The Gallery Assistant

[cornerofmadness]

The Gallery Assistant by Kate Belli
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I wanted to love this as I do love art and mysteries but Chloe instantly put me off and I'm not entirely sure why. The fateful morning an up and coming abstract artist is murdered (and Chloe's gallery was set to host her), Chloe can't remember what happened the night before because her method of dealing with the trauma of 911 is to get blackout drunk.

Which, I have to keep reminding myself 24 years ago acceptance of mental health issues AS healthcare wasn't what it was today so it's not unusual for Chloe to be refusing to seek help and self medicate with booze. Because you're going to get a lot of scenes like this. A good part of the first quarter of the book is in a bar.

This is a problem for Chloe because she was at the artist's party. She might be the last person to see her. Friends who were there are less helpful than she'd want them to be. The police are zeroing in on her as the killer so Chloe has to look for clues herself because she finds herself in the frame. Also her friends and coworkers are acting odd so she has no idea who to trust.

My main issue with this isn't the mystery. That was good. It was somehow I didn't feel empathy for Chloe and it kept throwing me out of the story which is more a me issue I suspect than a problem with the book. (that said that I couldn't bond to someone who was in the towers when they came down might be an issue in general). This just wasn't the book for me but thank you to Netgalley for the arc.

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