Cezanne's Quarry
Non-series
Barbara Corrado
Pope
Pegasus Books (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-933648-83-X (193364883X)
ISBN-13: 978-1-933648-83-5 (9781933648835)
Publication Date: July 2008
List Price: $25.00
Synopsis (from
the publisher): August 1885. Aix-en-Provence. The body of a beautiful
woman lies on the floor of a sun-baked quarry, a fragment of painted
canvas shivering on a thorny branch nearby. Could Paul
Cézanne be Solange Vernet’s killer?
The novice investigating magistrate Bernard Martin has only two weeks
to prove that her murderer is either the artist, who is obsessively in
love with Vernet, or her long-time paramour, Charles Westerbury, an
English geologist with a shady past. To make the case against
Cézanne or the Darwinian scientist, Martin must confront the
ghosts of his own past as he struggles to understand the motives that
led to Solange Vernet’s violent end.
Was her fatal strangulation merely a crime of passion? Or did she die
because she dared to step outside the traditional bounds of womanhood?
The early paintings of Paul Cézanne offer crucial clues to
solving the crime.
Review:
Barbara Corrado Pope’s first novel, Cezanne’s Quarry,
is an awe-inspiring murder mystery that tiptoes through a most
troublesome moment in time for the small municipality of
Aix-en-Provence, France, home to celebrated artist Paul Cezanne.
It is mid-August, 1885. A beautiful woman is found murdered at the old
quarry. At first unknown, she is later identified as Solange Vernet by
an inexperienced magistrate, Bernard Martin. Martin had met her once
when she had invited him to hear lectures given by her paramour, English
scholar Charles Westbury. Westbury renounced the Biblical version of
God’s creation of the world in seven days by expounding on
and expanding Darwin’s theory of evolution, stating that
there is “no vestige of a beginning, nor is there a prospect
for an end.” Although Martin had never attended the
lectures, he couldn’t forget her. One who did attend was
local artist Paul Cezanne. Cezanne had immediately fallen in love with
her, inciting in Westbury a jealousy he hadn't known possible. But
Solange harbored a secret that she could never tell Cezanne and thus
rebuked his love for her. The only clue found at the murder site was a
note to Solange saying, “Meet me at the old quarry.
C.” Who was the "C" of the note? Charles? Cezanne? And was
this a crime of passion, or something even more sinister? Martin's task is indeed a daunting one.
Cezanne's Quarry
is an amazing, multi-faceted novel. There is the murder mystery with
its political overtones but there are also the elements of science and
religion and at times philosophy. At one point Cezanne says one should,
"Strive to create something new, yet as old as the world itself. Take
time to think it through ... and see it." Atmospheric with finely
crafted period details, strong character development, and a mesmerizing
plot come together to make Cezanne's
Quarry one of the best books of the year.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Cezanne's Quarry and to Opus Communications for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Omnimystery keywords for Cezanne's Quarry ...
Location(s) referenced: Provence, France.
