Customer Reviews

Audubon Quartet: A Jonathan Wilder Mystery

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Brian Ravener announces that he is purchasing four previously unknown paintings by the great John James Audubon. Critic Abel Lasher lashes out by claiming the paintings are fake. Brian and Abel have a nasty public argument. Soon after their melee, Lasher is found dead.

Brian is the prime suspect, though Abel's death has pleased many people, who suffered at the hands of his caustic personality. Brian turns to his friend, bird artist Jonathan Wilder, who recently solved a mystery (see DANCE OF THE SCARECROWS) to prove his innocence by uncovering the real killer. As he travels through the world of high financed art, Jonathan realizes that someone will do anything, including murder an amateur sleuth, to insure that his identity remain a secret.

Though Jonathan remains a likable chap, THE AUDOBON QUARTET fails to leave the ground as the story line never soars. That is too bad because the concept behind the plot is quite intriguing and Ray Sipherd clearly demonstrates that he has plenty of talent. However, in spite of a well designed flight pattern, the story line never takes off. Readers need to pass on this novel and try the first tale in the series, DANCE OF THE SCARECROW, to obtain a taste of a well written and executed amateur sleuth tale.

Harriet Klausner

There's a nifty premise here -- that John James Audubon reached the Pacific Coast and left behind four previously undiscovered paintings (in real life, he never made it that far west). Unfortunately, this becomes incidental to an at-best conventional murder mystery plot. The writing is sub-par, character descriptions are cursory, and details are bobbled. The dialogue reminded me at times of reading Hardy Boys books when I was a kid. It's too bad, because I love a birdwatching hero! I'll try his others and see.