The Nature of Rare Things

The Gye Journals #2

by Derek Wilson

When paranormal investigator and Cambridge lecturer Dr. Nathaniel Gye is commissioned by a dead man to find his killer, he dismisses the incident as a clumsy fraud by a fake medium. But when Nathaniel’s own wife disappears—an eventuality foretold by the same “unquiet spirit”—he is forced to look for connections between her predicament and the violent death of a man she never knew. Nathaniel’s search leads him through a labyrinthine investigation, involving a stolen Renaissance painting and the love life of Robert and Elizabeth Browning. Drawn deep into a web of crime and deception, Nathaniel Gye has to face some difficult questions.

In this dark and fast-paced mystery, long-time or first-time fans of acclaimed writer Derek Wilson will enjoy pitting their wits against the unscrupulous manipulation of the living and the dead.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2005

About the author

Derek Wilson has been a writer of historical fiction and non-fiction for 50 years. His much acclaimed prize-winning works have largely centred on 16th and 17th century Europe. He has used various pen names for his fiction, his current Thomas Treviot Tudor crime series being written under the name D.K. Wilson. The first 2 books in this series - The First Horseman and The Traitor's Mark are based on real unsolved Tudor mysteries and have received enthusiastic plaudits. Readers have favourably compared this innovative series with the books of C.J. Sansom and S.J. Parris.
Recent non-fiction triumphs include The Plantagenets, Holbein: Portrait of an Unknown Man, and Charlemagne: a Biography.
Derek Wilson graduated from Cambridge and spent several years travelling and teaching in Africa before becoming a full-time writer and broadcaster in 1971. He has frequently written and appeared on radio and television and is popular as a public speaker having appeared at several literary festivals,British Museum, Hampton Court Palace, The British Library and other prestigious venues.

Reviews

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 3 out of 5]

2nd in a series that begins with his Tripletree (which I have not yet read but which I have ordered), The Nature of Rare Things is an art mystery. It's pretty good, and I didn't figure out the who or the how it was done at all. That speaks highly for this author; I can normally figure these things out early on if the writing is poor. It's neither cozy nor police procedural, but rather the story of an individual who enters the case most unwillingly but sees it through to the end.

Nathaniel Gye works at Cambridge University and studies the paranormal. It is this connection that gains him an invitation to a medium who contacts him because a man who had earlier been on trial for stealing a priceless painting is found dead in his garage, apparently was found dead in his garage, and the signs pointed to suicide. Now the ghost wants to talk to Nathaniel and have him find out the truth behind his death. Gye attends a seance, and agrees to help the man's widow clear up the mystery of the man's death. His investigation will lead him into the art world and its seamy underbelly, and at times bring him close to meeting his own end.

Overall, an okay read; a bit above the average mystery novel that one finds out there these days. Recommended if you're into art mysteries or into just decently-written mystery novels.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting enough, not sure I'd read more with these characters.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started out well enough, but by the time it was half way through most of the "mystery" of how the painting went missing was clear leaving me less than excited to complete the book.