Rating: 
Summary: The Three Museum Shell Game
Review: This is my first Linda Fairstein book, and I must say, even though this is a mixed review, that I am impressed. She uses the occasion of the discovery of a freakishly preserved corpse discovered in a sarcophagus where only a mummy should have been to write a detailed and convincing police procedural about the world behind the exhibits in several of the world's most famous museums. As I discovered with 'The Relic,' I am a sucker for stories that play out in the almost gothic settings these museums and their secret places provide.Alexandra Cooper, head of the Manhattan DA's Sex Crimes Unit, becomes involved in this case as the result of attending a museum event announcing a new joint exhibit to be created but the Metropolitan, the Cloisters, and the Museum of Natural History. When the body is discovered while in the process of shipment, she is asked to consult, and brings in the Manhattan Police Department when it becomes clear that this is a murder case. Thereby triggering a steady stream of museum political wrangles and infighting. Balancing this is her regular caseload of criminal investigations and prosecutions. This makes for a rich and satisfying story with plenty of mystery, complications, and personality. I have to issues with the narrative, however. The first is that Fairstein writes almost an entire chapter using the events of 9/11 to build sympathy for both Alexandra Cooper and her colleague, Mike Chapman. Personally, I do not think this was necessary, certainly not to the extent that it was done. Moreover, at the end of it all, we really know very little more about either character. I think there are more effective ways to honor the lives lost on that day, and more effective ways to do character development. On a more literary note, Fairstein puts considerable energy into creating suspense with a complicated and interwoven story line. Thus building into what should have been a climactic ending where the solution to the crime should have been an epiphany. Instead, the plot simply unravels, and the ending, while still a bit surprising, does not live up to its harbingers. You want the conclusion to be shattering, the material is there, but it simply does not happen. Despite my complaints, this is an eminently readable story, and so far Fairstein hasn't fallen for the excessive angst that eventually ruined Patricia Cornwell's series. The detailing about the museums is wonderfully fine, worth the price of admission on its own. I intend to go back and read 'The Deadhouse,' her first novel, and will watch for new work from her as well.
| 
