Sigrid Harald attends a party at the Breul House Museum with her artist lover Oscar Nauman. The next day the body of a art expert, Dr. Roger Stanley, is found at the bottom of a stars. The suspects early are two young men who are trying to hide their freindship in case it raises suspicions of a sexual nature. Maybe the docent who is never considered for the board of dirctors is taking revenge.

Well crafted plot but of interest to those who have met Sigrid before is the transformation from a dowdy, quiet woman to one who accepted advice on making herself more beautiful and social. ( )

A very good entry in this solid and interesting series. Much about art, galleries, and museums, in particular, The Erich Breul House in its Christmas Finery. A meanspirited and unpopular trustee is found bludgeoned following a festive but disconcerting evening with the Board and Sigrid's favorite artist. Who wanted to kill the nudge was easy; just about everyone. But which one and why takes a while longer. ( )

No. 6 in the Sigrid Harald series. In this installment, Sigrid attends a Christmas party at the Erich Breul House in Manhattan, a small 19th century art museum where her lover, Oscar Nauman, has reluctantly agreed to mount a retrospective of his work. The guests include trustees and docents, supporters of the arts, agents and gallery owners. A good many tensions and undercurrents can be detected among these worthies, and one of them is bound to end up dead. Sure enough, after everyone (or almost everyone) has gone home, the newest and nastiest member of the Board of Trustees is found at the bottom of the basement stairs with a shattered skull. Sigrid leads the investigation, which takes an unexpected turn or two as she and her team gradually eliminate suspects and zero in on the killer. As usual, it's interesting to watch Sigrid work, to trip around NYC with her, and to watch her coming out of her shell bit by bit as her relationship with Nauman advances. ( )

Synopsis: It's Christmas and the Erich Breul House is decorated for the season. The issue is that there isn't enough money coming in from tourism and they need some sort of boost to keep the historic house open. Oscar Nauman is convinced to let them display his paintings to pull in art lovers. At a party celebrating this decision, one of the directors, a smarmy newcomer, makes comments that upset and anger most of the other directors as well as one of the docents and the janitor. Later that night he's found dead. Sigrid has a long list of people to sort through and wonders just who is protecting who as she finds that none of the people were without a reason to kill the man.
Review: Another entertaining mystery with two extraneous side mysteries that don't add a lot to the story. Still, these are well written books. ( )

I read this some time ago. I ordered it again thinking that I hadn't read before. Within the first three pages I knew :) ( )