The Body in the Gallery

The Body in the Gallery
Katherine Hall Page
Wm. Morrow
ISBN: 978-0-06-076367-1
Fiction, Mystery
Reviewed by Ruby G. Krautsack

Katherine Page is a very good writer and this was a most interesting book to read. It covers a lot of Art and it sure impressed me with the catering portion. The main character, Faith Fairchild, was an excellent cook and how clever of the author to put some of the recipes at the end of the book.
The story is about an Art museum that was donated by a couple who didn’t have any relatives to leave their estate of forty acres and the museum to, so they left it to the small town of Aleford. It is called “The Ganely Museum “after Theodore “Teddy” Ganely. The museum is sometimes referred to as “The Teddy.” It has a board of directors and a d Maddy is the chair person.
Harriet Potter is also a board member. She came with the town and likes to control everything, especially Maddy, who is married to her nephew. Harriet’s grandson works in the Café and is there because of her influence.
Patsy Avery, a friend and neighbor of Faith Fairchild, is also a member of the board of directors. The Averys loaned a painting to the museum and Patsy suspects that it has been stolen and replaced with a copy. She talks faith into taking over the restaurant to improve the quality of the food and also to watch people connected with the museum in hopes to find the culprit who is stealing the art.
I liked the part where Patsy gets Faith to help her sneak into the museum one night and find the proof of the painting’s switch for a fake. Every thing is going along great. The catering business and the restaurant business is a huge success. Then Faith finds the body of a dead girl, a very beautiful one, with a shaved head, in a large fish tank at the rear of the museum.
It is a very entertaining mystery. The author, Faith Fairchild, has brought in problems with a son, what it’s like being married to a preacher, what it’s like running a catering business and a lot ofinteresting side themes to keep us riveted. She has done a great job writing this book and it will come as a surprise to the reader when they find out who the murderer is. Good job, Katherine.