". . . COMPELLING . . . " - KIRKUS REVIEWS
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 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.
Advance Praise for The Art Collector
"The Art Collector is not only an intriguing mystery story that draws you in and keeps you guessing but also a vibrant portrayal of the downtown art scene in Manhattan in the '70s and '80s, and the Deep South back in the '60s. Weaving Seal's voice into the narrative, Susan Bacon creates a magnetic character-an original and true creative spirit. Having lived through both eras in both of those places, I found Susan's writing and descriptions to be so visual and so real that they brought back vivid memories of those times."
- Ebet Roberts, Legendary photographer of Manhattan's music scene
". . . Bacon expertly interweaves details of the time period into the characters' backstories, with Seal effectively narrating the story of her life in some chapters: "I wonder. Will anyone even care that I'm gone?" Emma's chapters, told from the third-person perspective, feel as if one is observing a real person, and they effectively show her trying to find her friend's killer while also dealing with the political atmosphere in which her friends live. The mystery is compelling and takes unexpected turns, and it's supported by a steady pace and unique characters. Bacon also provides a satisfying ending-not only to the mystery, but also to a subplot involving Emma's personal life. An intriguing whodunit with memorable characters."
- Kirkus Reviews (Recommended review)
