Press and News on Art is Dead Murder Mystery Novel

Montecito Journal - November 16, 2006:
First-time novelist David Gersh’s name is as large as the title on his about-to-be-released novel, “Art Is Dead” (Durban House, $19.95). “It was not my idea,” he pleads. “I would never have put my name as big as the title. It was the publisher,” he said, “who feels chain bookstores want covers like this.” The book is further described as “A Jonathan Benjamin Franklin mystery.” “[The protagonist] is a lineal descendant of Benjamin Franklin, who happens to be my only hero in life,” David says, smiling. “Jonathan Benjamin Franklin,” he continues, “is a professor at Harvard Law School with all kinds of insecurities and strengths that characterize anybody tolerably smart. But, occasionally, because of his relationship [with the original Benjamin Franklin], he does hark back to some of the things that Franklin said, which I find just fascinating. That is part of the fun of the book.” David, a Montecito resident, attended Harvard Law School, but claims the experience had nothing to do with his ability to write fiction... click here to read article on Montecito Journal Website.

Santa Barbara Independent - December 20, 2006
Montecito’s Tecolote Book Shop is showcasing two hometown bests on their bestseller rack: Steve Crandell’s Silver Tongue, a breezy and bountiful memoir about of his loquacious 83-year-old father, Larry Crandell, makes the list along with David L. Gersh’s new mystery Art is Dead. When asked how David came to write a mystery about art, he tells us, “I always wanted to start a book with ‘It was the dog that did it.’ ” David’s seems to have a dog-gone good recipe for success right on the cover flap of Art is Dead. It says, “Take one juicy slice of the art gallery scene. Pour in a bottle of Pinot. Add a dark haired seductress, season with a soupcon of treachery and murder, and who says the plot doesn’t boil.” Aside from the murder it sounds like a normal day Montecito—where nothing is ho-hum! Click here to read the write-up from the Santa Barbara Independent (scroll down to "Home Grown Success")