The Cavalier in White [Hardcover]

Marcia Muller (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When Joanna Stark learns that a tall stranger has been attempting to locate her, she tries to remain calm. But even three years after her retirement as a security consultant to California museums and galleries, her suspicions are automatically aroused. The man turns out to be her former partner Nick, who persuades Joanna, against her better judgment, to help him find a stolen Franz Hals painting, The Cavalier in White. All too soon, Joanna realizes that the case is more complex and frightening than it originally appeared. Before it is resolved, she is forced to confront her old nemesis, Parducci, as well as dramatic secrets in her personal life. Muller's introduction to her new detective is laden with expository passages that slow the development of the mystery. Still, the intricate story builds to a satisfying climax with enough left unresolved to promise more adventures in the future.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 207 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1 edition (June 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312125399
• ISBN-13: 978-0312125394
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,726,153 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

MARCIA MULLER has written many novels and short stories. Her novel "Wolf in the Shadows" won the Anthony Boucher Award. The recipient of the Private Eye Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award and the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award - their highest accolade - she lives in northern California with her husband, mystery writer Bill Pronzini.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top Notch Muller, October 3, 2004

By 

Neal J. Pollock (VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Cavalier in White (Hardcover)

Of the 30 Marcia Muller books I've read (excluding the ones co-authored or edited with Bill Pronzini), this is one of my 3 favorites. It's the initial book of her Joanna Stark trilogy, introducing one of her three heroines. The other two are: "There Hangs the Knife" and "Dark Star." I think this is the best of the 3. It's certainly interesting to see Muller write of protagonists other than Sharon McCone--demonstrates her breadth of talent. Also, the Stark trilogy is heavily into the world of art and art theft as well as a series of books (like Sherlock Holmes vs. Professor Moriarty) with a continuing struggle between two characters (Stark and Parducci). Muller slowly and teasingly provides detail after detail to fill in the prior relationship between the two characters--considerably enlivening the tales. Enjoy!

2.0 out of 5 stars If you have a passion for art theft mysteries...read the real thing..., December 24, 2011

By 

janebbooks (Jacksonville, FL USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Cavalier in White (Hardcover)

Marcia Muller is the award-winning writer of the Sharon McCone mysteries. She was a pioneer writer of private eye stories featuring a female protagonist: the first McCone detective novel EDWIN IN THE IRON SHOES was published in 1977. In 2005 she received the most prestigious award granted in her genre: the Grand Master Award from Mystery Writers of America.

In the late 1980's, Muller wrote a trilogy of art theft mystery novels. THE CAVALIER IN WHITE (1986) is the first Joanna Stark mystery. Joanna Stark is an art security consultant with a San Francisco firm. At the time of the story, she has retired from the firm and is living in the California wine country town of Sonoma restoring an old farmhouse that she and her late husband had inherited. Her former business partner entreats her to return to San Francisco to help investigate the theft of a Frans Hals painting, The Cavalier in White, from the M. H. de Young Museum.

Working with the insurance adjuster and her former partner, Joanna helps recover the painting. She also renews an interest in an old nemesis - Italian art thief Antony Parducci.

Muller knows San Francisco and its art world well: she has a passion for mystery and for old California homes and buildings. Her descriptions of place and the art world are wonderfully detailed. But as Publisher Weekly said of the #2 entry in the series THERE HANGS THE KNIFE, Joanna Stark is a wealthy but unhappy woman who will not appeal to many readers.

For the sheer delight of reading about art theft, may I recommended two books? One is about a valuable painting found - The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece by Jonathan Harr. The other is the true story of the world's largest unsolved art theft - The Gardner Heist by Ulrich Boser.