The Collector is a artistic mystery written by Anne-Laure Thieblemont and translated by Sophie Weiner. Not only does the plot revolve around some ancient artwork being sold at auction and then disappearing, but the author writes in a very descriptive artistic style.
This is the story of Marion Spicer who works for an organization called Search Art with her best friend Chris. Marion spends her days looking through auction catalogs trying to spot works of stolen or lost art for this company and its clients. It is very apropos then when Marion finds out the father she thought had died when she was a child, was very much alive and had created a whole new persona for himself as Edmond Magni, a wealthy and well known collector of pre-Colombian art. Now he has really died and she las been named as his sole
Marion is left to inherit Magni's extensive collection of unique and famous sculptures if she can find three missing pieces within a time limit. This sets her off to face danger and intrigue where some unscrupulous dealers will do anything to protect their secrets.
The Collector is a fast paced story following the mystery of the artwork and the dealers who will do whatever it takes to protect the value of their collections. Though the characters are not well developed it is a fun novel with many twists and a surprising outcome. This book has all the elements of a good mystery, a few deaths and a cast of dangerous characters. You will be routing for Marion Spicer all the way to the end.
The author Anne-Laure Thieblemont was an investigative reporter in art trafficking and has met many famous art collectors. The Collector was her first mystery novel. When Anne-Laure was not writing she was out searching for gems and designing jewelry that she had made in Istanbul. She made her home in Marseilles. Unfortunately she passed away suddenly in 2015. This is sad on many levels including that there is a second book in this series, yet to be translated into English and then the series will end.
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