The Art Collector

I received a free copy of this lovely mystery from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I can honestly say that it is spectacular. The book was published last year on August 28, 2024 and it is the second book in author Susan Bacon's mystery series.

The publisher's summary:  

A Warhol protégé, a Manhattan murder and a long-hidden truth. 

It is February 1987. Seal Larsen is a photographer, denizen of New York’s downtown scene and the subject of one of Andy Warhol’s short films. When she dies in a suspicious fall from the 15th floor of her Manhattan apartment building, her friend and neighbor, Emma Quinn, is determined to find out what happened. A history professor at Columbia University with connections to the intelligence community, Emma soon realizes how little she really knows about her friend.

Exploring Seal’s life, her work, her past, Emma makes her way down to Memphis and to rural Tennessee, putting herself at risk. It’s there, on an isolated 2,000-acre farm, that she begins to grasp the tragedy that defined Seal’s life and the truth about her death.

A sequel to The History Teacher, Susan Bacon's award-winning political mystery, The Art Collector is an intrigue, a puzzle, a plot-twister. It is also an exploration of the value of art and the people who make it and of the culture that fueled Manhattan's art boom in the second half of the twentieth century.

This story hooked me from the start. It perfectly blends art and history along with a spectacular mystery. I love art so the phenomenal amount of art history within the pages of the book also kept me interested. However, a reader who isn't interested in art probably won't like it. That said, it was fascinating that Seal’s connection to Andy Warhol, one of my favorite artists, was a main feature of the story. 

I loved the setting too. The 1980s New York City art scene was mesmerizing. I didn't know much about this era before reading the book and learned alot about how artists and their dealers did business. Another setting included in the book is the Deep South during the 1960s. Seal and her mother came from small town Tennessee. They left Tennessee with an African American cook named Merna and opened a restaurant in Harlem. The final leg of Emma's investigation leads her to a remote Tennessee farm where the final pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

The only complaint I have is that the middle part of the story moved rather slowly. All of the details about various artworks and the artists that created them was probably the reason. 4 out of 5 stars.

The Saint Laurent Muse

I was lucky to receive an advanced review copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. C. W. Gortner is one of my favorite authors and I have been anxiously awaiting his new novel . The Saint Laurent Muse will be published on March 18, 2025.

The publisher's summary:  

The Paris runways of the 70s come to wild and splashy life in this novel of fashion's “It Girl” Loulou de la Falaise and her life partying and designing with Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, and Halston. Nightlife! Gowns! Cocaine! Glamour!

It’s the 1970s, and from hippie London to Warhol’s Factory in New York, reluctant aristocrat Loulou de la Falaise is desperately seeking adventure. Having escaped an early, unhappy marriage, she arrives on a whim in Paris—the champagne-soaked heart of the fashion world, where the rigid old world of haute couture and the ffast-paced new world of ready-to-wear are vying for supremacy.

Glamour, sex, and cocaine nights fuel the Paris fashion scene. Its crown prince is the soulful and intensely gifted Yves Saint Laurent, whose sexy tuxedos for women and chic Rive Gauche boutiques reflect women’s desire for seductive independence, a desire Loulou knows all too well.

Loulou’s bohemian flair immediately captures Saint Laurent’s attention, and they embark on a glorious intimate friendship as artist and muse. Together they revel in the excesses of high society, decadent parties, and the hedonistic underworld of gay nightclubs, where the young and beautiful become prey, and dangerous rivalries start to emerge. Their course collides with eccentric designer Karl Lagerfeld, intent on his own conquest. Lagerfeld’s bitter professional rivalry with Yves divides Paris even in an era when anything goes. As Yves plunges into a dangerous, secret affair with Karl’s enigmatic young companion, and Loulou finds herself falling in love with a colleague’s handsome boyfriend, evanescent illusion and savage deception will bring them to the brink of ruin.

Intoxicating and unforgettable, The Saint Laurent Muse is the dramatic imagining of a lifelong friendship between two kindred spirits, and of a tumultuous time and place in fashion history that will never be seen again.

I had a difficult time becoming interested in the book. Alot of characters were introduced in the first 40 pages and I couldn't keep them straight. When Loulou began working for St. Laurent, around page 60, the characters were kept to a minimum as the focus was on the shop where the designers worked. The story then took off. However, my confusion over the plot was based upon the main character not being as famous as other women that Gortner has written about, such as Coco Chanel and Lucretia Borgia. I searched Wikipedia to determine whether Loulou was a real life person and she was. She was the second of three muses that Yves Saint Laurent had in his studio. Designers Karl Lagerfeld and Halston are featured prominently for their drug use at parties as well as their competition with Yves.

What was Yves Saint Laurent known for? He was the first haute couture designer to sell a ready to wear collection. He also changed his style of clothing to bohemian. Loulou was the inspiration for these designs. She wanted women to feel comfortable with their clothing. Loulou created jewelry for herself to wear at the parties that she attended. Yves liked them enough to eventually promote her to be the jewelry designer for his brand. Other firsts for him included the creation of the beatnik look, the pea coat, smock tops, and thigh high boots. Saint Laurent is often said to be the designer responsible for the acceptance of women wearing of pants. 

It was fun to read about the suits that Yves was famous for creating. A tuxedo for women, Le Smoking, was one such creation. I remember seeing a lady where one at a party I attended many years ago and was impressed with it. I was lucky though, early in my career, to own one of his suits.

The party scene in Paris was distasteful. Although accurate in its description, I hated to read about all the cigarette smoking, alcohol and drug use at the nightly parties that the staff engaged in. I don't know how anyone would be able to work the next day after partying to 2 am, but they did. Also, Loulou was promiscuous and I wondered whether she would contract HIV. 

All in all, The Saint Laurent Muse is a compelling read. 4 out of 5 stars.

2025 Net Galley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge

2024 is the first year that I participated in this challenge. It's always nice to read free books so I will be rejoining the challenge next year. 

Challenge guidelines

• The challenge runs from January 1, 2025 – December 31, 2025. There is no deadline to sign up.

• Everyone is welcome to participate – you do not need to have a blog.

• Any genre, release date, length, etc. counts – it just needs to be a book from NetGalley or Edelweiss.

• Books can count for more than one challenge that you are participating in.

• The first day of each month there will be a monthly “link-up” for you to link your reviews. If you forget one month, no worries, just catch up the next month.

The levels of participation are: 

Bronze – 10 Books (my personal challenge)

Silver – 25 Books

Gold – 50 Books

Platinum – 75 Books

Diamond – 100 Books

To sign-up:

Make a blog post stating the level you intend to read in 2025 and link that blog post to Mr. Linky of the challenge post. The first Link should be your name, the url should be the direct link to that blog post, not your main blog page. If you do not have a blog then state your reading level in the comments if the challenge post and how you will be sharing your book reviews. Last but not least, be sure to come back every month and link in those reviews. This is really the hardest part – remember to do the monthly “link-ups”!