Posed for Murder [Hardcover]

Meredith Cole (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 17, 2009

Lydia McKenzie is an artist whose medium is the camera. She’s having her first one-woman show. It is a series that ties to actual murders committed in the city’s past. Her method is to find a model—someone who can match in a general way the actual female victim—and pose her in the clothes and position in which the actual victim was found. The night of her showing, however, is disappointing; the owner of the gallery makes her pay for the invitations down to the stamps, hang the whole show herself, and rush for the usual wine and snacks. But what happens next is much worse: two plainclothes policemen shut down the event and take Lydia in for questioning. A young woman whom she knew well, and who was the model in one of her photographs, has been murdered. Worried that the police aren’t doing what they should, Lydia and another friend set out to find the killer.

The winner of the celebrated St. Martin’s Minotaur/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition, Posed for Murder presents a snapshot of crime in a lasting and memorable story.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cole's entertaining debut, winner of Minotaur and Malice Domestic's Best First Traditional Mystery competition, introduces fine art photographer Lydia McKenzie. Before the cheap wine is gone, the police arrive at Lydia's first New York solo exhibit, a collection of meticulously reconstructed homicide scenes, to inform her that one of her models, a good friend, has been killed and posed in the same manner as one of Lydia's photos. After another of her models suffers the same fate, attractive NYPD Det. Daniel Romero warns that Lydia may be next. Lydia begins to investigate, albeit in amateur fashion. Several members of her artist critique group make promising suspects, one of whom is arrested, but too late Lydia realizes she and the NYPD may be mistaken. She soon has cause to be grateful for her newly acquired self-defense techniques, learned at her best friend's insistence. Contemporary Manhattan, viewed through a struggling artist's eyes, lends social and cultural interest. (Feb.)
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From Booklist

Life imitates art with dire consequences in this provocative first novel. Intrigued by a book about past murders in her Brooklyn neighborhood, photographer Lydia McKenzie enlists friends to pose like the bodies pictured in the book while she shoots the scenes. So it’s not surprising that the first gallery show of her black-and-white deathlike photos is interrupted by detectives investigating the actual murder of one of Lydia’s model friends, her body found displayed just as she was photographed. While Lydia and best friend Georgia—both models for photographs themselves—seek out the murderer, another model’s body is found posed in the same fashion, Lydia is threatened when her apartment is ransacked, and a third model disappears. The pool of suspects is small, since the first murder required inside knowledge of Lydia’s work, and Cole provides a red herring before revealing the actual killer. This won the St. Martin’s Minotaur/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition, and while its intriguing premise will attract readers, its pedestrian prose and the too-predictable unraveling of the plot lessen the book’s impact. --Michele Leber

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (February 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312378564
• ISBN-13: 978-0312378561
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,611,220 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Meredith Cole directed feature films and wrote screenplays before writing mysteries. She won the St. Martin's/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery competition. Her book POSED FOR MURDER, set in Williamsburg Brooklyn, was published by St. Martin's Minotaur in February 2009 and was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel. Her second book, DEAD IN THE WATER, came out in May 2010, and continues the adventures of Lydia McKenzie. Meredith teaches mystery writing and novel writing at the University of Virginia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad idea, but terribly written, August 24, 2010

By 

Moberly "A reader" (Charlottesville, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Posed for Murder (Hardcover)

The premise of this mystery novel sounded promising, but the writing was so shoddy that I could barely get through it. The characters are one-dimensional, the plot has no complexity at all, and the sentences are really banal and badly written (stuff like, "who could have done this horrible thing? Lydia decided that she would find out who could do something so horrible. She was so sad.")

I had high hopes for this novel, but it was disappointing from the very first page. It's a quick read, but not an enjoyable one if you value quality writing and plot construction. The author spends almost no time "showing," as opposed to "telling," and so the finished product reads like a bad mystery novel for kids. I don't recommend.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FAST DEBUT SUSPENSE NOVEL, September 22, 2010

By 

ITZME "JEANNE" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Posed for Murder (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this fast read. Lydia McKenzie is a photographer and also works for 2 private investigators (dull job to pay the bills). She is very interested in vintage clothing. She has an art show at a New York gallery depicting in black and white the posed death scenes of 5 cold case files. The premise of this novel is that someone is killing Lydia's friends who posed for the scenes in the same ways. Det. Daniel Romero is the chief homicide investigator. Good debut novel. The second one is titled: Dead in the Water.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars compelling, funny, and progressive, June 23, 2010

By 

S. de Llano (NYC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Posed for Murder (Hardcover)

I had a hard time putting this book down. I found myself laughing out loud and chuckling to myself on almost every page. It's also refreshing to read a murder mystery where the woman is the hero. The humor, fresh perspective, and fascinating plot all make this book enjoyable to read.