Posed for Murder (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cole's entertaining debut, winner of Minotaur and Malice Domestic's Best First Traditional Mystery competition, introduces fine art photographer Lydia McKenzie. Before the cheap wine is gone, the police arrive at Lydia's first New York solo exhibit, a collection of meticulously reconstructed homicide scenes, to inform her that one of her models, a good friend, has been killed and posed in the same manner as one of Lydia's photos. After another of her models suffers the same fate, attractive NYPD Det. Daniel Romero warns that Lydia may be next. Lydia begins to investigate, albeit in amateur fashion. Several members of her artist critique group make promising suspects, one of whom is arrested, but too late Lydia realizes she and the NYPD may be mistaken. She soon has cause to be grateful for her newly acquired self-defense techniques, learned at her best friend's insistence. Contemporary Manhattan, viewed through a struggling artist's eyes, lends social and cultural interest. (Feb.)
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From Booklist

Life imitates art with dire consequences in this provocative first novel. Intrigued by a book about past murders in her Brooklyn neighborhood, photographer Lydia McKenzie enlists friends to pose like the bodies pictured in the book while she shoots the scenes. So it’s not surprising that the first gallery show of her black-and-white deathlike photos is interrupted by detectives investigating the actual murder of one of Lydia’s model friends, her body found displayed just as she was photographed. While Lydia and best friend Georgia—both models for photographs themselves—seek out the murderer, another model’s body is found posed in the same fashion, Lydia is threatened when her apartment is ransacked, and a third model disappears. The pool of suspects is small, since the first murder required inside knowledge of Lydia’s work, and Cole provides a red herring before revealing the actual killer. This won the St. Martin’s Minotaur/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition, and while its intriguing premise will attract readers, its pedestrian prose and the too-predictable unraveling of the plot lessen the book’s impact. --Michele Leber

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1 edition (February 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312378564
• ISBN-13: 978-0312378561
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #832,388 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A likeable heroine, July 20, 2009

By	Cindy Chow (Kaneohe, Hawaii) - See all my reviews

It should have been an evening of triumph for photographer Lydia McKenzie, who was debuting her collection five years in the making of photos featuring models reenacting unsolved murders. Instead, her drunken gallery manager forced her to pay for promotional items and even neglected to provide drinks for the jaded New York crowd. Those are minor complications though compared to the arrival of two NYPD detectives with the news that one of the models featured in Lydia's photos was just discovered murdered and they are very interested in learning why the woman was photographed as a corpse on the exhibit's invitations.
Lydia created her arguably morbid collection after becoming fascinated by Lost Girls, a book documenting the tragic unsolved murders of unidentified young women in Williamsburg. After also being touched by murder when a child, Lydia hopes that her photographs will bring awareness to the crimes and perhaps lead to the identification of the women and bring resolutions to their families. Now, Lydia is terrified that her friends who posed for the photos may be targets for the same murderer who inspired them, especially when another model is murdered and a third goes missing.
With amateur detectives, the major obstacle is creating a justification for them to believe that they are as capable as - if not more than - the police to investigate. Cole overcomes this by having Lydia work as the Girl Friday for a pair of very Italian private investigator brothers. However, a comedic side plot that has their restaurant-owning mother paying Lydia to spy one of her son's girlfriends seems a distraction and inserted only to add some uncomfortable humor. The ending unfortunately also feels rushed and the solution seems forced and disjointed from the rest of the novel.
The winner of St Martin's Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel, Meredith Cole is an experienced film director and screenwriter who was waylaid by pregnancy. What Cole excels at is the depiction of New York City and the artists' community. She vividly describes how the artists' former factory lofts of Williamsburg and the largely Polish ethnic Greenpoint have become high-priced condos and businesses and she documents the dilemma of artists who consider themselves so artistic that no one understands - or buys - them. Even Lydia succumbs to snobbery against artists who have "sold out" to cater to tourists and the commercial sectors. There is of course a romantic element tossed in with the swarthy attractive detective, but it's the vulnerable Lydia and the world of New York artists that make this an enjoyable read.

4.0 out of 5 stars A Picture-Perfect Mystery, June 21, 2009

By	Scott Sherman "Author: 'First You Fall'; Host... (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

Having just finished Meredith Cole's engaging Posed for Murder, it's easy to see why it won St. Martin's Minotaur/Malice Domestic's Best First Traditional Mystery competition.

From the first page, Cole sets up an imaginative and suspenseful premise. Fledgling photographer Lydia McKenzie is about to open her first exhibit, a staged series that recreates unsolved murder scenes. But before the night is over, she'll learn that someone else is reenacting these killings, except in their case, it's for real. Even worse, the victims are her models and friends.

McKenzie is a likable and believable amateur sleuth. Cole surrounds her with a colorful cast of supporting characters, who, as the story progresses, turn out to have secrets that will keep you guessing as to which of them, if any, is the killer.

Cole excels at capturing the flavor of McKenzie's Brooklyn neighborhood, where a new wave of trendy art galleries and creative artists live alongside their more traditional neighbors. Her vivid descriptions of this exciting community were enjoyable in their own right.

The real mystery for me is how will Cole follow-up her award-winning debut? I can't wait to find out.

Scott Sherman, author, Lambda Literary Award winner for Best Gay Mystery, 2009, First You Fall

5.0 out of 5 stars An Artful, Skillful Mystery, May 20, 2009

By	Rhonda Lane "http://www.thehorseyset.net" (Connecticut USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When I first heard about the concept for this book, I admit that I thought of the '70s movie "The Eyes of Laura Mars."

So, I'm happy to report that this book is nothing like the movie. It has a lot more heart.

This has been one of my favorite reads this year. I didn't guess the identity of the murderer. Usually, my guesses get close - but not this time. I had trouble putting the book down to get on with life.

I enjoyed the look into the life of an emerging New York arts photographer, along with her circle of artsy friends. It made me want to go to Williamsburg just for a gallery crawl. Lydia's life also includes elements that make her capabilities needed later in the book feasible.

I also liked watching how Lydia matured and grew in the course of the book. I hope we see her in future installments.