Penelope Parish has hit a streak of bad luck, including a severe case of writer's block. Hoping a writer in residence position at The Open Book bookstore in Upper Chumley-on-Stoke, England, will shake the cobwebs loose, she packs her typewriter and heads across the pond. Unfortunately, life in Chumley is far from quiet and when the chairwoman of the local Worthington Fest is found dead, fingers are pointed at American romance novelist Charlotte Davenport. Sworn to prove Charlotte's innocence, Penelope must use the sleuthing tricks usually saved for her fiction to find the real killer.

Murder in the Margins (The Open Book Mysteries)

Literature & Fiction

Loudon, Margaret

United States

BERKLEY

The wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Upper Chumley-on Stoke has all the makings of a fairy tale, complete with a glowing bride and horse-drawn carriage. But it wouldn't be much of a story without a villain, and as American Gothic novelist Penelope Parish is coming to learn, happily-ever-afters are as fraught in this charming British town as they are in her books. When the Duke's former girlfriend is found murdered at the reception it's up to Penelope and her newfound family at the Open Book bookshop to catch the killer before they strike again.

A Fatal Footnote (The Open Book Mysteries)

A murder in her quaint British bookshop drops American Gothic novelist Penelope Parish into her deadliest caper yet.\nPenelope Parish is ready to close the book on her amateur sleuthing—from now on, The Open Book’s writer-in-residence will be sticking to villains of the fictional variety while she puts the final touches on her new novel. But when an author is murdered inside the bookshop, all of Upper Chumley-on-Stoke goes on high alert.\nNow it’s up to Pen and the quirky citizens of Chumley to stop a killer and protect the charming British town she’s begun to call home.

Peril on the Page (The Open Book Mysteries)

Penelope Parish thought she'd turned the page on her amateur sleuthing days but when the owner of Upper Chumley-on-Stokes' proposed first high-end gourmet shop is poisoned, the American novelist starts to wonder if she and her quaint British town are in for another rewrite. It turns out that not everyone was a fan of Simeon Foster's farm-sourced charcuterie and imported pastries - many of the locals were outraged by the potential new competition. With a full menu of suspects on her hands, this just might be Penelope's toughest case yet. Luckily, her friends at the Open Book are there to help with every twist of the poisoned pen.

A Deadly Dedication (The Open Book Mysteries)

Pierre Matisse arrived in New York shortly before Christmas 1924 determined to make his mark. At that time, the New York art world was in its formative stages, entirely different from what it was to become by the close of the twentieth century. He was to play a significant role in its establishment. In 1925, the time of the first exhibition, which featured lithographs and drawings by his father, Henri Matisse, there were few galleries and no museums exhibiting contemporary art. In October 1931 the Pierre Matisse Gallery opened its doors in the Fuller Building on Fifty-seventh Street, just around the corner from the provisional headquarters of the recently instituted Museum of Modern Art. In addition to shows featuring works by such established artists as Giorgio de Chirico, Andre Derain, Pablo Picasso, Georges Rouault, and, of course, the elder Matisse, numerous exhibitions at the Pierre Matisse Gallery were focused around the works of younger, less-known figures, including Joan Miro, Balthus, Alberto Giacometti, and Jean Dubuffet. Pierre Matisse not only played a major role in introducing American audiences to the works of Marc Chagall, Yves Tanguy, Roberto Matta, Wifredo Lam, Reg Butler, Raymond Mason, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Francois Rouan, Zao Wou-ki, Manolo Millares, Manuel Rivera, and Antonio Saura but also fostered their critical and popular appreciation. American artists whose work he championed included Alexander Calder, Theodor Roszak, Sam Francis, and Loren MacIver. By the time of his death in 1989, Pierre Matisse had been instrumental in the creation of a community that encompassed not only the leading artists of the twentieth century but also an impressive roster of distinguished collectors and institutions. The degree to which he enriched the artistic climate of his adopted country cannot be overestimated. This publication documents many of the outstanding works exhibited at the Pierre Matisse Gallery and - drawing upon the Pierre Matisse Gallery Archives, given to the Morgan Library in 1997 - chronicles, through correspondence, ephemera, and photographs, the history of one of the most significant venues of twentieth-century art.

Pierre Matisse and His Artists

Arts & Photography

Griswold, William M.

Tonkovich, Jennifer

Carnielli, Alessandra

History & Criticism

Pierpont Morgan Library