Book Review: A Perfect Eye by Stephanie Kane

A Perfect Eye
Author: Stephanie Kane
Series: Lily Sparks (Book 1)
Publication: Cold Hard Press (September 1, 2019)

Description: Some are born with a perfect palate, others with perfect pitch. Lily Sparks was born with a perfect eye. As Conservator of Paintings at the Denver Art Museum, she uses her keen visual powers to restore masterpieces and detect what's authentic and what is not. When the museum's billionaire benefactor is brutally murdered and Lily is dragged into the case, the grisly tableau stuns her: it's the human embodiment of the museum's prized landscape by famed Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte.

Lily comes to believe the Caillebotte was forged and the killer is a painter the art world spurned. But this knowledge comes at a terrible cost. As she confronts where art ends and fraud begins, she must face the deceptions in her own past.

My Thoughts: Lily Sparks is Conservator of Paintings at the Denver Art Museum. This is a second career for her and uses her perfect eye. She was trained since childhood by her single father to really see what is around her. Her talent came in handy when she was a lawyer and it comes in handy now too.

When the billionaire benefactor of the museum who donated a large amount of art to the facility is found brutally murdered, Lily is called in by old flame FBI Agent Paul Riley to use her talent to see what others have missed. Even though their relationship broke up ten years earlier when he neglected to mention that he was married, she hasn't really gotten over him and working with him is painful. What's worse is that he seems to have an agenda of his own and isn't really listening when she brings up how much the murder scene mirrors one of the billionaire's donations to the museum.

Lily comes to believe that the landscape by Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte is a forgery which doesn't make her at all popular with the museum director who claims to have a perfect eye of his own. The tension at work combined with her investigation bring a lot of tension to the story.

I enjoyed the multiple viewpoints in this story. The action was fast-paced and the tension was quite high through the story.

Favorite Quote:

Driving home, she thought about what Margo said. Was Kurtz's generosity to the museum a cover, to burnish his reputation while he funneled assets to less savory beneficiaries?

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from the author's publicist. You can buy your copy here in multiple formats.