Fiction

In this fourth “cozy” of the Dulcie Chambers Museum Mystery series, author Kerry J. Charles combines art, mystery and the town of Portland, ME, in A Mind Within (Edmund+Octavia Publishing).  Dr. Dulcinea “Dulcie” Chambers — the director of the Maine Museum of Art — knows great art when she sees it. She’s curating a different exhibit for the museum: a collection of Outsider Art, also known as art brut and Tramp Art, which features the work of those who aren’t professional artists but feel “compelled to create, usually beyond a level that we would consider normal.” Dulcie finds herself intrigued and flabbergasted by a sculpture that a now-deceased homeless man created: a life-sized Statue of Liberty from bottle caps glued together with chewing gum. Most grimace at the sculpture, but Dulcie knows one person’s trash can become another’s treasure.

DISCOVERING A UNIQUE TALENT

Then, Dulcie visits the home of Xander Bellamy, a 15-year-old autistic savant with an eidetic memory. He only looks at her for a few seconds, but paints her exact image. Xander is like a human camera, using a brush to capture what he sees with accuracy. He barely communicates and has never spoken, but his paintings are miraculous, and Dulcie wants to include them in her exhibit. Xander and his talent may intrigue Dulcie, but she’s just as mystified by his family life. Xander, his father, Lawrence, and his caretaker, Giselle, have all lived with his grandfather, Oscar Bernstein, for most of Xander’s life. Dulcie learns Oscar was a vile man, blaming his step-daughter — Xander’s mother, who died when he was seven — for Xander’s condition. His imperfect grandson disgusted him. Oscar consistently berated the boy, considering the family a “huge mess that reflected very poorly on him, and he was determined to make them all pay.” Then, someone pushed Oscar out of his study window. Although everyone thought Lawrence was just protecting Xander, he confessed to the crime. Xander’s great aunt, Edith Bernstein — Oscar’s sister — now lives at the estate. When she discovers that one of her nephew’s paintings might implicate someone else in Oscar’s murder, she shares her suspicions with Dulcie.

A KILLER PAINTED IN SHADOW

Detective Nick Black is from a “Boston Brahmin” elite family. Yes, he became a lawyer as his family wished and married a socialite with whom he’d had little in common, but he’d long ago decided the prestigious life of wealth and power wasn’t for him. He walked away and became a policeman in Portland. Now, he’s a detective with a strong moral code. Nick has worked with Dulcie before on crimes involving the art world. Despite their mutual attraction, he’d neglected to tell her that his divorce wasn’t yet final. Now, Dulcie doesn’t trust him, at least on a personal level. But when it’s apparent she may have information that might clear Lawrence Bellamy of Oscar Bernstein’s murder, she contacts Nick who agrees there might have been a miscarriage of justice and reopens the police investigation. 

ROMANCE REIGNITED

When Dulcie interacts with Nick, it’s apparent to both of them that the romantic spark hasn’t faded. But they’ve got a case to solve first. While they work to figure out who pushed the old man out the window, Dulcie hires Dr. Raymond Armand — Xander’s former psychologist — to share insight about autism and Xander’s uncanny artistic ability. But Dr. Armand is far too ambitious to concern himself with a former patient. Can she cope with his inflated ego long enough to get through the museum’s exhibit? And with Dulcie’s help, will Nick discover who killed Oscar Bernstein? Charles uses her knowledge of the art world to create a lighthearted, cozy mystery with an endearing romantic twist. And readers will marvel when considering the miraculous abilities and gifts of autistic savants.

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RELATED POSTS Message in a Frozen Bottle? Murder and Mystery? Call Detective Dulcie Chambers! Kerry J Charles Writes Works of Art … About Works of Art! More posts about the Dulcie Chambers Museum Mystery Series

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