Death of an Artist

by Kate Wilhelm

In Kate Wilhelm's latest crime novel, a small Oregon town is rocked by a wheels-within-wheels case of art, fraud, and murder.
 
Silver Bay, Oregon, a small coastal resort town with nearly a thousand residents, is home to three generations of women: Marnie, the long-widowed owner of a small gift shop; Van, her granddaughter who is about to graduate medical school; and Stef, mercurial, difficult, and a brilliant artist who refuses to sell her work. When Stef discovers that Dale Oliver—the latest husband/paramour in a very long line—is trying to sell her work behind her back, she puts a stop to it and threatens to do the same to him. Shortly thereafter, Stef dies in an accident in her studio, and Dale shows up with a signed contract granting him the right to sell her work. Convinced that Stef was murdered in order to steal her artwork, Marie and Van—grandmother and granddaughter—decide to do whatever is necessary to see that Dale doesn’t get away with any of it. This includes enlisting the help of the new stranger in town, Tony, a former New York City cop, who might be the only one who can prove it was murder
and bring the killer to justice.

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Art, Family, Contemporary

279 pages, Hardcover

First published March 27, 2012

About the author

Kate Wilhelm’s first short story, “The Pint-Sized Genie” was published in Fantastic Stories in 1956. Her first novel, MORE BITTER THAN DEATH, a mystery, was published in 1963. Over the span of her career, her writing has crossed over the genres of science fiction, speculative fiction, fantasy and magical realism, psychological suspense, mimetic, comic, and family sagas, a multimedia stage production, and radio plays. She returned to writing mysteries in 1990 with the acclaimed Charlie Meiklejohn and Constance Leidl Mysteries and the Barbara Holloway series of legal thrillers.

Wilhelm’s works have been adapted for television and movies in numerous countries; her novels and stories have been translated to more than a dozen languages. She has contributed to Quark, Orbit,  Magazine of Fantasy and ScienceFiction, Locus, Amazing Stories, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine,  Fantastic, Omni, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Redbook, and Cosmopolitan.

Kate Wilhelm is the widow of acclaimed science fiction author and editor, Damon Knight (1922-2002), with whom she founded the Clarion Writers’ Workshop and the Milford Writers’ Conference, described in her 2005 non-fiction work, STORYTELLER. They lectured together at universities across three continents; Kate has continued to offer interviews, talks, and monthly workshops.

Kate Wilhelm has received two Hugo awards, three Nebulas, as well as Jupiter, Locus, Spotted Owl, Prix Apollo, Kristen Lohman awards, among others. She was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2009, Kate was the recipient of one of the first Solstice Awards presented by the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) in recognition of her contributions to the field of science fiction. 

Kate’s highly popular Barbara Holloway mysteries, set in Eugene, Oregon, opened with Death Qualified in 1990. Mirror, Mirror, released in 2017, is the series’ 14th novel.

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

No mystery here....you know who did it and who was murdered. The character were flat and uninteresting. A complete disappointment.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story, narrated by Carrington MacDuffie. The artist and what drove her to paint, to be the odd, eccentric person she was, was very interesting. Her mother and daughter and grandson all had a part in her life and in her story. There is a secondary story of a retired, dis-abled NYC policeman who becomes a part of the little town on the Oregon coast, and becomes involved in the lives of the three women when he finds work with a local furniture maker.

[Larraine · Rating 2 out of 5]

An artist in a small Oregon seaside town is known for her on and off again talent and her emotional roller coaster personality. She lives in a two family house with her mother. She is married, but she and her husband don't formally live together. They are having problems. She has a grown daughter who is finishing medical school and will be interning in a Chicago hospital Stef, the artist, doesn't want to sell her art until she has detached herself emotionally from every work. This takes her years. Her current husband is a partner in an art gallery and is trying to convince her that he has her best interests at heart. Then she falls down the steps and dies. Is it murder? It can't be proved. Meanwhile, a retired NYC cop has moved to the area and is working with a local furniture maker. He gets to know the mother and daughter who are convinced that Stef was murdered.



I read this book even though I knew that it was an "open" mystery - basically a "how we got him" not a "whodunit." Normally I don't read this kind of book, but several reviews convinced me that I would like it. It wasn't bad, but I think I'm going back to avoiding the classic "suspense" novel. When I watch a television show where you know that everything is going to be okay in the end, the suspense, for me at least, is boring. After all there is an attraction between two people. Nobody wants that to end. So, for me, this book falls into the "meh" category. Readers of suspense - especially when there is romance attached will like this book.

[Mike Wood · Rating 1 out of 5]

I want to write a scathing review, but I can't help but picture the author as some sweet old lady, a lover of cozy mysteries and hot tea, who decides to write one of her own, so I'll keep the less-kind words to myself and focus on constructive criticism. There's a good idea for a story, and I like the approach of having a "mystery" with no clues and only one suspect (which would make it more of a procedural) but the characters are flat and writing so stilted (words get repeated, well, repeatedly. Ex. "He smelled coffee and got a coffee cup of of the shelf and poured himself a cup of coffee and sipped the coffee and found the coffee bitter." - not really a direct quote, but close enough) that finishing it was a real challenge.

[Moira]

Skeletons was great, Price of Silence decidedly less so, and this one is so stilted and the characters so flat (the Sensitive Cop! the Gigolo Husband! the Wild Artist! &c &c) it's going on the to-finish pile.

[Mikkee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Death of An Artist was described as a mystery, but the page turning type of mystery that keeps you wondering and guessing at the "who dun it?". The author spent a lot of time in establishing all the characters in the book at the front end, and I was almost a third of the way in before the murder happened. You never once had to guess who had done it, you just wondered if there would be justice, no justice, or vigilante justice.

The book was described as a mystery, and I went into it with that mindset in place. It was a let down in the element that my mind was not working to furiously think through who had done it and how and kept me furiously turning the pages. I think I would have had a different experience going in with the expectation that it was a novel versus a mystery.

However, Wilhelm had great character development, and she spent a lot of the book developing the 5 main characters, including the bad guy. Also, she made the bad guy truly despicable and not even someone I felt sorry for...

Not a scintillating page turner, but it had its moments. The description of the scenery made me want to live on the Oregon coast.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Death of an Artist doesn't follow your typical murder mystery format. In fact, gbgyyyucvfyvyvyttggeu. Sorry, my dog decided to try her hand at typing. With her tongue. It was a sticky situation. ;)
Kate Wilhelm really likes slow plots and many, many details. The storyline went a little slow for me, and in audiobook format that can become a real chore. I didn't really like the narrator's voice to begin with, but I needed to know the murderer would get his come-uppence by the end. (You know pretty much who it is at the beginning, and he's a real slime ball, which does not change anything). I didn't mind knowing, as other characters' subplots and backgrounds were being fleshed out and advanced, and it was a pleasant read. I had hoped for more background info on becoming an artist, or getting your work shown somewhere, but this was glossed over, just like in "Woman With a Gun". Oh well, I got a lot of crochet done. 3 stars.

[Wynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Death of an Artist doesn't follow the typical formula murder mystery. There is not an immediate murder followed by a police investigation. The book progresses slowly by introducing characters in the small Oregon town of Silver Bay long before the actual murder occurs.

The book description gives away the identity of both the victim and suspect. The victim is Stefany Markov and the suspect is her 4th husband, Dale Oliver. I felt as if I was reading a cozy episode of Murder She Wrote until the troubled & extremely talented artist, Stefany, unleashes her foul mouth against Dale for selling her paintings. After she dies in an "accident", Dales shows up with a contract giving him the right to sell her artwork.

Stefany's widowed mother, Marnie, and medical student daughter, Van, dispute the validity of the contract and suspect Dale murdered Stefany for money. Together they seek out the help of local craftsman, Tony Mauricio. Tony is a former NYPD detective who was wounded in the line of duty and is permanently disabled. Despite his reluctance, Tony's attraction to Van leads him to investigate. Frustration gets the best of Van, compassion gets the best of Tony and they both refuse to allow Dale to get away with murder.

Much of the novel does surround Tony's enlightening investigation. Also through the story, Marnie reflects on her past with her husband and how they tried to help their troubled daughter. Marnie also reflects on how Van became a single mother and it was interesting how the lives of the three generations of women had similarities. Plus, Tony is haunted by the tragic shooting that left him disabled.

Sadly, Stefany was the most colorful and interesting character in the book. There is an immediate attraction between Van and the much older Tony, but unfortunately a romance is not woven into the story. How the problem with Dale was solved was lackluster and way too easy. Overall, the slow paced Death of an Artist contains little suspense and is not much of a mystery.

A better stand alone mystery from Wilhelm is The Deepest Water.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh, how I wanted to like this book. It started out with the best of intentions. There were interesting characters. There was the beginning of a plot. Then it all fell apart. I'm not sure if Ms. Wilhelm was rushed. I'm not sure if she thinks her readers are stupid. I'm not sure if she doesn't trust in her own storytelling ability. Rather than letting a mystery unravel, from the beginning you completely understand the crime and know "whodunit." Rather than building a solid story, the author seems to follow the "throw everything in including the kitchen sink and hope it turns into something interesting" approach. There was very little craft in this and a lot of flea market find. Too bad, because the characters held such promise.

[Bonne · Rating 3 out of 5]

It kept my attention. I had it as an audiobook and listened to it in the car and when I worked out. The plot was not had to follow which is exactly what I want to get me through those times when the task at hand is not totally consuming. The characters were predictable--the good were good and the bad stayed bad.

[Nancy Hollingsworth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to this. A couple of times I thought I couldn't wait for the book to be over. Parts were intriguing, but the inconsistencies in the love story bombed. I'm not a romance fan.

[Shawn Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Circumstantial evicdence is the worst. You really don't want to be near the wrong place at the wrong time with a sketchy vehicle and maybe no alibi at all in a Wilhelm novel. Usually the story is about ferreting out why the innocent non-culprit was targeted, and who was getting greedy enough to do the actual crime to the unsuspecting victim. The artist here is an admittedly touchy and high-strung person that even her own mom has a hard time relating to, but luckily she is a very amiable and patient person, and even more luckily, she runs into a very friendly carpenter and woodworker whom it turns out used to be a detective before an accidental shooting made him put away his badge. The setting on woody west coast is memorable, and the story as it unfolds has some things to say about the plight of artists, creatives who are fated to be misunderstood and exploited by a brittle and indifferent world without a steady support system.

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a bit slow and the pacing was uneven.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characters are given too much pain for this to be considered a Pollyanna-happy mystery. But, it is a book for people who like to root for their characters rather than be aggravated by them.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice set up and interesting people put in interesting places.

Silver Bay, Oregon, a small coastal resort town with nearly a thousand residents, is home to three generations of women. Marnie is the long-widowed owner of a small gift shop. Van is her granddaughter who is about to graduate medical school. And Stef is a mercurial, difficult and brilliant artist who refuses to sell her work. When Stef discovers that Dale Oliver, her latest husband in a very long line, is trying to sell her work behind her back, she puts a stop to it and threatens to do the same to him. Shortly thereafter, Stef dies in an accident in her studio and Dale shows up with a signed contract granting him the right to sell her work. Convinced that Stef was murdered in order to steal her artwork, Marie and Van decide to do whatever is necessary to see that Dale doesn't get away with any of it. This includes enlisting the help of the new stranger in town, Tony, a former New York City cop, who might be the only one who can prove it was murder and bring the killer to justice.

[Nick · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the most bizarre book I have ever read. I felt like I was having a stroke. The blurb on the front said something about 'psychological thriller' but there is literally no suspense or mystery. You know 'who-had-done-it' from the very beginning and the 'how' is insanely contrived. Almost every character seems to have been written via MadLib. It begins with the protagonist proving himself as a journeyman woodworker and it pretty much never comes up again. Multiple two dimensional characters are introduced in a way that doesn't move the plot forward and then disappear.

All of that said I almost find the characters at the center of this and their relationships with each other charming. Some of the prose almost reminds me of John Irving if only in the most derivative way. I have no clue why it was forced into the mold of the flattest 'mystery' of all time. What the hell just happened to me?

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Death of an Artist” was a thrilling story by Kate Wilhelm. I was so taken in by the descriptive explanations of the art work that I could actually picture it in my mind. I was also caught up in the interaction among the grandmother, Marnie; the daughter, Steph and the daughter Van. What an interesting family! When Tony, the retired, disabled detective seeks to discover the murderer, the book really got interesting. I was totally absorbed in the storyline. Ms. Wilhelm paints a picture of the Oregon coast that is so vital I almost could place myself there. I was also impressed that Ms. Wilhelm did not use sexual episodes in this book, nor were they needed. I was very impressed with that. If anyone like a good old mystery “whodunit”, you will like this book. I would like to read more of Kate Wilhelm’s books. Great job!

[Peggy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to this audiotape. A retired NYC homicide cop on disability moves to Oregon. The son of a carpenter, Tony is looking for a new start. A gifted carpenter himself, he takes a job with a local furniture maker. A 3 generation household of women befriends Tony. The matriarch, her artist daughter, and her medical school intern granddaughter are central to the story. When the artist falls down the stairs, the death is ruled an accident. But her mother and daughter don't believe it was an accident and their suspicion falls onto the artist's greedy husband. The dead woman always guarded her paintings almost never selling her work. But the husband shows up with a signed contract giving him the right to sell her life's work. The 2 women beg Tony to look into the case. It is an okay book, nothing special. A way to pass the time, but not particularly suspenseful or gripping.

[Nancey · Rating 2 out of 5]

We listened to this book on our recent trip to drive up the Oregon coast since it takes place in a coastal city I thought it'd be fun. But I wasn't thrilled with the story there was no suspense or mystery really it's all about proving who did it & it takes them forever to get to some obvious clues. Plus the romance was not needed and it felt forced.

[Mimi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd call this one just ok. It wasn't bad, just kind of flat. I expected some build up to the end and it just didn't. This was the first book I read by Kate Wilhelm and I probably won't read another.

[Harry Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wilhelm is an exceptionally good writer. I have enjoyed her books from the time she wrote SF. In this one, the characterizations and plot are up to her usual standard. I liked the small town setting, which is a change of pace. I hope this is the start of a new series.

[Marcie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I noticed quite a few of the author's fans did not care for this book. I don't think I have read her before so have no comparison. I thoroughly enjoyed the story--the location, characters, whys and wherefores. I would read her again.

[Jan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry Kate, this was a bit like hearing an adult read to a 5 year old child - I was always ahead of events. From previous experience I never take a book read by this narrator. I do not want drama, theatrics or the someone's interpretation - let me do the emphasis.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a somewhat interesting mystery novel, but not nearly as good as "The Deepest Water", which was my first read of her books. I liked "The Deepest Water" because it started out with a death, but not necessarily a suspicious one. As the book progressed, the death became suspicious, and as the daughter of the deceased man became more curious, the book became more suspenseful, even once she had a "suspect", it became even creepier as she tried to investigate without becoming a victim herself. However, this book, I think, is not as interesting because it lays almost everything out at the beginning, the relatives suspecting that the death is not natural, and knowing right away whom they believe did it. That leaves the majority of the book to a friend (and ex-FBI agent) doing what he repeats multiple times in the book as routine procedure (and admits it's boring and slow work), trying to find evidence, trying to investigate the suspect. My question is, if you admit this investigative work is boring and slow, why focus so much of a novel on it? And then the ending is just bizarre, doesn't really make sense why the characters do what they do, although I admit it "works". Anyway, not her best work . . . if you want something much more mysterious and creepy stick with "The Deepest Water".

[Sheryl Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the blend of elements in this murder mystery. There is the setting of a small tourist town in Oregon, with brief ventures into the bigger cities. There is a 4 generation family who befriends a newcomer that happens to be a retired police detective. There is the long time sheriff who does his best, but he's a better gossip than a cop. Plus, there are a wide variety of personalities and types in the list of characters.

Much of the book is centered on relationships and inter-relationships. With the number of characters you might think it would get confusing, but it never did. The book develops each relationship with care and it flows very well. The murder was never a mystery. The mystery lies in how the murderer is going to be dealt with. So many want to get their hands on him.

The book was highly entertaining and engaging. A very pleasant experience, I would say. It presents enough to think about without giving us so much we become bogged down. I wouldn't call it "light" but it certainly is not "heavy."

[Phreia Von Woolfgaard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book I have ever read from Kate Wilhelm. It was a book chosen at random by my youngest daughter as a way to help round out my stack of reads at the local library (and so we could hurry up and find our way to the park.) The story was a steady climb to an end. It was easy to find a kind of kinship with one or two characters and to fall into their story. It left a lot of time for the mind to wander but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. In a story where justice seems to be a fleeting idea it was nice to have an ending come out the way you kind of hoped. But I would not recommend this book if you are looking for a quick, exciting, and in depth murder mystery. This is not a book of murder mystery but rather a book about justice.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this mystery - just what I needed this week - nothing to complex - cop from NY comes to a small coastal town, decides to settle down there permanently. He gets involved with a family and ends up being asked to investigate the murder of an artist, the daughter of a gift shop owner, Marnie and the mother of a med. student, Van (Vanessa). He's an excellent wood craftsman and ends up meeting Marnie, who has heard about a box he created. He meets the daughter and a strong attraction occurs, but he knows he is too old for her (20 year difference).... turns out the murdered woman's husband is a con-artist, and married her for her paintings.... happy ending

[Gail Barrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started this book, it felt like a mediocre romance/mystery with the usual cast of characters and seaside setting. But I persevered mainly because my friend Molly said Wilhelm is a good writer. Then I got drawn in. The description of the artistic personality, the many challenges facing an artist today (like whether to sell or not), the emotional demands on the creative mind, all resonated with me. The internal worlds of the main characters were each compelling in their own way. It was a rich book and well worth the slow entry.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't review too often but I just had to for this book. It's listed as a mystery but they tell you who did it, the protagonist knows who did it from the beginning and there is never any other suspect. There was no mystery whatsoever. On top of that the dialog made it plane that the author was an old woman attempting to talk like someone younger and failing completely. and finally the ending was totally contrived. it was in to way believable. Reality would never work that way. Everything wrapped up to neatly and quickly with the main character not staying true to his previous self.

[Jane Comer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tony, a former NYC cop, moves to a small beach town in Oregon to start a new life. He becomes involved with women, three generations when one of them falls down stairs to her death. Stef's mother and daughter convince Tony to determine if Dale, Stef's husband murdered her so that he could be possession of her art. The plot is quiet and engaging and the characters are kind and real. It was a quick listen. Too bad this book is not a series as I would have liked to read more about Tony, Van and Marnie.