Erika Simms

I received this copy as a Library Thing Member give away for review. I loved this book, it is smart and sassy, lively and funny. Twenty somethings living in Seattle, enjoying the nightlife with lots of specialty beers and cocktails, and then gatecrashing art exhibitions. We have a former art fraud investigator now working in a museum, a employee of an advertising agency and a reporter who sniff out a mystery in the exclusive art world and set off to solve it. The author clearly has a finger show more or maybe a whole hand on the pulse of the modern art world and is able to write satirically on this subject in several chapters. For example:

'"Before we go, I must visit the contemporary rendition of Edvard Munch's The Scream hanging across the gallery" said Evan motioning toward the far wall. "The piece appears to be reproduced with construction paper and finger paints." "We don't have time for this," I said, following him to the painting, where carmine reds and burning yellows were draped across a sinuous sky while shadowy swirls of ochre green and navy blue accented a road and a river in the distance. A blurry figure stood alone in the foreground, gripping its hollow cheeks, its mouth open wide in a scream. Trumpeted from the mouth in a cartoon bubble were the words Laundry Room Renegade, because even in satire, the image was cliched.'

So there you have it, art, art theft, cocktails, and witty conversation, a twenty-something book thoroughly enjoyed by this 60year old reviewer who has 20 something children and friends and still has hope that the world is not going to heck in a handbasket. Keep on writing Erika. show less

This book was part of a basket I won in a raffle. Here's what I thought:
I found the main characters lovable and witty, and felt the storyline followed a creative trajectory. The bad guys were convincingly bad, yet at times I found myself rooting for them, and then at other times, when I encountered a twist, I found myself questioning whether or not I had it all wrong. In other words, it was an engaging story that kept me guessing until the end. The imagery was good, too. I could picture show more myself in the scene, searching for the speakeasy, spectating the "upper crust" at the high-end gallery, nibbling baguettes at the French cafe, sneaking around places they don't belong. A five star read. show less

I wanted to like it more than I did. These meddling kids barely solved the mystery, and mostly through luck and pluck. I half admire their gumption, and half think they should stay home after being so explicitly uninvited.
The writing is lively and full of metaphors. I just wish the protagonists were a little more competent in their mystery solving - the real mystery is why they kept getting in the way with so little to go on.

DISCLOSURE: An electronic copy of this book was provided in exchange for review by the publishers, Wyncoop Press, Ltd., via Library Thing.

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Erika Simms’ Flies in the Punch Bowl is a lightweight mystery about a series of art thefts that seem suspiciously linked to a Seattle art gallery run by a rather odd set of brothers. There’s a trio of 20-somethings determined to solve the heists: Annabel Riley, an art museum employee attempting show more to recoup her career in insurance investigation following a rather disastrous event involving a stolen Andy Warhol painting; Evan Neruda, a reporter looking for a hot story to make his name in investigative journalism; and Lyla Finch, who is … well, Lyla appears to be along for the ride.

After crashing a snooty gallery event and getting busted, the trio ends up consoling each other at a trendy martini bar and having their curiosity piqued by the tale of an ultra-secret club patterned on a Prohibition-era speakeasy. It’s so secret, in fact, that one can only be admitted by deciphering a complex riddle to find the location, and then coming up with the secret password to gain entrance.

This is a challenge our heroes throw themselves into with great enthusiasm, only to find themselves ever more deeply enmeshed in the continuing thefts. Various sitcom-worthy dodges and complicated ruses pile up until the plot unravels itself and everyone lives more or less happily ever after.

It’s all caperish good fun, but Simms loses points bigtime for her overly ornate writing style. Every sentence is embroidered, embellished, embossed, and upholstered before being turned loose to stagger onto the page, dragging oddly-placed phrases and strained similes along its path. Here’s a prime piece of dialogue: “If you want that painting, you must procure some bulky smocks to conceal it beneath as you slip through the exit a la Vincenzo Peruggia with the Mona Lisa at the Louvre a century earlier.”

‘Scuse me? In what universe do people actually talk like that? Simms (and her readers) would be better served by bringing things down several notches, creating dialogue that sounds like it’s being spoken by real people, and by learning the difference between “chords” and “cords” and “clamber” and “clamor”.

Overall, it’s a mildly entertaining read, if one can put aside one’s impatience with the pretentious style and overlook Simms’ fascination with trendy mixed drinks. show less