Chloe woke up in her own bed having no idea how she got there. She knew she had attended Inga's party celebrating her completion of all of the paintings for the upcoming art show, but Chloe couldn't remember much more than a few flashes of the party itself. Instead of going straight to the Williamsburg loft where the party was being held, she remembered hanging with her friends at the local bar then showing up at the loft late. Everyone from work was already there, and Lou, her boss, curator for the posh NYC art gallery, was already leaving. She remembered Inga smiling at her, then fearfully looking over her shoulder, but no more after that.
The next morning she woke up so late that her roommate had to shake her awake. With no time for a shower and a punishing hangover, she arrived at the gallery where she was told that the owners had summoned her to their office-a place she had never been invited. When she and Lou entered the office, two detectives were waiting and they told her the bad news-Inga had been murdered and they thought Chloe was the last to see her alive...and how did she get home last night?
Somewhere in Chloe's foggy memory is the key to Inga's death. Unfortunately, it is only a month past 9/11 where she escaped from the Twin Towers, and it was an event that she couldn't get past nor deal with. She knew she was lucky to be alive and to be the curator's assistant. But when Lou hastily left the gallery and she was promoted to head curator, the pressure really increased and the crimes started mounting up-what was going on at this gallery and what could she do to remember her part in it?
Though the murder mystery was intriguing, reading about the workings of the gallery was even more interesting. The novel leads the reader through the auction process, how galleries cater to their wealthy customers, and the whole business of patronage being paramount to the gallery's existence. It also introduced the seedier side of art crimes and the ways that savvy criminals go about it. Look carefully next time you are at a museum...the description on the wall may be wishful thinking.
Reviewed by Donna Ballard
October 14, 2025
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