O Sacred Head (Missing Mysteries) [Paperback]

Nicholas Kilmer (Author)

Book Description

Series: Missing Mysteries | Publication Date: August 1, 2000

Art expert Fred Taylor is the agent for paranoid Beacon Hill collector Clayton Reed, a civilized man yet utterly ruthless collector. Fred supplies not only the brainwork, but the muscle, in their association. And from time to time, Fred either runs with, or outfoxes, the police.
It is the cops, in fact, who plunge him into his latest detection (after Harmony in Flesh and Black and Man with a Squirrel) by inviting him into a grisly murder scene. A decapitated corpse has been found alongside an Italian religious painting of the 17th Century. The body is clearly for the moment that of a John Doe, but can Fred identify the painting. Its subject is Christ in Agony.
Though Reed warns Fred to stay away from the Baroque's fascination with martyrdom if he values his sanity, Fred is hooked by the mystery. Fighting a snowstorm paralyzing Boston, he researches the picture's provenance and establishes it is supposed to have miraculous properties. He also comes to suspect it makes up part of a collection of Old Masters being hawked around town that may all be fakes. If it's a fake, can it work any modern miracles? Moreover, who was it that died?
As the author reports, "Genuine art history is part of the plot...past mystery and history interlock with the present...if it's tough sometimes, it can still be funny."
To move into erotica and brush against Victorian prudery, carry on with Dirty Linen. Kilmer is at work on a fifth novel, Lazarus, Arise.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Series sleuth Fred Taylor, Boston art buyer for wealthy Clayton Reed (Harmony in Flesh and Black, LJ 3/1/95), must identify an old painting at the scene of a decapitation. Someone notifies Clayton, meanwhile, of a stash of marvelous paintings of mysterious provenance. Of special interest to art history fans.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

It's not easy writing a mystery set in the art world without sounding like you're imitating Jonathan Gash's Lovejoy novels. Luckily, Kilmer's Fred Taylor mysteries don't feel like imitations. Kilmer, a painter and art dealer, certainly knows his field. In this third entry in the series, Taylor investigates a murder involving a rare seventeenth-century painting and a decapitated victim. The tale is chock-full of fascinating hints for readers interested in collecting fine art, and--unlike many experts-turned-writers (certain lawyers, say, or physicians)--Kilmer knows how to construct a plot. O Sacred Head is not the best of the Taylor mysteries (some readers may find it a little too cluttered), but, like its predecessors, it's very well written, and the solution to the mystery is elusive enough to keep readers turning the pages. David Pitt --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 212 pages
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890208485
• ISBN-13: 978-1890208486
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,084,842 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Waiting for Kilmer's next book!, November 27, 1998

By 

Carol Frost Vercollone - See all my reviews

This review is from: O Sacred Head (Fred Taylor Mystery) (Hardcover)

I logged on to see if anything is listed as forthcoming from this tremendous writer. I first picked up one of his books at my library, noticing the word "squirrel" on the cover - and I was hooked. While I immediately learned he offered nothing on squirrels, his human characters are portrayed with warmth, humor and intelligence. Searching for more by Kilmer after going through his mysteries, I read A Place in Normandy. Now I want he and his family to continue on with their personal lives so warmly and humorously shared, but I do hope he leaves some time for writing! Carol Frost Vercollone, author of Helping the Stork

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars So-so book, so-so mystery, September 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: O Sacred Head (Fred Taylor Mystery) (Hardcover)

The number of stars given to this book so far baffles me (and was the reason I gave it a shot). Although there are interesting aspects, particularly if you have lived or do live in Boston, I found the book to be more an outline than a well-developed plot with well-developed characters. The book is like one of those "connect the dot" pictures and the narrative jumps from dot to narrative dot, but there's often not much in between. We always know, however, where the protagonist is in physical space, and the description of the environment is well-drawn. Also, individual vignettes and character sketches are occasionally engrossing and amusing. One primary subplot, that involving Clayton and the merciless art dealer he invites to stay with him during a prolonged snow storm, is left dangling with no resolution. The ending, also, is completely unsatisfactory -- the murderer isn't even introduced until he is caught. What kind of mystery is this? Bottom line assessement is that Kilmer has potentional, but he is a lazy writer. I've just started on of Iain Pears now and am finding him much more capable.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Gruesome Mutilation Murders with an Art Background, April 22, 2006

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: O Sacred Head (Missing Mysteries) (Paperback)

O Sacred Head is primarily a satire of the wealthy, reclusive types who live at 1010 Memorial Drive in Cambridge, herein described as 1001 Memorial Drive. While they live an undisturbed life in that upscale Ivory Tower, Mr. Kilmer suggests they also lead insufficiently examined lives as well.

Cambridge detective Bookrajian shows up at Molly's tiny home in Arlington at 3 a.m. to roust Fred Taylor for a quick trip to a crime scene before the investigation begins. There's an elaborately staged corpse modeling with a painting instead of a head whose wrists are nailed to a mantel. Fred can't identify the painting, but promises to work on it if he can get a photograph.

Meanwhile Boston is blasted by a blizzard that leaves cars banned from the city streets. Over the next several days, Fred finds himself cold footing it around town to follow up on a lead that his employer, Clayton Reed, has on dozens of Old Masters for a mere $45 million. Even that much is out of Clayton's league, but Clatyon wants to find out if there's anything of interest in the collection. While Clayton entertains the slippery dealer who approached him, Fred finds himself opportuned by another dealer for the same works . . . at a lower price. Then, Molly's sister, Ophelia Finger, is offered one of the works for a mere $4 million. Fred keeps tracking down these mysterious paintings . . . but finds mostly dismay . . . as the second dealer is mutilated and murdered, the works are shown to be probable fakes and thugs take turns pounding Fred.

Fred fears that everyone could become a murder victim so he takes on the murder investigation sub rosa when a personal tragedy pulls Bookrajian from the case. An unexpected inquiry into unusual blood chemistry leads to a surprising end to a gut-wrenching investigation.

If you are weak of stomach, you may want to skip this book. The gruesomeness leads with its chin. The art context is modest compared to the earlier two books in the series. If I had read an accurate, thorough review of this book in advance, I would have happily not read O, Sacred Head.