Review by Booklist Review
Switching from historical fiction, Hummel (Motherland, 2014) presents a polished, droll, and provocative art-world thriller. Vermonter Maggie moves to L.A. with her boyfriend, Greg, and finds work as a copy editor for the struggling Rocque Museum. Greg dumps her for the notoriously daring artist Kim Lord, whose bound-to-be-controversial new exhibition is set to open at the Rocque with elaborate fanfare. Titled Still Lives, it features unnervingly meticulous paintings of famous female murder victims, including Kitty Genovese and Nicole Brown Simpson, which trigger disquieting questions about violence against women and the artist's exploitation of their suffering. Then Kim goes missing, Greg is arrested, and Maggie feels compelled to investigate, despite her heartache and hate for the show and the abject powerlessness it projects, especially in light of her connection to one of the murder victims. With a cast of strong and complicated female characters, headed by a determined, reckless, funny, and imperiled amateur sleuth, Hummel crafts a shrewd and suspenseful inquiry into womanhood and the dark side of the art market, punctuated by striking variations on identity, portraiture, and still lives. --Seaman, Donna Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
When artist Kim Lord fails to show up at Los Angeles's Rocque Museum for the gala opening of her show of self-portraits in the guises of famous murdered women such as Nicole Brown Simpson, museum staff editor Maggie Richter, the narrator of this exceptional suspense novel from Hummel (Motherland), gets involved in the subsequent investigation, in which Kim's boyfriend, gallerist Greg Shaw Ferguson-Maggie's ex-becomes the primary suspect in her disappearance. In her quest for the truth, Maggie must navigate the social and emotional edges of her own relationships, unsure of whom to trust. The careful characterizations of the players in the Rocque's sphere of influence mean that, as the mystery unfolds to reveal them as suspects or victims, the reader feels deep empathy that comes from perceiving them as real people, not plot devices. Hummel builds visceral intimacy around "women's oppressive anxiety about [their] ultimate vulnerability" in this often uncomfortable tale about the media's fetishistic fascination with the violent murders of beautiful women. Agent: Gail Hochman, Brandt & Hochman Literary. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In Los Angeles, the talented staff at Rocque Museum feverishly prepare for avant-garde artist Kim Lord's opening night. Lord's controversial art showcases real women who have died violently, such as -Nicole Brown Simpson and Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia. Museum editor Maggie Richter hopes the gala will reinvigorate the declining finances of this revered institution, but as the limos begin to arrive, it becomes embarrassingly clear that Lord will not be present at her own exhibition. When Lord's ex is arrested for her murder, Maggie uses her journalistic skills to delve into the deep recesses of the art world and soon finds her own life at risk. After a sluggish start, Hummel's (Motherland) novel ultimately offers an intriguing insider's view into a high-stakes, turbulent industry, from peculiar artists to fabulous exhibitions. With deliberate pacing increasing the tension, the story line revolving around the public's fascination with graphic crimes against women serves as a chilling reminder that such violence continues to occur in many forms. VERDICT For general fiction collections and readers fascinated by the contemporary art world.-Gloria Drake, Oswego P.L. Dist., IL © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
When a provocative painter goes missing on the opening night of her show, a museum copywriter falls back on her investigative roots.Kim Lord enjoys shocking her audiences, and Still Lives, her latest exhibition for LA's high-flying Rocque Museum, is no exception. Drawing on media coverage of murdered women, Lord produces a grisly set of paintings depicting the slain forms of Judy Ann Dull, Nicole Brown Simpson, and the Black Dahlia. The exhibition is "an indictment of our culture's obsession with sensationalized female murders," and Maggie Richter, the museum's in-house writer/editor, can barely stomach itfor more reasons than one. A few months earlier, her live-in boyfriend, the gallerist Greg Shaw Ferguson, left Maggie for Lord, a humiliation she's still struggling to live down. When Lord fails to show for her big opening night, everyone suspects foul playand Greg. But will Maggie be able to uncover what really happened in time? And who is she really trying to save by digging into Lord's disappearance? In this taut take on noir, misogyny, and the art of responsible storytelling, Hummel (Motherland, 2014, etc.) balances the glitz and glam of the Los Angeles art world with the town tourists don't often see, from peeling, postwar bungalows to skid row tent cities and suffering junkies. There's a full cast of supporting characters, including Kevin, an earnest East Coast reporter covering the gala; Hendricks, a private investigator who seems to know too much about Maggie; Yegina, Maggie's talented and ambitious best friend; and a rotating gallery of suspicious art world collectors, carpenters, curators, and crew. At times the interpersonal dramas are larger-than-life, but this literary mystery has larger-than-life ambitions, too. "I hate this artwork," Maggie thinks, standing in the gallery, fretting about Lord's disappearance. "I hate the abject powerlessness it projects. I hate it because it reminds me there is an end for women worse than death." But Lord, through the careful plotting of Hummel, is determined to make you look.This is a whip-smart mystery and a moving meditation on the consumption of female bodies all rolled into one. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
