Palm Beach lawyer Broward Gaines asks Wil to fly to Florida to appraise a collection of drawings. The critically ill owner wishes to sell the collection before he dies. Wil, who grew up on the poor side of Palm Beach, agrees.

Amanda Stevenson, the art collector’s wife, shows him the collection, which is more valuable than he had imagined. He meets the others in the household including the Stevensons’ daughter, M. K., a beautiful young woman who invites him to accompany her to a museum reception. He is able to discuss the collection with Andrew Stevenson. He is impressed with the obvious loving ties in the family.

One morning he sees a boy spraying graffiti on the seawall of the Stevenson house; he chases him away. While working on the appraisal, he hears noises and runs to investigate. Another youth is in Andrew Stevenson’s bedroom insisting that he reveal the location of a file. Amanda Stevenson is trying to convince him there is no file. In the succeeding scuffle, Amanda is stabbed to death. Wil is also injured, and he is unsuccessful in preventing the young man’s escape.

The police are initially suspicious of Wil. Broward is protective of Andrew and M.K. and blocks his access to them. He tells Wil to return to New York, that the appraisal is over. Wil cannot permit Amanda’s murder to go unsolved and embarks on his own investigation. What he will discover will uncover a youth gang in the modern-day Palm Beach area with ties to the Spanish Civil War and repercussions into Florida politics.

David Ramus, the author of The Gravity of Shadows, is himself a former art gallery owner who was convicted of art fraud and sentenced to prison. His knowledge of the art world is reflected in the best sections of the book. Written in the first person, these include the first chapter where Wil maneuvers to get the best price on a painting for his clients, the brief sections where he looks at the Stevenson collection, and, in particular, a scene where Wil experiences the urge to steal a book of drawings.

The majority of the book, however, does not maintain that standard. Most of The Gravity of Shadows is a formulaic whodunit where the amateur sleuth hero solves the crime the police cannot. The dynamic first chapter promises something out of the ordinary, but the book doesn’t deliver. The various unexpected twists and turns in the plot seem contrived as though they were thrown in solely to provide complications. Several threads are introduced and left dangling. In addition, the climatic scene near the end of the book where the killer is confronted with his misdeeds is unexpectedly flat.

There is enough in The Gravity of Shadows to maintain a reader’s interest but not enough to generate much enthusiasm. For that reason, the book is acceptable but not one a reviewer can recommend.

--Lesley Dunlap