Rating: 
Summary: A fabulous read with a fantastic twist at the end.
Review: As Dominick Dunne said in his review of this book, it is a "sleek and elegant" mystery with a fantastic twist at the end. I notice it was nominated for an Edgar Award and a Hammett Prize and deservedly so. The author creates an atmosphere of beauty and suspense. Anyone interested in art should have a ball with this book. I dare readers to put it down once they've read the first chapter. I've given it to many friends. They all agree it's great..
Rating:
Summary: A fabulous read with a fantastic twist at the end.
Review: As Dominick Dunne said in his review of this book, it is a "sleek and elegant" mystery with a fantastic twist at the end. I notice it was nominated for an Edgar Award and a Hammett Prize and deservedly so. The author creates an atmosphere of beauty and suspense. Anyone interested in art should have a ball with this book. I dare readers to put it down once they've read the first chapter. I've given it to many friends. They all agree it's great..
Rating: 
Summary: Did Not Live Up to the Hype
Review: I had trouble putting down this book each evening. Although the writing is mediocre and the descriptive passages are too long and obviously padded, I was propelled by the misguided expectation that the solution to the mystery would be logical and satisfying, neither of which is true. The disappointing revelation of the identity of the murderer is almost an afterthought, the unlikely relationship between the protagonists is nonsensical, and the ethical decision forced upon Faith is the stuff of romance novels. A sensible person would have made another choice. A Trick of the Eye was a disappointment, since I invested considerable effort in searching for it on the Internet, having been inspired by Diane Rehm's interview with its interesting author.
Rating:
Summary: Did Not Live Up to the Hype
Review: I had trouble putting down this book each evening. Although the writing is mediocre and the descriptive passages are too long and obviously padded, I was propelled by the misguided expectation that the solution to the mystery would be logical and satisfying, neither of which is true. The disappointing revelation of the identity of the murderer is almost an afterthought, the unlikely relationship between the protagonists is nonsensical, and the ethical decision forced upon Faith is the stuff of romance novels. A sensible person would have made another choice. A Trick of the Eye was a disappointment, since I invested considerable effort in searching for it on the Internet, having been inspired by Diane Rehm's interview with its interesting author.
Rating:
Summary: A clever slight of hand
Review: I read this book a few years ago and I continue to recommend it as a first rate thriller. The premise, a wealthy woman manipulating an artist for her twisted purposes, is clever and memorable. The characters and the prose are compelling. I only wish there was more work by this talented writer! There are few books I have read that have made such a lasting impression. This is a definite "must read". If you've stumbled across this review, it's a sign, buy this book you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: A clever slight of hand
Review: I read this book a few years ago and I continue to recommend it as a first rate thriller. The premise, a wealthy woman manipulating an artist for her twisted purposes, is clever and memorable. The characters and the prose are compelling. I only wish there was more work by this talented writer! There are few books I have read that have made such a lasting impression. This is a definite "must read". If you've stumbled across this review, it's a sign, buy this book you won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: A Fabulous First Book
Review: Jane Stanton Hitchcock's first mystery Trick of the Eye was a wonderful discovery. Her writing is fresh and descriptive and in the imagination department her cup runeth over.The plot, while seemly simple, is filled with elegant twists and turns. This is the story about an artist who paint's trompe l'oeils (paintings that are made to look as if they are real - a 3-d image that tricks the idea into believing it exists)and is called upon by a wealthy, eccentric woman to recreate her now deceased daughter's coming out ball upon the walls of the ballroom where the party was held. She brings her up to her estate and keeps her there while she is working on the piece and entertains her with stories from the past. The artist becomes enmeshed when she discovers she is the spitting image of the woman's dead daughter and tries to discover who killed her. All in all a wonderfully woven tapestry of characters, writing, plot and images.
Rating:
Summary: A Fabulous First Book
Review: Jane Stanton Hitchcock's first mystery Trick of the Eye was a wonderful discovery. Her writing is fresh and descriptive and in the imagination department her cup runeth over. The plot, while seemly simple, is filled with elegant twists and turns. This is the story about an artist who paint's trompe l'oeils (paintings that are made to look as if they are real - a 3-d image that tricks the idea into believing it exists)and is called upon by a wealthy, eccentric woman to recreate her now deceased daughter's coming out ball upon the walls of the ballroom where the party was held. She brings her up to her estate and keeps her there while she is working on the piece and entertains her with stories from the past. The artist becomes enmeshed when she discovers she is the spitting image of the woman's dead daughter and tries to discover who killed her. All in all a wonderfully woven tapestry of characters, writing, plot and images.
Rating:
Summary: Rapture of Trompe L'oeil
Review: One of the greatest mysteries ever written, Trick of the Eye entrances the mind and roils the heart with its Trojan tracery of cues and colors that lead the reader, step by quickening step, down an aphoristic path of sumptuous literary pleasures to a rapturous ambush at the end both shocking and inevitable.
Rating:
Summary: Artist as detective makes this a deluxe psycho-thriller!
Review: The heroine gets sucked into finding out the truth about matters. Everything has the ring of suspense. Will she cross the line of decency and do the wrong thing in appeasing her curiosity? The customer who gave a bad review simply doesn't like mysteries. Yes, it is exaggerated, but masterfully so, because integrity is in question. Is Faith worthy of the challenge? There is perhaps only one other writer that matches or excels Stanton Hitchcock in this genre that I have read, and that would be Daphne DaMaurier. The bathroom scene heightened the psychology that Faith was somehow related to the dead daughter of the old dame, making the wall of mirrors there a sort of truth or consequence moment. The effect was chilling. I gave it four stars, because the ending frustrated this sense that something deeper was going to be revealed here than just an old dame playing tricks with her power of wealth. The absolute evil of the benefactor and the quality of the work of art that is finally destroyed provides the tension with the goodness of the artist and her resolve not to be eaten alive. It was excellent writing regardless of the bittersweet ending. One would prefer not to have such a black and white judgment, but that would contradict the intended emphasis: Faith is the kind of person that you would like to know because of her wonderful maturation through the trials that she is put through, but that cannot destroy her threathened sense of self, and spending a few hours with this novel is a great way to do so. She is the prey and the underdog, but she achieves the victory that we all hunger for in life and art: to know the truth, to have lived well, and to have loved despite the lack of love in return. Few novels achieve such a personal grand de force as this one exemplifies. Each page is a treasure of fine writing!
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