A paradise for fools : a Fred Taylor art mystery

Format:

Book

Title:

A paradise for fools : a Fred Taylor art mystery

Author:

Kilmer, Nicholas.

ISBN:

9781590589342

9781590589366

Edition:

1st ed.

Publication Information:

Scottsdale, AZ : Poisoned Pen Press, 2011.

Physical Description:

286 pages ; 23 cm

Number in series:

Summary:

After seeing a young woman's tattoo with images from an unknown painting of rare and significant value, Fred knows the painting must be found. But anyone who must have seen the painting denies that it exists. Since Fred's employer, the collector Clayton Reed, is out of the country, Fred is left to his own devices and is free to follow the painting's trail, despite distractions presented by the intriguing librarian, Molly Riley. When Fred encounters the first bump in the road: a suspiciously convenient hit-and-run that kills a potential informant, he wonders if a painting can be worth a murder.

Personal Subject:

Leonardo, da Vinci, 1452-1519-Fiction.

Leonardo, da Vinci, 1452-1519. (OCoLC)fst00033122

Subject(s):

Taylor, Fred (Fictitious character) -- Fiction.

Tattooing -- Fiction.

Art -- Fiction.

Genre:

Detective and mystery fiction.

Fiction.

Mystery fiction.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Silver Falls Library	MYS KILMER	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

The young woman in the hair salon raises her shirt in a brief gesture to show a friend a work in progress - a riot of stunning tattoos. From his accidental vantage point in the barber's chair, Fred Taylor knows that those images - weird insects, beasts, and naked human figures - could only come from something amazing: a hitherto unknown painting of rare and significant value. And the girls don't have a clue.

Fred knows such a painting needs to be found. His inquiries lead him from the salon to the illegal tattoo parlor of an unlicensed genius. Fred is met everywhere by ignorance and denial. Anyone who must have seen the painting denies that it exists, despite the vivid proof increasingly laid bare on the canvas of the hairdresser's skin.

Fred's employer, the collector Clayton Reed, is out of the country. So Fred, left to his own devices, is free to follow the trail, despite the distractions presented by the intriguing librarian Molly Riley. Not wanting to spook his unwilling witnesses, Fred must proceed with caution. Then he encounters the first serious bump in the road: a suspiciously convenient hit-and-run that brings one potential informant into an abrupt dead end....

Author Notes

He was born (1941) in Virginia, lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts & Normandy, France. A Teacher for many years & finally Dean of the Swain School of Design in New Bedford, Massachusetts, he now makes his living as a painter & artist. He married Julia Norris & with her has four children.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

When Fred Taylor spies an elaborate tattoo on Cambridge, Mass., hairstylist Kim Weatherall in Kilmer's offbeat eighth art mystery (after 2010's A Butterfly in Flame), Fred thinks it's an imitation of an undiscovered work by 15th-century Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch, best known for The Garden of Earthly Delights. His eagerness to see the original painting leads him to Kim's former boyfriend, gifted tattoo artist Arthur Pendragon (ne Schrecking), and Arthur's evasive associates, including volatile tattoo artist Kenzo Petersen; exotic dancer Tippy Artoonian; well-heeled art dealer Lexington Orono; and creepy high school art teacher Zoltan "Z" Zagoriski. Fred suspects Z knows more than he's telling about the Bosch painting, while Z's death in a too coincidental hit-and-run accident underscores the high stakes of the game. Besides showcasing Kilmer's knack for intriguing premises, this installment poignantly depicts Fred's tentative steps toward love. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

Not content with writing one prequel showing how dogsbody Fred Taylor met his boss, Beacon Hill art collector Clayton Reed (Madonna of the Apes,2005), Kilmer presents a second showing how he met his ladylove, librarian Molly Riley.The meeting is ordinarywhile his boss is out of the country at a wedding, Fred goes to the reference desk to follow up on a phone request for informationbut the immediate effect isn't. After meeting Molly, Fred, suddenly feeling in need of a haircut, stops by CUT-RATE-CUTS, where he overhears a conversation between Claire the stylist and Kim the receptionist and realizes that the mind-boggling new tattoo-in-progress he's glimpsed on Kim's back is evidently based on a hitherto unknown painting that just might be of serious interest to Clay Reed. Patiently and ingeniously, Fred stalks the painting, gathering scraps of information about it from the artist, Arthur Pendragon (n Schrecking); Sammy Flash, his colleague at A Fine Line; his mentor, Harley Kenzo (n Petersen); and Zoltan Zagoriski, who taught him art history at Nashua Central High. Although all these worthies are equally closemouthed about the possible inspiration for Kim's tattoo, Fred knows he's onto something when two of them die shortly after their conversations with him. Can Fred (A Butterfly in Flame,2010, etc.) beat out nefarious New York dealer Lexington Orono for the prize before the rest of his unwilling informants are as dead as the Italian Renaissance?Not much here for whodunit fans. The main interestand properly so, as Clayton Reed might sniffis in tracking down that painting and feasting on dialogue as distinctive in its way as Elmore Leonard's.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

A brilliant tattoo involves Fred Taylor in a deadly quest for a mysterious painting in his eighth outing. While getting a haircut, Fred glimpses a tat-in-progress on the back of the shop's receptionist. She flashes it to a colleague, bragging that it was done by a high-school friend and based o. a dirty old wooden painting. Fred just wants to see the painting and perhaps show it to art collector Clayton Reed, whose house and collection he's overseeing. Others have more pecuniary goals. The tat's talented artist, Arthur Pendragon, who can retain and reproduce any painting he sees, leads Fred to Nashua, New Hamphire, art-appreciation teacher Zoltan Zagoriski, who is killed later the same night by a hit-and-run driver. Fred suspects that the painting sought by so many may be an invaluable work by Hieronymus Bosch. With its clipped dialogue and insouciant air, this is an entertaining caper for ever-responsible Fred, whose burgeoning relationship with reference librarian Molly Riley holds promise for the future.--Leber, Michel. Copyright 2010 Booklist