Customer Reviews

Man with a Squirrel (Missing Mysteries)

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Fred Taylor is doing what he does best, wandering amidst the antique shops of Boston searching for a treasure for his employer, wealthy art collector Clayton Reed. In one ye olde shoppe, Fred finds a segment of a pain ting of a squirrel that has been cut out of a larger painting. He thinks that this fragment is part of an important work by Copley, an eighteenth century American artist. Fred buys the piece, hoping to find the rest of the painting. As Fred begins his search, his girl friend Molly is looking into the activities of Dr. Eunice Cover-Hoover, a noted professor who is helping people deal with cults and repressed memories. To learn whether Eunice is a savior or a brilliant con artist, Molly decides she needs to offer herself up as an alleged victim of repressed memories. Before Fred knows what is happening, his seemingly innocent quest places him on Molly's path, one that is filled with murder and other violent acts. Fred realizes that he must now do more then rescue a painting, he must rescue his beloved and perhaps himself. The second novel in the Fred Taylor series is absolutely great. The story line is extremely well written, entertaining, and absolutely frightening in that it seems so realistic and plausible. With novels like MAN WITH A SQUIRREL and HARMONY IN FLESH AND BLACK (the first Taylor tale), Nicholas Kilmer deserves to become a household name. Harriet Klausner --

Man with a Squirrel is one of the most bizarre mysteries I've ever read. I commend it to all of those who find themselves attracted to weirdness.

Someone is carving up and selling off crude sections of a valuable painting. How can Fred Taylor find the rest and arrange for the painting to be restored?

That would have been plenty bizarre enough, but Mr. Kilmer also populates this story with enough weird characters to fill a small asylum. If you enjoy reading about those who deal with suppressed memories of sexual molestation in their own families, you may like this book better than I did. I graded the book as though you have such a taste.

As for me, I wouldn't have finished the book except that I enjoyed two other books in the Fred Taylor series.

I'm hoping the next one I read won't be quite so disgusting in its exploration of depraved people.

Kilmer has a very interesting style. There is humor in his turn of phrase, but you must pay attention or you might miss it. While the first book might have given me a greater history of the characters, Kilmer did fill that in as the story progressed. The dialogue is well done; the sense of place could have been stronger. I did enjoy the book; it did keep me reading and it did have an excellent climatic scene. Although it isn't a "wow" book for me, I liked it and would read another book by Kilmer.

Fred Taylor is doing what he does best, wandering amidst the antique shops of Boston searching for a treasure for his employer, wealthy art collector Clayton Reed. In one ye olde shoppe, Fred finds a segment of a pain ting of a squirrel that has been cut out of a larger painting. He thinks that this fragment is part of an important work by Copley, an eighteenth century American artist. Fred buys the piece, hoping to find the rest of the painting. As Fred begins his search, his girl friend Molly is looking into the activities of Dr. Eunice Cover-Hoover, a noted professor who is helping people deal with cults and repressed memories. To learn whether Eunice is a savior or a brilliant con artist, Molly decides she needs to offer herself up as an alleged victim of repressed memories. Before Fred knows what is happening, his seemingly innocent quest places him on Molly's path, one that is filled with murder and other violent acts. Fred realizes that he must now do more then rescue a painting, he must rescue his beloved and perhaps himself. The second novel in the Fred Taylor series is absolutely great. The story line is extremely well written, entertaining, and absolutely frightening in that it seems so realistic and plausible. With novels like MAN WITH A SQUIRREL and HARMONY IN FLESH AND BLACK (the first Taylor tale), Nicholas Kilmer deserves to become a household name. Harriet Klausner -----