An Artistic Way to Go - Hardcover

Jeffries, Roderic

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0002325861 ISBN 13: 9780002325868

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1996

Synopsis

British art dealer Oliver Cooper lived an apparently idyllic life on sun-soaked Mallorca - until he abruptly disappeared. Low-keyed, cognac-nipping, but always sharp-witted Inspector Enrique Alvarez is called upon to investigate the disappearance. Cooper is presumed dead and thought to have been considering suicide, but his car was abandoned and no one can find the body. Alvarez has just decided that suicide is out of the question when Cooper's body finally turns up in his own home, making it plain to everyone - even to Alvarez's superior, Superintendent Salas - that a murder has occurred. On the trail for suspects, Alvarez discovers that Cooper's beautiful widow, Rachael, has been having an affair, and that the dead man's neighbor also had cause to hate him. There is no shortage of suspects, except that Cooper's smashed watch indicates his time of death, and those under suspicion all seem to have alibis. But is evidence in the shape of a watch to be believed?

About this title

From Booklist

What more can one say about Inspector Alvarez, Jeffries' slow-moving, brandy-loving, and anything-but-slow-witted Mallorcan policeman? Perhaps only that this supremely appealing character has lost none of his charm--even with the series now 20 installments old. Jeffries' focus continues to be murder and mayhem among the English expatriates living in Mallorca, where tourists, foreign residents, and their money have brought dramatic changes to the Mediterranean isle that was once a rural, hardscrabble society. This time the plot involves a murdered British art dealer and his dubious dealings with the Mafia; his lovely, unfaithful wife and her lover; and a struggling artist who may (or may not) have been exploited by the dealer. Although the ending in this otherwise satisfying adventure is a bit weak, it scarcely matters. The inspector delivers all the pleasure a mystery fan could want. Readers would be wise to follow their hero's example, sip a brandy in the shade, and enjoy. Stuart Miller

From Kirkus Reviews

It's not very surprising that art dealer Oliver Cooper disappears from his home on Mallorca shortly after mob-connected enforcer Ernest White turns up to demand $1,350,000 for two paintings that White's employer, who purchased them from Cooper, says are forgeries. What's surprising is that (1) Cooper soon turns up dead, and (2) so many of his associates, from a neighboring farmer who's been stealing his water supply to his beautiful, avaricious wife Rachael to Rachael's sturdy lover, wanted him dead. It's up to imperturbable Inspector Enrique Alvarez to smash the killer's broken-watch alibi before his short-fused superior blows a gasket. There's not much to Jeffries's 20th (An Arcadian Death, 1996, etc.) but Alvarez as a Mediterranean Columbo. And the corpse's stopped watch really ought to be retired, perhaps to sunny Mallorca. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0002325861
• ISBN 13: 9780002325868
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192