsatisfying. The revelation of the identity of the person who hired the killer is a throw-away in the last two pages of the book, and by then, I just didn't much care. Don't waste your money. |
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Art, romance, and a race against time |
Interested in Western art? Maybe? When you pick up this romantic suspense thriller, BLUE SMOKE AND MURDER, you definitely will be. Jill Breck is a river guide who saves the life of Lane Faroe. His father, Joe, tucks a card in Jill's waterproof ditty bag and tells her to call whenever she has a problem that worries her. Readers might remember Lane and his parents from Elizabeth Lowell's THE WRONG HOSTAGE. Both now work for St. Kilda Consulting Group.
When a mysterious fire ends the life of her great aunt, Modesty Breck, Jill inherits the dry dusty ranch and original homestead in Arizona. She arrives at the ranch to find a note from under a covered bucket of water near the ancient long-handled pump in the kitchen. Jill knows that this is from her great aunt, as it says, "Go to your old hiding place. Life isn't as safe as it seems to the young." Something must be up.
And it is. Jill's great aunt has left her a number of unsigned paintings that she remembers seeing as a child. When she found them, it made her Aunt Modesty furious with her. Now, as a former art history and fine arts major, she understands that these Western landscapes capture the sprit of the West, but they may also have an important value. She discovers a letter from a high-end art gallery about an unsigned painting addressed to her aunt. They had misplaced the painting that she sent, alluding that it was not worth much, and offered a small amount of money to settle. Jill thinks that the only reason her aunt sent off the painting was that she needed money.
However, Jill takes it upon herself to photograph three of the small paintings and send a jpeg off to a few well-known art galleries. It turns out that this mystery of the missing painting is not as simple as it seems. Jill tries to meet up with an art collector, only to find her car ransacked and the painting she brought cut up. A note is left saying STAY OUT OF IT OR DIE.
Her next decision is to call Joe Faroe, who sends out a St. Kilda's consultant, Zach Balfour. Zach is supposed to be on vacation but is close by and shows up at her door. He also happens to know a lot about art, western art and the art world. He's the perfect man to help protect Jill and her paintings until they figure out what is going on.
What is it about these paintings that is causing so much furor? They are unsigned and possibly done by Thomas Dunstan, a legendary Western painter who had been the lover of Jill's grandmother. If they are proven to be Thomas's paintings, they are worth a fortune. Could it be that some art collectors have gotten wind of these unsigned copies and are hoping to buy up cheap or steal them? But why the death threats?
As Zach and Jill begin to uncover and discover the story behind the paintings in hopes of authenticating them, the two find themselves involved in the high stakes business of art collecting and the cold multi-million dollar galleries in the art circuit. They both come to realize that "art is like everything else. It's worth what someone's willing to pay for it." As they try to outsmart a killer who is ruthless in this game of money, lies and threats, they hope they end up with their lives.
This story is full of the twists, turns and intrigue that readers have come to expect from an Elizabeth Lowell novel. Readers are kept on the edge of their comfortable chairs as they turn the pages to find out what happens to Zach and Jill. And as for the romance --- well, the sexual tension between these two keeps you hoping that this couple may find that happily ever together.
--- Reviewed by Jennifer McCord
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Blue Smoke and Murder |
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I have read every thing Miss Lowell has written, including what she used to write in the category series. I have to say that I was disappointed in her making the character an ex-Mormon Fundamentalist. That's a contradiction. "Mormons" are LDS and haven't practiced polygamy since 1890. About the only thing we have in common with Fundamentalists is sharing part of a name (FLDS). And the only time I have ever heard of "Mormon" tea, was when as a child my Dad steeped Chaparral brush to drink to clear his sinuses. I call diet Coke....diet Coke. Course, I was raised in Las Vegas. To me the character spent too much time distrusting all men and there wasn't much time to develop a romance between the characters. I will forget this book, except to remember its' inaccuracies, but I will look forward to her next one. |
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Always worth reading.... |
I've read every Elizabeth Lowell book (including those under other pseudonyms).
I read this book in one afternoon. I didn't want to put it down. So, I would have to say it was worth reading.
The quailty of an Elizabeth Lowell book is very high and the story and background is always very intersting.
Why not more stars? I kept waiting for something more in this book that did not materialize.
This book reminded me way too much of Die in Plain Sight.
Female inherits paintings from relative
Paintings may be forgeries
Female(who is a talented painter in her own right) is suspected / accused of painting them herself)
Secret reveled by the paintings that someone will kill to keep
Male lead is a colector of something other than traditional art
I found it fairly predictible. I wasn't drawn into the characters as I usually am. In fact, I found the male lead very one-dimensional. Usually, the main charachters (both) have a lot of depth. I didn't feel that way while reading this book.
In short, if you were only going to read one of Elizabeth's Lowells books, pick another one. (Die in Plain Sight was MUCH better in my opinion). Irrigardless of its faults, it is still a better book than most on the book store shelf. |
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