Automat

By: Jamie Steinberg

Conservator of Paintings Lily Sparks is tasked with promoting The Denver Art Museum’s blockbuster Hopper exhibition. Little does she know this will put her at the crux of a murder investigation that will require her gift for crime solving. Automat by Stephanie Kane is an interesting crime novel that explores a serial killer whose obsession with painter Edward Hopper leads him to take the lives of women in the style of this artwork.

Leading up to the main event Lily has decided to host real-life renderings of Hopper paintings in order to gain attention for the exhibit. Unfortunately, this provokes a killer obsessed with the painter into taking the life of the actress who is portraying the pivotal role in Hopper’s Automat painting (the first to be staged). Here sparks (no pun intended) Lily’s search for justice. Lily’s FBI agent boyfriend Paul would prefer she left the danger to the professionals, but her knowledge of Hopper and his artwork only carry her forward towards using the clues in the paintings as tips towards putting a face to these unspeakable acts. It is only when Lily’s mentor, Angela Kurtz, becomes an attempted victim that our heroine puts her fears aside and steps up to truly put a megalomanic in his place.

Readers only get a glimpse into Sparks and Paul’s history, but it involved a stalker and a serious injury to Paul. While Lily seems to have not taken a single thing away from this, not only does Paul bare emotional scars but a physical one as well. This may be why neither individual is truly willing to put their work down and move closer to one another to finally end their long-distance relationship and start something that could lead to a true future together…in person.

As for Hopper, we get a brief background on who he was as a person and painter. I think readers would have liked to have a bit more reasoning behind the killer’s connection to Hopper’s portrayal of women and why Lily is such a an of his work as well. Additionally, while we know a bit about the stalker that played such a prominent role in Lily and Paul’s past, it would have been nice to have been given a lot more details about who he was, why he targeted Sparks and what lengths Paul went to look after his lady love.

Author Stephanie Kane is an award-winning crime novelist and readers of Automat can see where she would garner accolades based on her descriptive and intense details to crime scenes.  She must have gone to some great lengths to investigate Hopper herself in order to explore the darkness within him and bring it to life gruesome murders inspired by his work.

Automat is an intense drama that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Will Lily be able to catch a killer and save the The Denver Art Museum’s exhibit? Can she and Paul put an end to their long-distance love and build a future? You’ll just have to read the book to find out.