Lazarus, Arise: A Fred Taylor Art Mystery

Fred Taylor Art Mystery #5

by Nicholas Kilmer

Praise for Lazarus, Arise "Effective prose, fascinating subject matter, and a sometimes cynical look at the art world combine in an intriguing read." -Library Journal F-red Taylor is shocked. When a passenger at Logan Airport drops to the tarmac after flinging a rolled-up newspaper at him. He is more surprised when he discovers that the paper conceals a beautifully illuminated fragment of a medieval manuscript. Not until much too late does Fred understand that the treasure-its subject is Lazarus-is now his for safekeeping. Fred's search for the identity of the work, as well as of its smuggler and its rightful owner, leads to an encounter with self-proclaimed subversive landscape artist Jacob Geist, a conceptual genius and the author of the famous Line of Sweetness, as well as a New York dealer without scruples. During five days of golden autumn, Fred's race to identify and account for the treasure takes the reader back six hundred years to the manuscript's origin during the Hundred Years War. Nicholas Kilmer, formerly dean of the Swain School of Design in New Bedford, Massachusetts, presently makes his living in the art business."

Genres: Mystery

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2001

About the author

Teacher of art and Latin in Vienna, VA, 1960-62; Action for Boston Community Development, Boston, MA, writer in department of planning and evaluation, 1966-67; English teacher at private school in Beverly, MA, 1967-70; Swain School of Design, New Bedford, MA, associate professor of liberal arts, 1970-82, dean, 1979-82; affiliated with Art Research of Cambridge, Cambridge, MA, 1984-88; founder of Nicholas Kilmer Fine Art, 1988—. Painter, with exhibitions throughout the Northeast.

Reviews

[Cat. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting mystery about art. The premise is that a guy dies in an airport, but the "hero" picks up his newspaper, which has an unknown vellum masterwork hidden inside. In the midst of trying to figure out if it is what it looks like, where it came from, and why this particular down & very out artist had it in his possession, Fred Taylor discovers that his first impressions of people are sometimes not quite right. Oh, and his "girlfriend" is acting strange. Interesting characters. Maybe a list author.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kilmer's always interesting series about a Boston art collector and his laconic assistant Fred Taylor reaches a new level as Fred accidentally finds a smuggled page from an illuminated manuscript. Determined to find the real owner, Fred moves into the world of art dealers and artists, his usually carefully controlled violence escaping in sudden bursts.

[Alline · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were a couple of really good lines in here - will add later...