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Elena Oliverez #1
The Tree of Death
Curator Elena Oliverez finds herself the prime suspect in the murder of unpopular museum director Frank de Palma, crushed to death by a controversial new bequest, a full-size ceramic tree
208 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
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About the author
Marcia Muller
165 books725 followersMarcia Muller is an American author of mystery and thriller novels.
Muller has written many novels featuring her Sharon McCone female private detective character. Vanishing Point won the Shamus Award for Best P.I. Novel. Muller had been nominated for the Shamus Award four times previously.
In 2005, Muller was awarded the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master award.
She was born in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in Birmingham, Michigan, and graduated in English from the University of Michigan and worked as a journalist at Sunset magazine. She is married to detective fiction author Bill Pronzini with whom she has collaborated on several novels.
Muller has written many novels featuring her Sharon McCone female private detective character. Vanishing Point won the Shamus Award for Best P.I. Novel. Muller had been nominated for the Shamus Award four times previously.
In 2005, Muller was awarded the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master award.
She was born in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in Birmingham, Michigan, and graduated in English from the University of Michigan and worked as a journalist at Sunset magazine. She is married to detective fiction author Bill Pronzini with whom she has collaborated on several novels.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
September 28, 2022
Marcia Muller has created another interesting story with a young woman suspected of murder, who sets out to solve the mystery on her own when the police detective thinks she is only trying to divert attention from her own actions.
Elena Oliverez, curator of the new Museum of Mexican Arts in Santa Barbara, is stressing herself out over the museum's opening festivities and exhibit of Chicano art. A donor appears with a huge, gaudy ceramic arbol de la vida (tree of life) that Elena knows will not go well in the exhibit but she is overruled by the director of the museum, Frank de Palma. She challenges him and then utters the potentially lethal words "someone should kill you."
Because someone does just that.
And because she uttered those words and was apparently the last person to see him alive, police quickly tag her as the number one suspect for the death. There are so many clues that easily lead to herself, Elena begins her own clumsy investigation.
And this is where it is sad. Elena is no investigator, she's not even smart enough to save herself grief — and she has plenty of that around. And the more that she investigates, the more she makes herself look more guilty. She is not smart, not clever and tells way too many secrets. As the main character, she is the weak link in this story and why I almost gave this book a two-story rating. All along I couldn't imagine how she would solve the crime — because it was very obvious she would have to do it or die trying — but I really thought she would never pull it together.
And Marcia Muller has done this before, with her Sharon McCone books. I hated McCone but kept reading the books because a neighbor had given me a whole box of them! And with time, Muller eventually made McCone a stronger, smarter, more level-headed character that the reader can get behind and believe could solve the mystery.
But meanwhile, as I have the next two in this three-book series, I'll probably read them and — fingers crossed — hope Elena shows some cleverness, smarts and uses some commonsense.
Elena Oliverez, curator of the new Museum of Mexican Arts in Santa Barbara, is stressing herself out over the museum's opening festivities and exhibit of Chicano art. A donor appears with a huge, gaudy ceramic arbol de la vida (tree of life) that Elena knows will not go well in the exhibit but she is overruled by the director of the museum, Frank de Palma. She challenges him and then utters the potentially lethal words "someone should kill you."
Because someone does just that.
And because she uttered those words and was apparently the last person to see him alive, police quickly tag her as the number one suspect for the death. There are so many clues that easily lead to herself, Elena begins her own clumsy investigation.
And this is where it is sad. Elena is no investigator, she's not even smart enough to save herself grief — and she has plenty of that around. And the more that she investigates, the more she makes herself look more guilty. She is not smart, not clever and tells way too many secrets. As the main character, she is the weak link in this story and why I almost gave this book a two-story rating. All along I couldn't imagine how she would solve the crime — because it was very obvious she would have to do it or die trying — but I really thought she would never pull it together.
And Marcia Muller has done this before, with her Sharon McCone books. I hated McCone but kept reading the books because a neighbor had given me a whole box of them! And with time, Muller eventually made McCone a stronger, smarter, more level-headed character that the reader can get behind and believe could solve the mystery.
But meanwhile, as I have the next two in this three-book series, I'll probably read them and — fingers crossed — hope Elena shows some cleverness, smarts and uses some commonsense.
January 28, 2025
I started reading this at 2:30 this morning, and by 5:15, I finished it. It’s super short at five hours and change, and when you get that narrator to cruise at 2.5X as I did, you’re done in no time. I figured since the hateful arms of Morpheus flung me onto the craggy beach of wakefulness, I may as well do something productive. This book and its attendant review are the result.
Elena Oliverez is a young unmarried Latina who works as the curator of the about-to-open Mexican Art Museum in Santa Barbara. The director is a sloppy, despicable fat guy named Frank de Palma. He knows how to bed women, much to Elena’s consternation (who would sleep with the guy?) and he’s not terrible at raising funds. That said, the museum operates on a shoestring budget.
As museum staffers and volunteers prepare for its grand opening, a wealthy donor insists that the museum exhibit her gift of a garish, large Tree of Life. Naturally, the director jumps at the chance, seeing dollar signs and believing he can leverage that ugly tree into more substantive donations. Elena strongly objects. The phenomenally hideous tree has no place among the exhibits, but Frank overrules her. In a rage she doesn’t hide from other staffers, she threatens to kill him.
So, if a tree falls in the forest, and no one can hear it, does it make a sound? That’s grist for another mill. If a ceramic tree falls one night on a museum director, can it really kill him? In the case of the unfortunate Frank de Palma and that unfortunate donor gift, it appears it can. They find fat Frank lying under the ceramic tree never to rise again. When the cops dig in, they determine someone murdered Frank, and the cop in charge of the investigation is eager to pin it all on Elena.
She realizes she’s going to engage in amateur sleuthing if she wants to stay out of jail and clear her name.
I like this character a great deal. I like her better than I like Sharon McCone. She’s less prone to the misanthropic behaviors McCone engages in, and so far, she’s not in a relationship that ads pages and pages of unnecessary angst to the book.
Elena Oliverez is a young unmarried Latina who works as the curator of the about-to-open Mexican Art Museum in Santa Barbara. The director is a sloppy, despicable fat guy named Frank de Palma. He knows how to bed women, much to Elena’s consternation (who would sleep with the guy?) and he’s not terrible at raising funds. That said, the museum operates on a shoestring budget.
As museum staffers and volunteers prepare for its grand opening, a wealthy donor insists that the museum exhibit her gift of a garish, large Tree of Life. Naturally, the director jumps at the chance, seeing dollar signs and believing he can leverage that ugly tree into more substantive donations. Elena strongly objects. The phenomenally hideous tree has no place among the exhibits, but Frank overrules her. In a rage she doesn’t hide from other staffers, she threatens to kill him.
So, if a tree falls in the forest, and no one can hear it, does it make a sound? That’s grist for another mill. If a ceramic tree falls one night on a museum director, can it really kill him? In the case of the unfortunate Frank de Palma and that unfortunate donor gift, it appears it can. They find fat Frank lying under the ceramic tree never to rise again. When the cops dig in, they determine someone murdered Frank, and the cop in charge of the investigation is eager to pin it all on Elena.
She realizes she’s going to engage in amateur sleuthing if she wants to stay out of jail and clear her name.
I like this character a great deal. I like her better than I like Sharon McCone. She’s less prone to the misanthropic behaviors McCone engages in, and so far, she’s not in a relationship that ads pages and pages of unnecessary angst to the book.
July 20, 2019
New author to me. Okay. Not inclined to read more .. Elena Oliverez = Museum Director of Mexican Art in Santa Barbara,CA.
October 10, 2019
This early Muller, which doesn't feature Sharon McCone, has characters which feel much flatter than Muller's usual. Still, the locked room mystery has a satisfying resolution.
April 16, 2024
It was ok, but very dated. The dialogue was stilted.
October 17, 2011
BOTTOM LINE: An early work, this first novel of Muller's second series is decently plotted and has fairly good characters, but is unfortunately predictable all the way through. The Chicana second-in-command of a folk art museum finds herself caught in a web of deceit, embezzlement, and murder, and the handsome Anglo cop working on the case thinks she's the killer. Not Muller's best, but intriguing especially if, as do I, you like to follow an author's growth and changes in style through the years.
Elena Oliverez has come a long way - the granddaughter of an illiterate field worker, she's now the Assistant Director of The Museum of Mexican Arts in Santa Barbara. Their big opening day celebration is nearly upon them, and she's very busy, especially since most of the staff seems to be untrained and ill-mannered, and not much help, especially aesthetically, including her boss the museum's director. But most of the workers are willing, and she's hopeful the opening will go well. Alas, it most decidedly does not, as a VIP donor at the last minute wants to include a particularly horrible, incredibly kitschy Tree of Life, and the museum director overrules Elena and allows it to be set up in a place of honor. They have a quite loud altercation and things are not comfortable between them, but it gets worse - he is found murdered right by the exhibit (during the opening) and Elena was the only one who had access to that gallery at the time of his death.
A few stereotypes, but Elena is likable, her Mother is sharp and interesting, and the interactions among the staff members are intriguing. Unfortunately at times there's a strident tone that overwhelms the good plotting, reflective of the late 1970s-early 1980s period in which it was written perhaps. It doesn't spoil the story much, but does serve to date it rather badly. A what was at the time very innovative attempt at an ethnic female detective story that almost "works", and is fairly entertaining despite its flaws and current-day familiarity. Not quite a fem-jep suspenser, not quite a look at a to-me alternative culture, I liked "meeting" Elena and look forward to the second in series THE LEGEND OF THE SLAIN SOLDIERS, 1985. Upon reflection, it's amazing how much Muller and Pronzini have learned from each other as writers over the years, and its fascinating watching them each develop.
[note: I read the Curley large print, which has an unfortunate cover - looks as though the artist didn't read the story, and the blurb on the back gives most of the plot away! One, er. two of my Pet Peeves.]
Elena Oliverez has come a long way - the granddaughter of an illiterate field worker, she's now the Assistant Director of The Museum of Mexican Arts in Santa Barbara. Their big opening day celebration is nearly upon them, and she's very busy, especially since most of the staff seems to be untrained and ill-mannered, and not much help, especially aesthetically, including her boss the museum's director. But most of the workers are willing, and she's hopeful the opening will go well. Alas, it most decidedly does not, as a VIP donor at the last minute wants to include a particularly horrible, incredibly kitschy Tree of Life, and the museum director overrules Elena and allows it to be set up in a place of honor. They have a quite loud altercation and things are not comfortable between them, but it gets worse - he is found murdered right by the exhibit (during the opening) and Elena was the only one who had access to that gallery at the time of his death.
A few stereotypes, but Elena is likable, her Mother is sharp and interesting, and the interactions among the staff members are intriguing. Unfortunately at times there's a strident tone that overwhelms the good plotting, reflective of the late 1970s-early 1980s period in which it was written perhaps. It doesn't spoil the story much, but does serve to date it rather badly. A what was at the time very innovative attempt at an ethnic female detective story that almost "works", and is fairly entertaining despite its flaws and current-day familiarity. Not quite a fem-jep suspenser, not quite a look at a to-me alternative culture, I liked "meeting" Elena and look forward to the second in series THE LEGEND OF THE SLAIN SOLDIERS, 1985. Upon reflection, it's amazing how much Muller and Pronzini have learned from each other as writers over the years, and its fascinating watching them each develop.
[note: I read the Curley large print, which has an unfortunate cover - looks as though the artist didn't read the story, and the blurb on the back gives most of the plot away! One, er. two of my Pet Peeves.]
August 19, 2012
#1 in the Elena Oliverez series. A member of the hispanic community in Santa Barbara, CA, Elena struggles against the machismo culture. Raised ny a single mother to be independent, Elana has earned a degree at UCSB and has been working for the Museum of Mexican Art for the five years since then.
This was Marcia Muller's fourth book, following three Sharon McCone mysteries, and expectedly, it's not as mature as later efforts. Elena seems to develop more of her own personality as the novel progresses. I look forward to reading the next two entries in the trilogy.
Elena Oliverez series - Elena, curator at Santa Barbara's Museum of Mexican Art, vociferously objects to the inclusion of a donated garish "arbol de la vida" in the grand opening at the museum's new location. Frank de Palma, sloppy and lazy director of the museum, insists that the gift by a wealthy benefactor be included. In a temper, Elena yells "Someone should kill you!" The next morning she finds the director dead, crushed under the donated statuary. It's murder, the museum's alarm is still set, and Elena has the only other set of keys. She looks to clear herself.
This was Marcia Muller's fourth book, following three Sharon McCone mysteries, and expectedly, it's not as mature as later efforts. Elena seems to develop more of her own personality as the novel progresses. I look forward to reading the next two entries in the trilogy.
Elena Oliverez series - Elena, curator at Santa Barbara's Museum of Mexican Art, vociferously objects to the inclusion of a donated garish "arbol de la vida" in the grand opening at the museum's new location. Frank de Palma, sloppy and lazy director of the museum, insists that the gift by a wealthy benefactor be included. In a temper, Elena yells "Someone should kill you!" The next morning she finds the director dead, crushed under the donated statuary. It's murder, the museum's alarm is still set, and Elena has the only other set of keys. She looks to clear herself.
December 5, 2012
Boy, is this a little fling of a mystery. If you need something, it's worthy to pass the time. It's an early Marcia Muller effort, and it shows.
Elena Oliverez, first person narrator, is starting her career as as curator of a Museum of Mexican Arts in Santa Barbara, California. She also begins her mystery career when her boss is murdered, and she is the primary suspect. Lt. Dave Kirk, homicide detective, despite being Anglo, is attracted to the Hispanic Oliverez, but she is worried more about finding the killer of Frank de Palma because it might cause the museum to close as well as get her arrested. Startlingly, the head of the Museum's board, chairman Carlos Bautista, appoints her the new director to replace de Palma. She learns of embezzlement and discovers boxes of art that she knew weren't the museum's. Someone connected to the museum is behind all of this and Oliverez is determined to find out what is going on.
Elena Oliverez, first person narrator, is starting her career as as curator of a Museum of Mexican Arts in Santa Barbara, California. She also begins her mystery career when her boss is murdered, and she is the primary suspect. Lt. Dave Kirk, homicide detective, despite being Anglo, is attracted to the Hispanic Oliverez, but she is worried more about finding the killer of Frank de Palma because it might cause the museum to close as well as get her arrested. Startlingly, the head of the Museum's board, chairman Carlos Bautista, appoints her the new director to replace de Palma. She learns of embezzlement and discovers boxes of art that she knew weren't the museum's. Someone connected to the museum is behind all of this and Oliverez is determined to find out what is going on.
November 13, 2015
The main female character is a museum curator and she is working on setting up the opening of a small Mexican museum when she comes into conflict with her boss the director of the museum. They have words in front of the other workers over a piece of art and when he is found dead the next day she is suspected of the murder. She works to figure out who the killer is and clear herself. In so doing she finds out a lot about the people she has worked with for awhile and doesn't like it.
She finds that someone is bringing in goods from out of country and selling them to buyers without the money going to the museum but the museum is financing the buying trips. The director was having an affair and is the one at the head of the embezzling scam and he has talked others into helping him. The cop assigned to the case doesn't seem to listen to what she has to offer. In the end she figures out who the killer is but puts herself in harms way to do it.
She finds that someone is bringing in goods from out of country and selling them to buyers without the money going to the museum but the museum is financing the buying trips. The director was having an affair and is the one at the head of the embezzling scam and he has talked others into helping him. The cop assigned to the case doesn't seem to listen to what she has to offer. In the end she figures out who the killer is but puts herself in harms way to do it.
September 11, 2014
I love Marcia Muller, so when I found this for $1 in a used book store, I snagged it. Interesting direction she takes here, with the Hispanic heroine and the Anglo/Latino culture rift as a back drop. It wasn't up to her usual standards, but it was enjoyable. There is a lot to digest - a little simplistic at time, but it IS dated, so the reader must keep the era in which it was written in mind. I appreciate the emphasis on regional art.
July 6, 2015
Elena Loiverez is curator of a museum of ethnic art in a California town. The unpopular director of the museum is murdered by being bludgeoned with an ugly ceramic tree that he insisted be displayed because it had been donated by a lady who made large monetary donations to the museum. EL has to solve the murder in order to save her own skin.
January 27, 2011
Fast-paced mystery, interesting characters, ....I'm not sure I like that the main character and narrator was the chief suspect. However, it was a fun read..combining art and mystery which sparked my interest.
April 12, 2016
Very good mystery set in Southern California. MC is the curator of a Mexican Art museum who becomes the prime suspect when the director is found dead. Classic locked room mystery - several suspects and motives but how did s/he get in and out of the locked museum? Enjoyed this first in a series.
August 18, 2016
I am a fan of the Sharon McCone series by Marcia Muller. That said, this book (not part of the series) was a big disappointment. The story line was simplistic. The characters were one-dimensional and changed behavior and attitudes abruptly with no good explanation. Skip it.
August 27, 2007
a different flavor to this series - more mexican american art focus - she makes this character come alive too
March 31, 2011
1st Elena Oliver- Okay, not great
May 12, 2016
3.5 stars
MeXican curator Elena Alvarez.
MeXican curator Elena Alvarez.
August 23, 2011
This book is quite good despite a significant flaw involving keys and security.
December 31, 2015
I love Marcia Muller. Very enjoyable. Ate it up in a day!
April 17, 2017
Short, not very involving. Not a lot of background color considering it's marketed as an ethnic Latina detective story. For a writer as established as Marcia Muller, it was disappointing. Still, female 'tecs aren't that common, so may be of interest for some readers.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews