Title: Murder by Art
Author: Janet McGiffin
Genre: Murder Mystery
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Level: Upper-Intermediate
Maxine Cassidy is a doctor at the Mercy Hospital ER. One day, she was finishing working when Latoya, a Milwaukee gang leader’s neighbour, entered the ER and suddenly died of something she had eaten. Before that, two people had entered the ER with bullet wounds, and because of that Maxine couldn’t do anything for Latoya. After work, Maxine went to an art gallery, the Art Space, to see some new work from a very famous artist, Soren Berendorf, and, unfortunately, the masterpiece of the gallery, Musical Chairs, fell on Soren, killing him.
Detective Grabowski, a friend of Maxine (maybe more than a friend for her), was asked to do an investigation on Soren’s death. Finally, after analyzing the ropes which held Musical Chairs, he discovers that someone had cut the rope… And, more than that, he discovers that there’s a real connection between Soren’s murder, Latoya’s intoxication and the shooting of the two people who had been treated by Maxine. Of course, Maxine is going to help her friend doing whatever she has to do to discover the truth. I won’t tell you the end (I prefer you to discover it), but, in my opinion, it’s too fast and simple comparing it to the rest of the book.
I give this book a 3.5/5. I think this book has a pretty nice and breathtaking plot, mainly because you can’t think of what is going to happen next. It usually surprises you, and it hooks you at the end of each chapter, so you can’t give up reading it. Sometimes it’s a bit difficult to follow the plot, but it’s very well planned. The only con I can give it is that the plot might look as if it had been copied from a police TV series. If you are a CSI fan, the plot won’t surprise you for sure.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a hooking murder story, or to anyone who wants to have a good time discovering a mystery like this. To sum up, it’s enjoyable reading, but it isn’t very genuine for me.
