Plot Summary
Two highly valued paintings (possibly Renaissance period) go missing from two different places – one from the Padgett’s, belonging to Dorothy Padgett who has just passed. And the other from Burton Makepeace, home to Lady Milton & her family. With stark similarities & the clues left behind, you are bound to ask – are the two thefts related? Is it the same person? What was the reason behind the thefts? All this promises for a brilliant read, sprinkled with humor thanks to a shambolic Murder Mystery Weekend being hosted at Burton Makepeace.
Verdict
This is exactly my kind of a book. Art, Renaissance portraits & their thefts makes you feel you are reading a Jeffrey Archer book. Except that, the book displays full on the author’s love for (fancy) words, which probably she lets out in Reggie’s character. I maintained a list until about quarter of the book, then just gave up 🙂 But enjoyed nevertheless.
The characters are extremely well drafted. Even the two twins, who hardly had any major part still leave their mark. The best line of the book for me, goes to them when they try to deduce the “M” in the Murder Mystery, it left me in splits – “M must be Madeleine. Lady Fu***** Whatever. She must be shagging fu***** Guy Whatisname!” lol…
The love hate relation between Reggie & Brodie stands out as well.
Simple author’s touches, like the Nancy Styles novels that keep resurfacing make the book very enjoyable. And ultimately, how the two stories converge is beautiful.
This is a book I would love to read again sometime. I totally enjoyed it. It is my favorite read for the year till now.
Get it here.