In this sequel to Harmony in Flesh and Black, the debut of Kilmer’s mystery series set in the Boston art world, we’re reacquainted with the passionate non-collector Fred Taylor. Fred, prowling the antique and jumble shops of Boston’s Charles Street, enters a favorite old haunt—Oona’s—run by a woman unafraid to deal in art with a questionable past.
Oona offers Fred a painting, the image of a common gray squirrel on a chain, which he discovers has been cut from a larger canvas. Believing it was painted by an important eighteenth-century American master, he snaps up the fragment and then sets out to find the rest of the work of art. Murder, mayhem, and vandalism soon join the violence already associated with the painting.
Download and start listening now!
“Anyone who has ever wandered into a museum gallery of Italian religious paintings of the Baroque period and been repelled by the lurid depictions of flayed, flagellated, roasted, toasted, and crucified martyrs will laugh (and shudder) at Nicholas Kilmer’s irreverent treatment.”
— New York Times Book Review
“One finds oneself completely engrossed…Cullen’s reading is…finely controlled understatement: intelligent and free of distractions. Unusually clear sound further enhances the transparent effortlessness of this recording.”
— AudioFile“Patrick Cullen does an excellent reading of this surprisingly nonstuffy story…this most entertaining mystery keeps the listener’s attention from start to finish.”
— Library Journal“Fred remains as charming as in his debut.”
— Kirkus Reviews" Interesting idea - liked the John Singleton Copley references. "
— Sjfstudio, 7/29/2009" Interesting idea - liked the John Singleton Copley references. "
— Sjfstudio, 7/9/2009Nicholas Kilmer, formerly dean of the Swain School of Design in New Bedford, Massachusetts, presently makes his living in the art business.
John Lescault, a native of Massachusetts, is a graduate of the Catholic University of America. He lives in Washington, DC, where he works in theater.
John Lescault, a native of Massachusetts, is a graduate of the Catholic University of America. He lives in Washington, DC, where he works in theater.