Parisian
private investigator Aimee Leduc is operating the business
her grandfather started. On her office wall is a commendation
from the Louvre that the founder of the agency received
decades ago for recovering a stolen Degas. Now it is
Aimee’s turn to recover a priceless piece of art
that has gone missing.
Hired
to protect a rare and, until this point, unknown portrait
of Lenin by Modigliani, Aimee is unable to fulfill the
assignment because the person who owns the work of art
is killed and the painting disappears.
With
one death following closely on the heels of another,
it becomes all too obvious that a number of people are
willing to do whatever it takes to retrieve the priceless
portrait. In fact, the young sleuth is nearly a victim
herself as she tries to locate the Modigliani.
An
added twist to this action packed mystery is the involvement
Aimee’s own mother has in the theft. On Interpol’s
most wanted list for two decades, the woman left her
daughter and her husband behind when Aimee was just
a child. Now, after all these years, the two women may
meet again under very curious circumstances.
San
Francisco writer Cara Black knows
how to ratchet up the tension as her story heads down
the home stretch. Along with creating a riveting thriller,
Black has created a rich, atmospheric setting with enough
French history to make this a series that delights those
who have traveled to Paris
and enjoyed the city’s many cultural delights.
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