Customer Reviews

Still as Death (Sweeney St. George Mysteries)

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

 

 

"Still as Death," by Sarah Stewart Taylor, features Sweeney St. George, a Cambridge-based art history professor and expert in funerary art. She is about to mount her exhibit "Still as Death: The Art of the End of Life" for the Hapner Museum and she is working frantically to get everything ready before the opening. Sweeney is currently living with elegant and sexy Ian Ball, who has been staying in America to open a Boston office of his London auction house. Ian's work is done and he is ready to return to London. He asks Sweeney to go back with him, but she keeps asking for more time to make up her mind. Irritating Ian further is the fact that Sweeney has been drinking too much lately, and she is annoyed when he expresses his concern about her behavior.

When Sweeney seeks a particular beaded collar from the museum's Egyptian collection to round off her exhibit, she cannot locate the piece. The last person to handle the collar, back in 1979, was Karen Philips, a troubled young woman who later committed suicide. When Sweeney questions the museum's director, Egyptologist Willem Keane, and his assistant, Tad Moran, they insist that the item is still in the collection but must have been misplaced.

Sweeney's life becomes infinitely more complicated in short order. Several murders in the museum lead to an investigation by Detective Tim Quinn, a man whom Sweeney has known for years and secretly admires. Will her affection for Quinn keep Sweeney from moving to London with Ian? Tim's investigation and Sweeney's amateur sleuthing lead to a resolution of the case, which turns out to be an intricate tale of cruelty, greed, and betrayal.

"Still as Death" has its strengths; Taylor's portrayal of Sweeney St. George, an intelligent and troubled woman who is conflicted about the men in her life, makes the reader care about the decisions that she will ultimately make. Another solid aspect of the novel is the fascinating information it provides on art history. However, Taylor's lumbering plot makes little sense and most of her characters are stereotypes--the overbearing and arrogant museum director, an aggressive feminist, an insecure and frightened gay man, and the blue-collar cop who loves Sweeney but fears that she is out of his league. Although the murders are solved, Sweeney's life remains unsettled, setting the reader up for the inevitable sequel. This is a workmanlike and competent enough mystery. However, it would have been much more memorable if the author had constructed a sharper and tighter plot and created more finely-tuned characters.

Sweeney St. George has been working on an exhibit for almost three years. Now, she's just putting the finishing touches on "Still as Death," an exhibit on the art of mourning over the centuries. The exhibit is being held at the Hapner on the Cambridge campus where she teaches.

While trying to put the perfect finishing touches on it, she learns of an Egyptian funerary collar in the museum's collection that would be perfect. But no one seems to be able to find it. The last person to have it was a student who was around when the museum was robbed 25 years ago. Not too long after, she committed suicide. Are these events connected?

Meanwhile, Sweeney's exhibit opening is going fine, until the museum's housekeeper is found murdered down in the basement. It looks like a botched robbery attempt. Is history repeating itself or is this a new attempt?

This book continues to inform while it entertains with the fascinating look at the art of mourning over the years. The focus this time is on Egyptian mourning rituals, and the information presented is interesting.

Of course, the main focus is still entertainment. The mystery here is the strongest of the series, with several twists I should have seen coming but didn't. Meanwhile, Sweeney's personal life takes some interested turns. The main characters are here and as strong as ever. Even police office Tim Quinn didn't bother me this time around. The secondary characters seemed a bit weak this time, but that is a minor complaint.

This book left me hungry for more. Fans of the series will be glad to see Sweeney's return and the book should win her and her author new fans.

Professor Sweeney St. George is putting together an exhibit at the university's Hapner Museum of Art, "Still as Death: The Art of the End of Life". However, the Harvard University art history professor realizes as she catalogues the display that a priceless Egyptian funerary jewelry collar is missing. Making inquiries she learns that the last person known to have had the artifact was back in 1979, student intern Karen Philips who apparently committed suicide soon afterward.

Sweeney continues preparation for the show, but also digs deeper into the Philips affair. She finds out that Karen was working at the Hapner the night it was robbed in 1979 and other tidbits that fail to add up. However, her fascination with a mystery over twenty-five years old changes to a modern murder mystery when someone kills Olga, working on the exhibit. Cambridge Police Department Detective Tim Quinn looks at the Art Department for a suspect while Sweeney begins to tie the current homicide back to the 1979 tragedy.

STILL AS DEATH is an enjoyable entry to a fine series in which the heroine in between getting the exhibit ready investigates the 1979 events for about half the story line before the plot takes a left turn into a modern day murder in which Tim joins Sweeney on center stage. Sweeny is as always irreverent when it comes to death while her colleagues are a bit more stunned especially when Tim looks at them for the culprit. Fans of the series and newcomers (see JUDGMENT OF THE GRAVE, MANSIONS OF THE DEAD and O'ARTFUL DEATH) will enjoy everyone's favorite gravestone expert as she adapts to solving a modern day art of death homicide.

Harriet Klausner

Sarah Stewart Taylor has written her fourth Sweeney St. George mystery and each is superb, each better than the last. Still as Death keeps the reader glued because of the skill of writing, the excellence portrayed in each character and the swiftness of plot development. An easy read, an enjoyable few hours of being ensnared by the entertainment of the book.

Adding the wealth of knowledge of antiquities and funerary art enriches the experience. Placing the setting at a museum with characters participating in the intricate art of displaying objects, is a brilliant premise for the writer as well as the reader. The underlying sexual tension between the main character, Sweeney, her "boyfriend", for lack of a better description, and the toe-in-the-dirt shy detective is titillating and keeps the reader wanting more.

Start with O' Artful Death, move to Mansions of the Dead, then Judgment of the Grave before reading this wonderful book to enjoy the entire development of a lovable character, Sweeney St. George. We can only hope there is more in the future.

My excitement over learning that "Still as Death," the fourth Sweeney St. George Mystery was available in paperback was tempered by the realization that Sarah Stewart Taylor's novel had been published in hardback last year. I read the first three novels in a relatively short period of time because I had received an offer to review the third book, "Judgment of the Grave," and initially turned it down because I do not like to jump into a series after it has started (imagine starting "The Lord of the Rings" with "The Return of the King," or the mystery series of your choice with the third volume rather than starting at the beginning). I then took advantage of a counteroffer to be sent all three books and now have a reason besides the Demon Barber of Fleet Street to run around chanting "Sweeney, Sweeney, Sweeney." A lot of books showed up this month from authors that my wife and I both read, and I have to say that showing "Still as Death" had arrived was the only one that made my wife's face light up (but I got to read it first).

This fourth outing finds our professorial heroine preparing an exhibition entitled: "Still as Death: The Art of the End of Life" at the Hapner Museum of Art in Boston. However the book begins with a prologue set in 1979, when the museum was the target of a daring robbery. At the opening of the exhibit somebody ends up dead and the game is afoot and we discover that lots of people there have something to be guilty about.
One of the interesting things about this series is how Taylor avoids having Sweeney solve these murders all by herself. When you are an expert on funereal art there are not going to be a lot of murder mysteries that are on point, and in the real world murders are solved by professionals and not amateurs. In this series that would be Detective Tim Quinn, who is assigned the case and does not know whether he is bothered more by being around Sweeney again or having to deal with a new partner.

In addition to the mysteries regarding the missing Egyptian funeral collar, the murder in the museum, and the apparent suicide of grad student Karen Phillips a quarter-century earlier, the other burning question in "Still as Death" is whether Sweeney is going to figure out her love life. She is living with Ian, who needs to more back to London, not just for his work but also because he wants to be closer to his daughter. Ian wants Sweeney to move with him to England, whether they would be plenty of funeral art for her to check out. Sweeney's apartment building is about to be sold so it looks like it is time for a change, but complicating the issue is Quinn. Sweeney's investigations and the murder at the museum bring Sweeney and Quinn together again, and besides the two of them the only ones who do not see the spark between the pair are the cat Sweeney has inherited and the corpse.

I have to admit that I would have liked to have seen more of Sweeney as an art scholar this around, especially since the title for this book comes from the exhibit on her specialty, "the art of death," for the university museum. The opening of the museum is interrupted by a murder and you can hardly say her attempt to give Quinn an after hour tour goes any better. I find the funeral art stuff in these books to be totally fascinating and would not mind reading some of Sweeney's scholarly work if Taylor ever wants to publish it.. The resolution of the love triangle I found to be unsatisfying, but I have to reserve final judgment on that score because I have my suspicions as to what Taylor is setting up for the next installment. What is important is that I am already anxious for the nest Sweeney St. George Mystery and firmly convinced that it will have something to do with El Dia de los Muertos. The upside to having missed reading "Still as Death" for thirteen months until it came out in paperback is tempered by the mathematical certainty that I now have less time to wait to read that next one. In hardback this time, I promise.

Love this book for several reasons:

a. Intelligent characters
b. Characters staying in their assigned roles - this book proved you can have a central character who doesn't have the need to solve the case themselves and at the same time prove the police are idiots - refreshing
c. Characters with realistic flaws - sorry no hints you'll have to find out on your own (However, there was one character I wanted to kick in the butt)
d. It doesn't drag you down with the facts - what facts it does provide add to the story without boring the reader
e. Well written - smooth flowing - very fast read - realistic dialogue
f. The author throws in little things that tickles the curiosity of the reader - what is the character up to and why

Sarah Stewart Taylor continues to enthrall her readers with the life and times of Sweeney St. George. Though there are some instances of predictablity that run through the pages, Stewart Taylor spins a tale of murder, history, mystery, and, yes, a little bit of a love story which is the life of Sweeney St. George.

Still as Death is a great addition to the Sweeney St. George Mystery series. Although the mystery is interesting, the part I enjoyed the most was how the storylines of both Sweeney and Tim, the detective, are advanced. The life and loves of Sweeney St. George provides the human aspect to the story. You can not help but anguish with Sweeney as she makes one fateful decision after another. Be warned, the ending leaves you wanting to go immediately into the next novel.

Although the book itself is enjoyable, the mystery part of the story is much weaker in this book. Maybe it's because I'm not a woman, but SST seems to spend an inordinate amount of time describing the style and type of hair and haircuts of the characters. But anyway, there are far too many 'red herrings' in this story to make it slide smoothly along. And some of the relationships among the characters is either too superficial or trite.

As to Sweeney's drinking and love life, it's so transparent and telegraphed as if to say, expect this in the next chapter or next book. The solving of the 'crimes' itself are so easy that they're almost superfluous to the book. Especially unnecessary is the second crime side story that doesn't seem to add anything to the series except to flesh out the book. There is little atmosphere in the story, as the museum is almost as sterile as a hospital.

It may sound picky, but at one point, one of the detectives is able to track down a character whose name is "Jason" by calling all of the colleges in the Boston area. DUH! There are over one hundred colleges in the immediate vicinity and even though he is a chemistry major, how many Jasons are out there. Can you imagine calling up MIT, Northeastern and BU (which have over 100,000 students together) and finding only ONE student majoring in chemistry named Jason? How about Bob or John or Basil?

Hopefully the next book will be a little more realistic. But somehow I have a feeling it will deal with Sweeney's alcoholism, quel suprise!