Customer Reviews

Cezanne's Quarry

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If your looking for a well written, fun, interesting summer mystery - this is it. Ms Pope weaves a tightly constructed narrative that includes a beautiful, though dead, redhead, a tough French inspector and and an interesting young magistrate as well as Cezanne! From the very first pages we are swept into a web of 19th century intrique in the hot Aix-en-Provence summer days. What happened, who dunnit, why did they dunnit, who's trying to frame who(m), it's all here. A great fun read - and you might learn something too.
Cezanne's Quarry

A mystery fan friend strongly recommended this book and I have to say he did me a grand favor. Cezanne's Quarry is a kind of page-turner, historical study, art lesson, and travel adventure, all rolled into one polished piece of fiction. In addition, the book is a crash course in French law and customs, with side dishes of biology and regional history. Hardly what one would expect in a murder mystery, but then this is no ordinary mystery. Pope's descriptions of the settings of her story put the reader right into 1880s Provence, and while I'm not at all sure I would have wanted to live there, I certainly wanted to keep reading this wonderful tale. Give us more, Ms. Pope!

This is a terrific historical mystery. Set in France during the era of the painter Cézanne, the artist is one of the suspects in a murder. You feel that you are living in this era as you read the story. The author is a historian and novelist. Recommended highly! Sue Levering

Historical fiction has not typically been my preferred genre but Ms. Pope may be responsible for a convert. I was pleasantly transported back to old France amidst the volatile eccentrics Cezanne and Zola, and their various antics and associates, which were thoroughly engaging and complex, though it is with the highest authority that the author depicts the status of the women and the general social temperament of the times. And, if so inclined, Ms. Pope has a winning series with the awkward and endearing Bernard Martin. At the very least, we'll be seeing this one on the big screen!

This debut mystery just begs for a series from author Barbara Corrado Pope, with the appealing young judge Bernard Martin making multiple appearances as he moves around France to various postings.
Well-written and engrossing, social commentary and historical allusions appear side-by-side with the unfolding of the mystery of the murders of an unconventional woman and a young boy.
In these hoped-for subsequent mysteries, I'd love to see MUCH more of the lively Clarie Falchetti, perhaps as a partner with M. Martin in solving crimes. She has the spirit and intelligence to make an even more memorable character if her role is expanded.
Cezanne's Quarry would translate well into a movie, hopefully not bungled, as movies of novels too often are. Nicole Kidman would be perfect as the murdered Solange, if she would take a role that was mainly in flashbacks.
I recommend this mystery novel, and also watching for more from this author!

Solange Vernet was a radical. Her belief that women could be educated in science and her unmarried cohabitation with the Darwinian geologist Charles Westbury--as well as their joint lectures promoting the idea that the earth was millions of years old--made her the talk of the quaint provincial town of Aix-en-Provence, France. When she is found strangled to death in a quarry outside the city, up-and-coming judge Bernard Martin finds himself in the middle of a cultural debate that could make or break his career. Was Vernet's murder the result of a lover's spat or God's punishment for her wayward lifestyle? Or was Vernet more than a nonconformist female, perhaps a human being whose beliefs didn't merit her burial in an unmarked grave in a farmer's field?

Solange Vernet and Charles Westbury seemed outrageous because they promoted science, the belief that the world was ancient, and the right of women to become educated. Vernet rose from poverty to her own successful business in Paris. She also chose to live with Westbury as his lover rather than marrying him. This was considered sinful in 19th century France. Isn't it amazing that we still have the same dilemma today? While women like Vernet are more accepted in modern society, the debate of Darwinism vs. Creationism still rages and a promiscuous woman is still gossiped about behind her back.

Barbara Corrado Pope's mystery Cezanne's Quarry is a masterful mix of history, French law and custom, religion, and intrigue. Her prose is so direct and well-crafted that I felt as if I were in the small town of Aix and knew the characters as my neighbors. Pope is expert at leaving small hints throughout her work and wrapping them up in a masterful way at the end of the novel. I also enjoyed the way she intertwined fact and fiction and incorporated real life people into her plot: Paul Cezanne, a true French artist and the father of modern art; Emile Zola, an influential French writer.The result is an intelligent novel that is thought-provoking without being dull. Who else but Pope could make historic French law fascinating? I not only enjoyed the plot, I learned a thing or two as well.

by Jennifer Melville
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

This book is a masterpiece of delicious excitement and anxious mystery. I can't wait to see it on the Big Screen. Bravo Ms. Pope!

The descriptions and the depth of this novel were so vivid I felt as if I had been trasported to Provence! This novel is dying for a treatment and Dr. Pope's script can already be found in the text. Her fascinating portrayal of women's circumstances and the many ways in which they were able to overcome them is woven throughout the narrative amidst a tenor of personalities so marked that their restraint and indulgence is anticipated throughout. I am just waiting for this gem to revealed on screen! J'espere.......

When one dies young, it's a tragedy. When it's murder, the result is a race to find the one responsible and bring them to justice. "Cezanne's Quarry" tells of Solange Vernet, who is found dead. Bernard Martin is chosen to solve the crime; he is torn between his two prime suspects of Vernet's lover Charles Westbury and her spurned ex-lover Paul Cezanne. The evidence points to both, so Martin must dive into the dark past of all three to find out. An enthralling novel all the way through, "Cezanne's Quarry" is a must for mystery fans who prefer historical settings over contemporary ones.

Starting from the idea that the painter Paul Cézanne may have had a passionate affair at the time he was living with his mistress and their son, Cézanne's Quarry supposes that the woman has been murdered and that the artist is a suspect.

The victim and her lover have been advocating a belief in evolution in the conservative area of Aix-en-Provence. Events in their past are pieced together by a young inexperienced magistrate, Bernard Martin, who has to conduct the investigation under antagonistic circumstances.

The passions aroused, both romantic and intellectual, and the well-researched detail evoke the period beautifully and lead to a rousing finish. Bring on Bernard Martin's next case!