Artscape (Ike Schwartz Mysteries) (Hardcover)

by Frederick Ramsay (Author) "The sun, still low in the east, heated the morning air and sent it shimmering off the asphalt..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, Ruth Harris, Betsy Mae (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Small-town sheriffs come in all shapes and sizes, but Ike Schwartz, who dominates Ramsay's solid debut, is both engaging and extravagantly overqualified for the job. Ike retreats to his hometown of Picketsville, Va., and wins the job of sheriff after a personal disaster in a botched CIA operation. In quiet Picketsville, Ike's biggest worries are domestic squabbles, speeding tickets and an occasional problem with a Callend College student. It's Callend's superb art collection, valued at half a billion dollars and protected by a state-of-the-art security system, that changes all that. Funded by terrorists, and using a disaffected federal agent, mobsters plan to hijack the collection and hold it for ransom. The smoothly planned operation goes off with several hitches, including a killing and the taking of hostages. Callend president Ruth Harris, who believes Ike to be the stereotypical small-town sheriff, is screaming for "higher" authorities to take charge. Laid-back but decisive, Ike does that, calling on his experience, his country roots and old allies as he matches wits with the savvy professionals who committed the crime. While Ike emerges as the most fully developed character, several secondary characters stand out as well, as Ramsay nicely mixes town and gown, sophisticates and rustics, thugs and masterminds. Ike Schwartz seems destined for a bright future.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Not quite mystery, not quite espionage, this occasionally awkward hybrid still manages to juggle its various tangents well enough to keep the pages turning. When Sheriff Ike Schwartz is called in to investigate the theft of a multimillion-dollar art collection from a local college, the trail is almost cold, college officials having deemed local law enforcement incapable of handling anything more than drunken students and traffic violators. But Schwartz is no rube. A former CIA agent, he is better prepared than most to handle matters, and it doesn't take him long to find out that a former FBI agent is involved in the crime and that the thieves are merely henchmen for folks who want the art for something other than its black-market value. A romance for Ike adds spice to the mix, as does the unraveling of the events surrounding Ike's quitting the Company. Ramsay tries to get cozy with a few too many characters here, but Ike's personal story is appealing enough to get readers over the occasional bumps in the road. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 260 pages
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (July 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590581229
• ISBN-13: 978-1590581223
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,427,319 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars strong crime thriller, July 27, 2004

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

While CIA operative Ike Schwartz was vacationing with his wife in Europe, he was asked to pick up a package, a simple assignment that ended with the death of Ike's wife, his expulsion from Switzerland and his leaving the CIA. He returns to his hometown Picketsville, Virginia where he is elected the county's sheriff. It is an easy job and for three years, he does little more than answer domestic disturbances and gives out traffic tickets.

One day he is called out to Callend College, a private woman's school, because a $50 million dollar art collection was stolen from an underground vault protected by one of the most sophisticated security systems in the world. The terrorist group the New Jihad has contracted out to the Mafia the job of exchanging the art for diamonds. One of the thieves is an ex-FBI agent, who wants out of the operation when a security guard is killed and two college students are taken hostage. Though Harry works from the inside and Ike uses all his skills and resources, there is little chance that both men will achieve their goals.

Frederick Ramsay's debut novel is well worth reading because he has a fresh voice that will resonate with readers who like crime thrillers with lots of action and interesting characters. The theft of the artwork brings Ike out of his three-year limbo and he starts a relationship with the college president. The ex-FBI agent is as much a hero as Ike even though he gets no credit for helping the authorities. Let us hope that there will be more novels starring Ike, an intelligent tactician who endears himself to the reader.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A standout first novel in a crowded field, July 15, 2004

By	Emerson D. Champion (Pasadena, MD United States) - See all my reviews

Ike Schwartz is the Sheriff in the sleepy town of Picketsville, Virginia, home to Callend College and a 500 million dollar art collection stored in a former super-bomb shelter with its state of the art alarm system.

Ike's days are fairly routine, until the day the unthinkable happens: the art collection is stolen. The ransom: 50 million dollars in untraceable diamonds, or the collection will be burned. The thieves have already burned one painting to prove they aren't kidding.

Can Ike get the collection back before any more paintings are destroyed? There are twists and turns along the way, things hiding just beneath the surface, and much is not what it seems.

Artscape is a taut, fast-moving crime story. The characters are well developed, the plot moves along without dragging, and there are a number of delightful twists that I never saw coming.

One thing I especially liked is that this is a book for an adult audience that uses believable, everyday language without resorting to the 4 letter profanities so common in film & cable TV.

If you like any of the crime fiction authors such as Patricia Cornwell or John Sanford, you will love Artscape. Highly recommended.

4.0 out of 5 stars almost as good as his "Secrets", May 26, 2007

By	Allen J. Hubin (White Bear Lake, MN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This was the second of Ramsay's mysteries I read, and it was almost as enjoyable as "Secrets". The plot was a little less appealing, and some of the characters and dynamics were just a little less enjoyable. On to #3.