The Body in the Gallery: A Faith Fairchild Mystery (Faith Fairchild Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Katherine Hall Page (Author)

Book Description

Series: Faith Fairchild Mysteries | Publication Date: April 28, 2009

Faith's catering business has been slow with the downturn of the economy, so when her friend Patsy Avery proposes that she take over the café at Aleford's Ganley Art Museum, it seems like a not-to-be-missed opportunity. And Patsy has an ulterior motive—she discovers that the Romare Bearden piece she lent the museum has been switched with a fake and wants Faith to snoop around to find the culprit.

Life at the museum doesn't stay calm for long and Faith is soon enmeshed in the Ganley's murky past and present as she struggles to make connections among apparently disparate items: the fake Bearden, Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers, and a Jane Doe corpse that turns up as an unintended part of an art installation. At home, son Ben, now in the hell known as middle school, becomes involved in a cyberbullying escapade and husband Tom wants his wife to morph into June Cleaver.

Her investigation takes Faith into Boston's art scene and historic Beacon Hill, as well as into the lives behind the façade of the Ganley's very proper board of trustees. She is at her wit's—and almost dead—end, as the killer strikes again, and again.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Is it art or murder? In Page's savory 17th Faith Fairchild mystery (after 2006's The Body in the Ivy), the caterer/chef uncovers sinister doings at the Ganley Museum of Art in Aleford, Mass. When Faith's friend Patsy Avery, the president of the museum's board of trustees, asks her to investigate a potential forgery, Faith is reluctant to jump back into the detecting world. She finally agrees to open a cafe in the museum at Patsy's urging, but soon discovers a bald female corpse floating in a tank intended for an art installation. Faith's subsequent investigation reveals that the woman, who called herself Tess Auchincloss, had a stolen Degas sketch stashed in her apartment. Joining forces with Det. Lt. John Dunne, Faith scrambles to solve the case even as the list of suspect grows and another murder occurs. Along with fun foodie details, Page provides an entertaining subplot involving Faith's rebellious teenage son, Ben. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Fans of culinary and especially catering cozies like those of Diane Mott Davidson should eat up the latest in the Faith Fairchild series. Like Davidson, Agatha Award–winning Page injects cooking lore and advice (and recipes at the back) into her conventional body-found-by-caterer plot. This latest Fairchild is further enlivened by intriguing information on art theft and art forgeries. A friend of Faith’s is convinced that someone has forged a copy of a painting she has loaned to an exhibit. Then Faith stumbles across the body of a young woman (floating in a giant fish tank installation) at the gallery. Page has to work a bit to get Faith on scene for the investigation, since the local cops want nothing to do with her, but a temporary posting to the gallery café gives the intrepid sleuth all the opportunity she needs. A bit formulaic but worth it for the atmosphere, cooking, and art expertise. --Connie Fletcher --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Avon; Reprint edition (April 28, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060763701
• ISBN-13: 978-0060763701
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #234,741 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Katherine Hall Page is the author of seventeen previous Faith Fairchild mysteries, the first of which received the Agatha Award for best first mystery, and recently The Body in the Snowdrift was honored with the Agatha Award for best novel of 2006. Page also won an Agatha for her short story "The Would-Be Widower." She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and son.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars My review of The Body in the Gallery, May 14, 2008

By 

awillis "Voracious Reader" (Lexington, SC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Body in the Gallery: A Faith Fairchild Mystery (Faith Fairchild Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Faith Fairchild is the wife of a minister, mother of two children, owner of a catering business and oh yeah - amateur detective. Have Faith, her business has been affected by the slowing economy, so when her friend Patsy suggests that Faith take over the cafe at the Ganley Art Museum, she jumps at the chance. There is of course a catch....

Patsy and her husband have donated a painting to the Ganley Museum and plan to make the loan permanent when she notices that something is not quite `right' with the painting. Patsy wants Faith to take over operation of the museum café and use her amateur detective skills to find out who has been replacing original works of art with skillful forgeries. As always, it doesn't take Faith long to stumble over trouble or rather a body. What starts out as an investigation into art forgery quickly turns to murder. Meanwhile on the home front Faith knows something is not quite right with her middle school aged son.

Initially I thought this book was boring, but the book did pick up speed about half way through and eventually grabbed my attention. I felt that a major portion of the book was taken up by paragraph after paragraph of descriptions about the origins the Ganley Museum, the food that was being served by the catering company or descriptions of the various pieces of artwork (real or imagined) that was highlighted in the story. This is the first book I had read by Ms. Page and perhaps if I had started from the beginning of the series (which is usually my preference); I might have felt more of a connection to Faith as a character. On a rating scale of 1-5 (where 1 = bad, 3 = average, 5 = exceptional) I would give this a rating of 3.

In summary, I believe that while this book is good, it could have been better had it contained less detailed descriptions of the food, artwork, museum etc., and had the plot expanded. I would have also liked for the book to be a little longer, at just over 250 pages including the recipes it felt, well, short.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Hit for Faith Fairchild, May 18, 2008

By 

M. Jeanne Bracken "refster" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Body in the Gallery: A Faith Fairchild Mystery (Faith Fairchild Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Unlike earlier titles in the series, the latest Faith Fairchild mystery takes place close to home in Aleford, Massachusetts. Other reviewers have captured the plot; no need to recap that. I especially enjoy this series because the family dynamics are so real. Whether Faith is dealing with Tom's extended family (THE BODY IN THE SNOWDRIFT) or her own past (THE BODY IN THE BIG APPLE), the interplay among characters feels right on. In THE BODY IN THE GALLERY, Faith's relationship with her troubled teenaged son Ben has a great been-there-done-that feel to it. I can think of other series where the protagonist's family is just too perfect, which makes Katherine Hall Page's books such good reads--and I know that somehow Faith, Ben, Tom and the rest will survive Ben's adolescence--even with all of us watching from the sidelines. The issue of bullying is handled from an interesting point of view; so often the victim takes the forefront, but in this case not. Another thought-provoking book in a stellar series.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Faith discovers unknown murder victim, May 11, 2008

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Body in the Gallery LP: A Faith Fairchild Mystery (Faith Fairchild Mysteries) (Paperback)

Caterer Faith Fairchild is asked to take over the cafe at Aleford's Ganley Art Museum, and at the same time do some snooping for her friend Patsy who wants to know who put a fake collage in the museum in place of the genuine piece that she and her husband donated. In the course of her duties Faith discovers the body of an unknown woman who has become a gruesome part of an art object. Faith works to uncover the woman's identity and also to discover who murdered her. In the course of her investigation she uncovers unsavory aspects about many of the people who are connected to the museum.

The book also chronicles Faith's struggles with her teenaged son who has become uncommunicative and rebellious. He is involved in an activity which is an old one with a new cyber twist. It makes for interesting family background and also serves as a warning to parents of teenagers who may be involved in a similar activity. This is another good read from Katherine Hall Page.