Money and murder go hand in glove in
the rarified art world of Reba White Williams’ exciting first novel, Restrike.
Cousins
Coleman and Dinah Greene moved from North Carolina to New York after college to
make their mark on the art world: Coleman is the editor of an influential arts
magazine and Dinah is the owner of a print gallery in Greenwich Village. But
their challenges are mounting as one of Coleman's writers is discovered selling
story ideas to a competitor and The Greene Gallery is in the red because sales
are down.
When
billionaire Heyward Bain arrives with a glamorous assistant, announcing plans
to fund a fine print museum, Coleman is intrigued and plans to get to know Bain
and publish an article about him. Dinah hopes to sell him enough prints to save
her gallery. At the same time, swindlers, attracted by Bain’s lavish spending,
invade the print world to grab some of his money.
When
a print dealer dies in peculiar circumstances, Coleman is suspicious, but she
can’t persuade the NYPD crime investigator of a connection between the dealer’s
death and Bain’s buying spree. After one of Coleman’s editors is killed and
Coleman is attacked, the police must acknowledge the connection, and Coleman
becomes even more determined to discover the truth about Bain. In an
unforgettable final scene, Coleman risks her life to expose the last deception
threatening her, her friends, and the formerly tranquil print world.
Reba White Williams has written
articles for American Artist, Art and Auction, Print Quarterly
and Journal of the Print World. She served on the Print Committees of
The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, The Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan
Museum and The Whitney Museum. She was a member of the Editorial Board of Print Quarterly, and is an Honorary
Keeper of American Prints at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University.
Williams grew up in Mississippi, Tennessee and North
Carolina. She graduated from Duke University and her ambition at 21 years old
led her to New York, where she began writing about art, business and finance. Williams
eventually earned her MBA from Harvard, MA in Art History from Hunter, PhD in
Art History from the Graduate Center, CUNY, and MA in Fiction Writing from
Antioch University.
She
worked as a library assistant, researcher at a management-consulting firm, a
Wall Street securities analyst and writer for Institutional Investor
magazine and other financial publications, and her expertise and passion for the
arts led Williams to write a mystery novel series revolving around art fraud.
The first book, Restrike, releases
June 2013.
Williams
has served as President of the New York City Art Commission and Vice Chairman
of the New York State Council on the Arts. In 2009, most of her and her
husband’s collection—about 5,000 prints—was donated to the National Gallery of
Art in Washington, D.C.
She
and her husband founded
the annual Willie Morris Award for best Southern fiction, now in its sixth year.
With her husband and their dog Muffin, who is fictionalized in her books, Williams
divides her time between New York, Connecticut and Palm Springs.
My Thoughts
Restrike: a new print made from an old lithograph stone medal or the like....
I never knew that, but I know nothing about art except that some of it is pretty and there are a lot of talented artists, past and present. Once I started reading Restrike not only did I learn a bit about art but it was easy to see that the author definitely knows about the art world. This is a mystery story about the art world,art magazines,and high society. Thrown into the mix of course are greedy people who take what doesn't belong to them, all for money. There is enough interesting characters, good and bad that keep the reader wanting to continue. I read this book within a 24 hour period. Easy to read but well written. I love reading a book that once I am immersed into it, it is a pleasure to read. I would definitely read more by this author.
I accepted this book for review and was not monetarily compensated for my review.
A literary publicity firm
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