Kirkus Review
A green-eyed detective, an overly protective, rich ex-husband and a dashing TV celebrity compete for smart-mouthed, foolhardy Dani O'Rourke's attention. Cadging funds to underwrite the Devor Museum's new installation to house the King's Jar, a 2-foot-tall sub-Saharan African antiquity found in Kenobia and donated to the San Francisco museum by billionaire Fritz McBeel, falls to staffer Dani O'Rourke. As she's juggling plans for a gala dinner at New York's posh Pilgrim Club for wealthy and politically connected dignitaries while soothing the curator's catalogue challenges, a terrible tragedy occurs: The King's Jar goes missing from the vault it had been stored in at Warefield University. Almost as dreadful, if rather less mourned, scholar Rene Bouvier, who'd been charged with overseeing the safety of the artifact, lies bashed to death in his university lab. Stepping up to find the jar and the killer, Dani is stymied by conflicting directives from McBeel and his second wife, Jamie, who disagree on whom the jar belongs to, a matter further complicated when Kenobia's ambassador, Keile Obarri, seems to threaten Jamie and argue with Fritz at the Pilgrim Club. Then Dani finds Jamie strangled in her tony office. Instead of high-tailing it out of the place and calling the cops, she pockets a key and a note partially hidden under Jamie's body. The green-eyed detective warns her to behave. Her ex-hubby rushes back from the Bahamas to protect her. The television celebrity seals his lies with a kiss. Lawyers, a former wife, and rumors about life, death and bribes in Kenobia will surface before Dani can curl up with her cat, Fever, for a restorative nap. Like Murder in the Abstract (2010): wickedly funny about professional fundraising; very arch about chubbiness and romance; and labored in its attempts to make all the plot holes disappear.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Museum fund-raiser Dani O'Rourke is excited about a new exhibit at her San Francisco museum that will feature the recently acquired King's Jar, a legendary African artifact. Then the antiquities expert last seen with the jar is murdered, and the artifact goes missing, leaving Dani to find out who would have the most to gain from its disappearance. Two donors, Jamie and Fritz, give Dani contradictory messages about the jar and who owns it. Another murder prompts concern that the jar may have been obtained illegally. The museum setting and the detailed information on how art is acquired contribute as much to the appeal here as does the mystery itself. The contrasting characters, from wealthy art patrons and eccentric scientists to determined museum staff, add intrigue to a layered, smart, surprising plot, which contains elements of a locked-door puzzle.--Alessio, Amy Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Emotions are running high at San Francisco's Devor Museum due to the upcoming exhibition of the King's Jar, a rare African artifact. Then, the archeologist most closely attached to the artifact is murdered and the urn goes missing. Dani O'Rourke (Murder in the Abstract), chief museum fundraiser, had heard the late professor bad-mouth another one of the exhibition's key players, and she wonders if the antipathy was mutual. Damage control goes into overdrive as the museum hunts for the urn and the police hunt down a killer. Mix in an eccentric graduate student and some narcissistic socialites, and Dani has her hands full. She's already feeling a little vulnerable when she stumbles over the next victim. VERDICT This San Francisco-based cozy is fresh, fast-paced, and great fun. Shea's characters' professional and personal foibles are done especially well. Just right for fans of Kate Carlisle, Sheila Connelly, and Maggie Barbieri. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
