Black Water Lilies

Narrator Joan Walker delivers Bussi's overly long story--part murder mystery, part art history, and part tale of emotional obsession. Walker captures the swirling colors of Giverny, Claude Monet's village, and delivers the carefully tinted portraits of three female characters: 11-year-old Fanette, beautiful school teacher St�phanie, and the elderly narrator, "la sorci�re" (the witch). Walker sketches every winding street; every secret, covetous thought; and each moment of the 13 convoluted days that begin and end with murder. However, her lackluster narration doesn't help the story's details about the art world, past and present; its attraction for covetous, often amoral, collectors; or its many secrets. The surprise ending is smart, yet it's almost lost after too many clues and too many subplots, all of which distract from an otherwise intriguing tale. S.J.H. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine