I'm not exactly sure why, but I would label this a "cute" story. It took me a while to get into it. My main issue was the cute or silly names the authors chose: Alix, Geoff, Katryn, Roland "Rollie" de Beauvais, Paynton Whipple-Pruitt and Gregor Gorzynski. We did have Helen, but Helen Hall-Duncan so not just Helen as well as Chris (short for Christine), but we were missing Rocky (short for Rochelle or Raquel) and Sam (short for Samantha), clearly an unforgivable oversight. There is a Clyde, but thank god we are gifted the refined pronunciation "Cul-lyde." Theodore is allowed to go by "Ted," but why not just Ted and leave it at Ted. And Ted casually refers to Lieutenant Mendoza as "Eduardo," a familiarity not evidenced anywhere so Mendoza would have been more apt if not just "Lieutenant."

Weird gucci names aside as well as faux cultural airs, this is a simple story so not terribly taxing to read. The story ultimately turned out to be okay. Various historical tidbits throughout, and the art and literary history of Northern New Mexico sprinkled in made it very interesting: real cases of counterfeit Georgia O'Keeffe's, O'Keeffe's Ghost Ranch, and Mabel Dodge Luhan and the turn of the early-20th Century Taos art scene. This book even made Santa Fe sound interesting rather than a tourist smothered urban sprawl in the high desert. ( )

Alix London is trying to build a career as an art restorer and as an art consultant, nine years after her father, Jeffrey London, once a noted art restorer, was convicted of art forgery. She's on the coolest of terms with her father, now out and in the art importing business, who nevertheless persists in trying to maintain contact with her.

Then one day she's approached for a job that could be the true start of her consulting career. A woman just beginning in collecting art wants Alix to evaluate a Georgia O'Keeffe painting she has been offered. Soon she's on a chartered plane from Seattle to Santa Fe.

In a matter of days, she's survived a murder attempt, thwarted the theft of the painting, and met a handsome but provoking and, in her opinion, highly suspect art dealer from Boston.

Oh, and she's being described in news reports as the daughter of the notorious Jeffrey London, which isn't going to do her art consulting career any good.

And this is all just the start.

It's fast-paced, exciting, and definitely meets some interesting characters along the way--both new friends and new enemies.

Most of them prove to be a lot more cmplicated than they seem on first impressions.

It's a lot of fun. Recommended.

I bought this audiobook. ( )

The art world is a complete mystery to me. I could no more tell you what the philosophy is behind an artists work than I could build a rocket...so this mystery about the art world was a good and challenging read for me. I found the book to generally be an easy reading mystery but was not as challenging or tightly written as the mysteries I normally read. The character of Alix London was intelligent and very likable but I was weary of the F.B.I. agent at first. He constantly insisted that Alix was a prime suspect in the murder of an art gallery owner and is probably a forger herself in spite of the fact there was not one shred of evidence to support this assumption. Of course they dislike and distrust each other because they are actually attracted to each other: a bit too much romance for me. The identity of the murderer becomes obvious early in the book, It would have been better if that had been reserved for later...but overall it was a very worthwhile read. ( )

A Fake or Not Fake Georgia O'Keeffe painting?

This is a bit on the light side but good fun nonetheless. Anybody familiar with Roger Ebert's Law of the Economy of Characters will easily guess the twist ending but that doesn't distract from the art & lit trivia dropped throughout this first Alix London, art restorer, mystery adventure in the American Southwest of Georgia O'Keeffe country.

Along with O'Keeffe's Ghost Ranch we travel along to the Mabel Dodge Luhan House in Taos, New Mexico (with the only bathroom window in America painted by writer D.H. Lawrence) and Kit Carson National Park and roads in-between as we join Alix London in tracking down the provenance of a new-to-the-market Georgia O'Keeffe painting with various grifters and schemers in pursuit.

A good read to take along or read in advance if you are planning a vacation to this part of the world. Hint: Book early! Ghost Ranch spots can be few and far between.

Trivia Link
The painting McGuffin is a variation on Ghost Ranch Cliffs ( )

Mildly enjoyable. It reads rather like a cross between the art and the golf mysteries - we have an art expert with an interest in forgeries, who's pretty much a free agent (and thus could show up anywhere), and has a new friend who's a (nouveau) rich, older woman who wants to help her achieve her goals. I do like Alix, and her father and her relationship to him are interesting; the FBI agent is a little annoying and a lot predictable. I don't know much about art, or Georgia O'Keefe; I did recognize the clue when my face was rubbed in it (in an "Oh, yeah, right, I think I've heard that" style). On the other hand, Alix had to have her face rubbed in it too, so I don't feel bad. Mildly interesting setting (Santa Fe area, and Seattle). I'll probably read another one or two; I'm not excited about it, but Elkins (both of them) produce enjoyable light reading. ( )