Earth Colors

Em Hansen Mystery #9

by Sarah Andrews

Em Hansen, the popular heroine at the center of Sarah Andrews's unique geology mystery series, has landed a new job, although an unusual one: a client affiliated with a museum wants Em to investigate a painting by the famed western painter Frederick Remington. The client believes it's a fake, but Em must explore the painting's provenance to find out. The project takes her through Wyoming, Utah, Washington DC and Pennsylvania, and halfway through the trip Em finds she's also chasing a murderer: someone seems to be slowly poisoning her client's family. Before long, her innocent research project has taken a sinister twist, and it's up to Em to find out what's going on in time to save her own skin. All in all, Earth Colors is another smart, inventive mystery from Sarah Andrews, a fan favorite.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Geology

368 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 3, 2004

About the author

Sarah Andrews is a geologist who writes mystery novels about a geologist.

She currently lives in northern California and invests her free time on community pursuits and flying, skiing, and sailing with her husband and son.


Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Unemployed professional geologist and sometime FBI consultant, Em Hansen desperately needs work. So when her best friend Faye tells her that she knows someone who could use Em's expertise as a geologist to authenticate a painting, she jumps at the prospect. The painting is by the famous painter of the American West, Frederic Remington, and Em's client has had it in his family for years. But he believes it's a fake and wants Em to use her forensic skills to analyze the pigments to prove it. Since pigments are just ground-up minerals, it's a perfect task for a geologist like Em.

Although Em doesn't quite trust Faye's friend, she sets aside her doubts and takes the case. Following the painting's trail takes her from Wyoming to Utah to Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, and then it takes an unexpected sinister twist, putting Em on the trail of a murderer too. Suddenly she's the only one who can find out what's going on in time to save several lives, including her own."
~~back cover

Intriguing plot line: using the geological elements of paint in a work of art to determine whether or not it's a fake. All of Em's relationships seem to be falling apart, leaving Em to contemplate her life and where she's going. A poignant cameo appearance by Frank doesn't help matters either, causing her to evaluate what life would have been like if she hadn't gotten out of that relationship. A fairly convoluted plot, but not as complicated as Killer Dust.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 9th book in the series, but I think it can be a stand-alone book. the author does a good job of tying in things that happened previously. Since Em Hansen is a geologist working with paint chips for fraud detection and poisoning purposes, there is a lot of science in this book . The art parts would be interesting to people curious about how paint colors were made. The geology information was fun to read, because much of the story is set in my home state of PA and I have been to Wyoming, Em's home base.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite Em Hansen mysteries. Sarah Andrews always educates the reader about some aspect of geology, and in this case it was particularly fascinating for me. The background around traditional painters' oil paints -- where the minerals come from, preparation and application, use of color for particular effects, and in this case fascinating biographical and historical facts about the art of Frederic Remington, the famous Wild West painter.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uh. I only picked this up at a book sale because I'm a geologist. It's terrible, comically terrible, in fact. Would I read it again on vacation while drunk on the beach? Probably.

[Hilary]

Features a forensic geologist. Lots of information regarding natural pigments used in painting.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book much more than the last one in the series. This book picks up several months after the last book, Killer Dust, left off. Em Hansen gets a job trying to identify if a famous painting is a forgery by using the pigments in the paint. Her investigation leads her to Washington, D.C., and rural Pennsylvania. She doesn't trust her client, but she needs the money and is hoping to use the work to finish her Master's thesis as well. The painting in question was done by Remington, a famous western artists from the 1800s, and has been in the client's family for many years. In doing research on pigments, Em visits museums and laboratories and meets with people to help her understand the pigments, and minerals from which they came. Along the way, she meets members of the client's family and suspects something is not right. It is up to Em to discover the truth behind her suspicians and prevent another murder.

This story ties art and geology by investigating the source and chemical make up of pigments used in painting both now and in the past. It was interesting to learn how many pigments were toxic and may have been the demise of several famous painters. It was also fun to read how some technologies that seems so common now were just getting off the ground back when this was written in 2003 (remember dial up internet that tied up your phone line?). This story was a huge improvement over the last book in the series because it tied up all the loose ends at the end.

[Lindsay Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, Em Hansen is going for her Masters in Forensic Geology and looking for a topic for her thesis. Her friend Faye introduces her to an old school friend who wants to quietly confirm that an heirloom Remington painting is a fake. He hopes to do this by having Em analyze the minerals in the paint and show that they are more recent than those Remington would have used. While researching this, Em discovers that members of his family seem to be dying and/or becoming ill from lead poisoning, and that he is being investigated for art theft by the FBI. The geology and art history are explained along the way. Em is studying in Utah, but the bulk of the story takes place in central Pennsylvania (Lancaster), Baltimore, and DC.
The story takes place in 2003 or 2004. In the course of her investigation, Em visits the National Gallery of Art and sees an exhibit of nocturnes by Remington. I didn't see it when it was here, but it is now available online, https://www.nga.gov/feature/remington.... Long before lead paint in Baltimore was in the news, the story features a family that made their money manufacturing lead paint in Baltimore, and people are poisoned with a shade called "Baltimore yellow" that is no longer made because of it's toxicity.
Em's personal life is kind of a mess, and she is annoying in some ways. It doesn't really surprise me that someone in this field and with her experiences would be this way, though. The drawbacks in the story are more than made up for by the discussions of art and geology.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up for something new to read when I saw it on the library shelf and was pleasantly surprised that I liked it and read it at every opportunity. Em Hanson, the heroine, is a forensic geologist and goes off on several different tangents in this novel, some of which does not tie together for me, but still the story was a good one about art forgery and FBI investigation, schoolwork, and getting a life, etc. The ending was a turnaround and justifiable. Some of the technical geological and chemical descriptions were really beyond my knowledge and I did slide over them at times. Still, educational.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book on several levels. I enjoyed reading about the use of minerals in making oil paints. I knew this was how it was done early on, but never thought about it's use in authenticating oil paintings. I also enjoyed reading about Pennsylvania. My daughter worked as a preservationist in Pennsylvania for several years, and there seemed a lot of information that she would have used in her work. Thirdly, I enjoyed the story which put all I was interested in together.

[Emily Schnabl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is one of the strongest Em Hansen outings yet, mostly because the main character is finally (finally!) getting her act together. (It's one thing to have a flawed main character, but Hansen's character flaws have been more of a distraction for the past few novels than traits that flesh out a character).

Love the Salt Lake City touches. I wish there had been a little more denouement other than "I decided to grow up and not get myself into stupid trouble."

[Ayelet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't believe I have read 9 of these - definitely should not have read the last 3 right in a row. I'm annoyed with her inability to stay in a relationship or decide what she is doing with her life. The story about the paintings is interesting but not enough to keep me from being annoyed with her.

[Rose Zamy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started slow for me. . . I'm less interested in romantic entanglements. And Em seems so confused. But once we got into the pigments and chemistry with the delightful old geezers, I was hooked. Plan to read the other 8.

[Eunira]

The ninth Em Hansen book

[Mary Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the detail regarding the history of colors used in painting, however; the mystery seemed lost among the details about her personal life. I had hoped to read more of the series.

[Sue Sos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always a good read and often learn something new! Em Hansen is honestly human with a great mind for forensic geology.

[Norma Dushack]

Just Ok