Customer Reviews

Shooting Gallery: An Art Lover's Mystery

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I worked my way through the first book, Feint of Art, so quickly, I couldn't wait for book two. And it was well worth the wait. It was great to get reacquainted with a bunch of colorful characters.

Annie and her friends have a funny way of finding trouble and then finding their way out. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the twists and turns, and meeting Annie's mom! Shooting Gallery is as much of a page turner as Feint of Art. I couldn't put it down trying to see where it would all end up. I can't wait for BOOK THREE!

Lind's second in the Art Lover's Mystery Series, Shooting Gallery, is a welcome follow-up to Feint of Art. Funny, quirky, loaded with information about the art world (according to the author, it's all true) and with fascinating, engaging characters. My only complaint is that there are enough books yet in what promises to be a great series. Great, smart, fun!

This is a fun, well-crafted read, the equivalent of a good afternoon matinee. Annie Kincaid is a working artist in San Francisco, the problem is that she's got a bit of a criminal past as an art forger. And her father is a master art forger. And the object of her unrequited lust, Michael X. Johnson, is an international art thief. In the opening scene, the sculptor featured at a new exhibit at a prestigious art gallery turns up dead. Later they find his fingers. Annie tries her best to steer clear of trouble and her every good intention just gets her deeper into hot water. There's plenty of local "color" of the art scene and Bay area locale. The author has a knack for physical comedy--a real challenge in print. What impressed me most about this story was the wonderful prose and great phrasing. This is the sequel to the equally engaging FEINT OF ART. Check out the series by this author--a talented sister team.

The second book in the series is just as refreshing as the first, I've been an avid reader of the Stephanie Plum series for a while and while waiting for the next book to be released decided to give this series a try and am glad I did.

This book in my opinion is even better than the first, Annie is still having trouble deciding who to choose in her strange love triangle with Michael the sexy art thief who has many different aliases (While Annie frequently is trying to get his real name out of him) and the well-dressed and handsome owner of an art security company, Frank...who also happens to be her landlord.

It seems to me that this book seems to be more fast paced than the first, and in my opinion the mystery is more interesting and the laughs come more often as Annie finds herself in many mishaps just as Stephanie Plum. I can't wait to see what the author has planned next for this series and an counting down to the release date!

I love Annie Kincaid! The characters are engaging and the plot is fast-moving.

Hailey Lind's first mystery, Feint of Art,introduced a wonderfully witty new heroine, artist Annie Kincaid. Untidy, financially insecure and addicted to high-quality caffeine, Kincaid is the kind of character you come to think of as a friend. In Lind's latest book, Shooting Gallery, Kincaid deals with the twin evils of modern art and murder, armed with a sharp mind, a wicked sense of humor and an insider's knowledge of the art world, in all of its posturing and absurdity. If you've ever wondered how you were going to get that crayon mark off your priceless Picasso, spend an afternoon with Shooting Gallery.

A great, fun read. This book is a good mystery, with a hint of romance, and plenty of humor. I laughed so hard at one of the final scenes that I cried.

I'm a fan of similar authors including Janet Evanovich - if you enjoy her books, I think you'll really like Hailey Lind!