Shooting Gallery: An Art Lover's Mystery [Paperback]

Hailey Lind (Author)

Book Description

Series: Art Lover's Mystery | Publication Date: October 3, 2006

Modernism isn't Annie's thing, but even she is surprised to discover that the "sculpture" in a prestigious gallery's grisly new exhibition is an all-too-real corpse-the artist's. Meanwhile, a Chagall painting is stolen from the Brock Museum, and Annie's old friend Bryan is accused of being in on the fix. To track down the missing Chagall, she'll need the dubious assistance of a certain sexy art thief. And if Michael-or whatever his real name may be-isn't distraction enough, Annie's mother shows up in town, acting strangely. Annie's got to solve these mysteries, and fast-because art is long, but life can be very, very short.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An artfully crafted new mystery series. (Tim Myers, author of A Pour Way to Dye) Delightfully different...Annie Kincaid is a fun and fascinating new sleuth...a series to watch. (New Mystery Reader) The art world is murder in this witty and entertaining mystery. (Cleo Coyle, author of The Coffeehouse Mystery Series)

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Signet (October 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451219732
• ISBN-13: 978-0451219732
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #424,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reviewed by Diane Kasperski, January 25, 2007

By 

Front Street Reviews www.frontstreetreviews.com - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shooting Gallery: An Art Lover's Mystery (Paperback)

Annie Kincaid is the owner of a successful faux finishing business. She constantly is fighting her inner `genetic' demon. You see her grandfather is the most want art forger in the world. He is always involved in art theft schemes and Annie has an inner voice that tries to push her into the exciting world of her grandfather.

Somehow Annie frequently finds herself in the right place at the wrong time. At the very beginning of the book Annie is at the opening of a "swanky" new art gallery where she spots a body hanging from a tree on the grounds. Close on the heels of this discovery there is a major commotion at the neighboring art museum where a theft has occurred.
Then Annie's mother comes in to town unexpectedly. Much to Annie's surprise she has come to go to the funeral of the dead man but is very mysterious as to why other than saying they went to Berkley together. She tells Annie not to worry about it and just stay out of it. Of course, this is a red flag to Annie and now she is determined to find out what is going on.

The mystery just seems to get more complicated - Who killed the sculptor? - Why steal a painting that wasn`t worth a lot? Annie jumps right in and gets in the middle of things. This is an enjoyable tale with a wonderful main character. Annie is charming, goodhearted with a wry sense of humor she uses in tight situations and even turns on herself at times. She works persistently through all the clues and false clues to find answers but there are some definite surprises at the end.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Move over Stephanie Plum, October 18, 2006

By 

Lesa Holstine (Glendale, AZ) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shooting Gallery: An Art Lover's Mystery (Paperback)

If you haven't met Annie Kincaid, owner of a faux-finishing business, and heroine of Feint of Art and Shooting Gallery, you're in for a treat. She and her friends are just as zany as Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, but Annie's smarter, with just as many sexy male friends, and no cars blowing up.

Shooting Gallery is a fun caper novel in which Annie desperately tries to run a normal business, but continues to have problems with her friends and family. Why is Annie the one person at a gallery opening that spots the body hanging from a tree? Why is Annie's friend on a tour of a museum when a painting is stolen? Why does her mother suddenly show up after a sculptor is murdered? Why can't Annie decide between the handsome art thief and the gorgeous, trustworthy landlord?

Think the fun and sexual tension of Foul Play or Moonlighting. Think Janet Evanovich without the exploding cars. Think wild car chases and dirty dealings in the art world, and you have Shooting Gallery.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rollick, with just enough gravitas to keep you from feeling guilty, January 29, 2007

By 

J. Latus (Norfolk, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shooting Gallery: An Art Lover's Mystery (Paperback)

This may even be better than Feint of Art, the first in this series. The lead character, Annie Kincaid, is smart, funny, irreverent, balanced, and believable. These authors do a great job creating three dimensional characters and then putting them in implausible situations, justified by Annie's past (and her grandfather's present) in the underworld of masterpiece-level art. It's a blast to read, with just enough real art knowledge so that you're learning between the laughs, which are plentiful.