Murder is a work of art…When the acclaimed Cuban painter Wifredo Lam turns up dead in his Greenwich Village studio, officers Juanita Diaz and Brian Fitzgerald of the NYPD, must investigate the crime. But what they find is much more gruesome than they ever could have imagined.Suspicion soon falls on a tight-knit circle of Surrealist refugees who fled Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II, and … and Diaz and Fitzgerald must traverse the city, from Chinatown’s underworld to Spanish Harlem’s gangland, to find the truth. Did one of the artists’ bizarre parlor games turn deadly? Or is there something even more sinister afoot?”Smart, witty, filled with so much history of the period, beautifully written, and suspenseful.”—Jonathan Santlofer, author of The Death Artist
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I love reading mysteries set in different time periods and parts of the country, so I was thrilled to discover this book! It’s set in the art scene of New York City in the 1940s, and I thought it was wonderful.
First, I learned a lot about the art and artists of that time period. This is not something I ever studied in school, so it was nice to round out my education a bit by picking up some insights while enjoying a novel. The murder mystery plot was very well done. It was interesting watching the clues be discovered and pieced together with the art scene as the background.
Once the ending was revealed, it all made sense based on the clues and insights the reader gained throughout the story.
Definitely 5 stars for an excellent historical mystery with terrific characters that kept me intrigued and guessing until the last page!
This is the first book in a series about 1940s NYC and the art world. Many of the details are authentic, although I’m sure a lot of the story is fictionalized. There are so many characters introduced, it’s a little overwhelming at first, but since I recognize quite a few as true historical characters, that helped me. I enjoyed the art aspect of the story, as well as the police procedures of the time. The book is well-written and I enjoyed it, but I didn’t find it that relaxing to read. I had to really concentrate to give the story the attention it needed. I would be interested in reading more in the series, though, now that I’ve started it. I was provided a copy of the book, but these opinions are my own.
1943 New York City….
Wifredo Óscar de la Concepción Lam y Castilla
is found dead in his apartment at 10:30 PM.
Wilfredo is an Afro-Cuban-Chinese artist. being
sponsored by Peggy Guggenheim. His body,was
posed and dressed in an unusual way from the
game played by his friends who called themselves
Surrealists. It is a drawing game called le cadavre
exquis in French. Translated English means this
means“ the exquisite corpse.
So the investigation begins.
Mix in Surrealist artists, the On Leong Association
of New York’s Chinatown District plus gang leader,
“Joey”(Jose Ramirez) in Spanish Harlem, Madame
Carmen the spiritualist and Carlos Solana, a
Colombian seaman for wide and diverse suspects.
I enjoyed looking up the artists and their works after
reading about them in this well written, well plotted
book of historical fiction book.
There is a touch of romance brewing when NYPD
Officer Brian Fitzgerald and Detective Juanita Diaz
are assigned to work together on the case.
I also enjoyed getting to know New York and the
various districts. It was interesting learning more
about the people, their backgrounds, their
backstories and their living conditions in 1943 New York.
I volunteered to read An Exquisite Corpse. Thanks
to the author and publisher via Cozy Mystery Review
Crew. My opinion is voluntary and my own.
An Exquisite Corpse by Helen A. Harrison is a fantastic historical mystery with a touch of noir that does a wonderful job incorporating the real life people and feel of the Surrealist movement in New York during WWII.
The book starts with an explanation of an exquisite corpse and then continues to include interesting facts about the people and time period. I found the short chapters to be perfect because I would get up and go to the computer to find out more about the interesting people and artwork that Harrison had mentioned in the chapter. I think I spent equal amounts of time reading as I did on the computer! You can tell that Harrison really knows what she is talking about.
Now some authors may know a subject really well and give great lectures, but if they tried to write fiction it would be boring, but not Harrison. Her dialogue read how people really talk and the noir elements helped to make this mystery a bit more gritty. The killer was unexpected and helped to add to the realism in the story.
I highly recommend An Exquisite Corpse, and can’t wait to get my hands on book two in The Art of Murder Mysteries, An Accidental Corpse.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
A group of Surrealist refugees has taken up residence in New York after fleeing Europe during World War II. When one of their group, Cuban painter Wifredo Lam is found dead, NYPD officers Brian Fitzgerald and Juanita Diaz catch the case and uncover some eerie things that take them all around New York in search of the truth.
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Set in the 1940’s I found the author gave a good sense of time and place but there were so many characters to keep track of I found myself lost at times. As the story went on most of the characters were given more definition but I just couldn’t really identify with any of them. They all had their own agendas and not one felt genuine.
The basis of the story was interesting and multifaceted with several twists and I did enjoy the chase for the truth but was disappointed somewhat by the conclusion. I had never heard of an “exquisite corpse” and did enjoy learning about a different way of drawing.
While I had issues with this book, book two in this series features the same detectives and the death of Jackson Pollock and I may just have to give that book a try.