Die in Plain Sight

I enjoyed this 3rd book in Elizabeth Lowell’s Rarities series the best so far. Lacey Quinn believes that her grandfather was a magnificent painter after she inherits a number of landscapes he painted and some others that are very disturbing which she calls the Death Series. When a prominent artist comes to town and offers to appraise paintings that people in the community bring her (rather like an “Antiques Roadshow”), Lacey decides to bring 3 of her grandfather’s paintings. Susa (the artist) loves the paintings which are very similar to the style of an artist who died many years ago and wants to know more. She also has a bodyguard Ian who would like to get to know Lacey. The mystery of the paintings (and what they are about) show more develops gradually in the book. There is some cute repartee between Ian and Lacey which had me smiling. If I had a disappointment in the book, it was in how fast the author seemed to wrap things up at the end. I thought it could have had a few more details – almost like there was a page quota and she ran out of room and had to jam everything in. show less

I took this one because I felt like doing a little escape reading. That's exactly what it is. Unfortunately, in my eyes, it is also "romantic suspense". I could do with more sleuthing and less lusting. Fortunately, it's long so it gave me a few days of escape from reality.

Lacey Quinn is our heroine. She's in her thirties, an artist who co-owns a second-hand store and teaches art in an elementary school. She thinks fondly of her "Grandfather Rainbow", who left his many paintings to her, the only member of the family he seemed to love.

Lacey's calm existence is shaken up when she learns that a famous artist, "La Susa" is coming to town to view and evaluate old works of art. People are encouraged to bring in the paintings from their attics, show more but no more than three each. The works judged best will be placed on display as a benefit to a charity.

Lacey wants to bring in three of her grandfather's paintings. She knows they are good but also knows that her parents do not want them displayed. For reasons that are vague to Lacey, her father is adamant that his father's paintings must not be displayed, that others should not see them. So Lacey decides on a little subterfuge: she invents a name for herself and submits a form identifying three paintings as some she found at a garage sale. She finds it difficult to choose just three but finally selects two landscapes and one from a group of darker paintings, a painting of a woman drowning, which clearly appears to be a murder.

La Susa, a petite artist who is kind and friendly, believes the works are by a famous painter whose life and home were destroyed many years ago in a fire. She is excited by the find, and wants to know more. Lacey continues her charade but others suspect that her name and story are false. Including La Susa's bodyguard, Ian.

Yeah. You guessed it. Ian becomes the love interest. Susa and Lacey become friends and go painting together, guarded by Ian. Others take an interest, too, to an unwanted degree. Lacey does not want to sell the paintings or tell anyone who really painted them, but people pursue her relentlessly, and some of those seem to have an interest in more than the works of art themselves. They seem to be threatening Lacey's life. But why? This is the big question.

The story is different in that the murder or murders aren't identified for over half of the book, and the police are not interested in pursuing the perp. It is up to the determined threesome to solve the crimes while their lives are nearly ended.

It's an interesting if bizarre plot, good for airplane reading. show less

Die in Plain Sight is the story of landscape artist Lacey Quinn who decides to show famous artist, Susa Donovan three of her dead grandfather's paintings in hopes that she will confirm Lacey's opinion that her grandfather had impressive talent. Not only does Susa agree with Lacey, but she also thinks they were painted by a famous artist named Lewis Marten. One of the paintings depicts a murder, and Lacey begins to suspect that her grandfather might not have just been a forger but also a murderer. When someone sets fire to Lacey's studio/store and the paintings are stolen, she finds herself in the middle of a mystery. In steps Ian Lapstrake, who has been assigned the job of protecting Susa Donovan. Ian finds himself attracted to Lacey, show more and helps her investigate the history of not only her grandfather, but also the mysterious paintings.
Die in Plain Sight is an extremely good suspense story with an interesting mystery. The beginning of the book is a little hard to follow because there are so many characters, but after it becomes clear how each one fits into the story, it is much easier to track them as they become suspects or participants in this mystery. Intertwined clues and action scenes make it easy to remain interested in the book from beginning to end. A very enjoyable read. show less

Not as engaging or re-readable as some of Lowell's work, but a solid read with a nice mix of romance and thrills. The main bad guy was obvious from the beginning, but I liked how the book kept you guessing how involved his family and associates were.

Elizabeth Lowell books are obviously fairly formulaic but I still find them to be an enjoyable quick read. I think her books are at their best when they are part of a series so she has a chance to develop the characters and story a bit more. I especially like her series that deal with rare artifacts. This series is one of hers that I think works the best.

It took me a while to get interested in this one -- the "pearls and cashmere" set of Southern California is a bit foreign to me. However, once this story got going, I was hooked. I listened to the audiobook version and the narrator does a good job. Her character voices aren't too distinct from each other, but I was still able to follow who was saying what pretty easily.

I brought this paperback home from the library not realizing that I had read it a few years ago when it first came out. Had forgotten enough to make it entertaining again. This one features Susa Donovan as one of the secondary characters.