‘I haven’t had a big case in six months’ – And that is about to change!

Grady Harp

5.0 out of 5 stars 

‘I haven’t had a big case in six months’ – And that is about to change!

Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2024

Verified Purchase

Canadian author Wayne Clark has been around – as a journalist, a reporter, and editor, a freelance writer and translator, a copywriter, and an astute observer of life in all its permutations. He travels (all over Canada, across the pond to Germany and Holland, and down in the third American level of Mexico), he sees, probably fantasizes, a lot. Stir that pot and out comes a novelist who takes risks and makes them pan out for him. His books to date – HE & SHE, THAT WOMAN, HOLLYWOOD VIA ORCHARD STREET, VINEGAR HILL BLUES, and his popular NY PI series ONE MURDER TOO MANY, BUSTED ON BROADWAY, and now Book 3 – ARTISTIC LICENSE. Having read all of his novels, this reader can comfortably recommend Wayne’s artistic achievements!

Bringing back his now famous former cop turned PI Humphrey Barstal, Clark continues his preoccupation with New York City, once again creating an absorbing mystery. His ability to capture attention is evident in the opening lines: ‘Humph wasn’t sure where to turn, but two women, the ones he most loved in this world, had strong opinions about what he should do at various, often unpredictable, times in his life. He could handle conflict when it involved scoundrels, murderers, rapists, ruffians and anarchists, but not women, Two women were coming to visit him that evening…’ The interplay of the major characters in this fascinating mystery include his fiancée Rebecca, his stepdaughter Eve, his friend Duffy, and his cadre of pals in the NYPD, and the theme of this episode deals with the subterfuge of the art market. Clark condenses the action as follows: ‘Love or art? Love of money? Veteran New York PI Humph Barstal discovers that the motive for a cunning theft of irreplaceable paintings from the nation’s biggest gallery can be driven by both.’

Clark – and Humph! – get better with every installment of this immensely entertaining mystery series. This is a perfect book for satisfying reading, especially on winter evenings!