Book Review: Forgeries and Fatalities (Carmen De Luca Art Sleuth Mysteries Book 3) by Jennifer S. Alderson

 

About the Book

Carmen De Luca, an intrepid art sleuth with a passion for recovering lost masterpieces, is thrilled to be in Luxembourg chasing down another lead. Yet her keen eye for detail is put to the test when she gets wind of a devious plan to transport stolen masterpieces through Europe's free ports. 

When the trail leads to Italy, Carmen discovers that smuggling is just the tip of the brush, and someone is determined to silence anyone who gets too close to the truth. 

Will Carmen outsmart the cunning criminals and expose the murderer before she’s painted out of the picture—permanently? Find out in Forgeries and Fatalities, book three of the Carmen De Luca Art Sleuth Mysteries! 

Carmen De Luca Art Sleuth Mysteries: 

Collecting Can Be Murder 

A Statue To Die For 

Forgeries and Fatalities 

A Killer Inheritance 

Review 

Carmen's latest assignment has an interesting twist. She's attending an art auction - by invitation only - to see if the auction is a front for an art smuggling operation. The host/artist doesn't hide the fact that he recreates other artist's works. He signs them with his name. 

Carmen hits a few roadblocks right away. Her usual partner, Lady Sophie, and the one who gets the invitation is still laid up. Carmen's best friend Rhonda fit in fine on a previous job, but Rhonda's exuberant personality almost results in them both being kicked out. Lady Sophie, jealous of Rhonda, shows up as well, in a wheel chair. She wants Rhonda gone. Not able to keep either Lady Sophie or Rhonda under control, Carmen's on her own to find the connection - if there is one - to auctioning off his copies and art smuggling.

I've read and enjoyed the first two in the series, and this one did not disappoint. Although part of a series, each book is a different adventure in art history, art theft, and art smuggling. The personalities of Carmen, Lady Sophie, and Rhonda add to the tension, along with the errant interpol hottie. Readers of cozy mysteries will enjoy this book - actually the whole series. Book 4 is available on pre-order. I can't wait.

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book in the hopes that I would post an honest review. This has not affected the content of my review in any way. 

AMAZON

About the Author (From Amazon)

Jennifer S. Alderson was born in San Francisco, grew up in Seattle, and currently lives in Amsterdam. After traveling extensively around Asia, Oceania, and Central America, she lived in Darwin, Australia, before finally settling in the Netherlands. 

Jennifer’s love of travel, art, and culture inspires her award-winning Zelda Richardson Mystery series, her Travel Can Be Murder Cozy Mysteries, and her Carmen De Luca Art Sleuth Mysteries. Her background in journalism, multimedia development, and art history enriches her novels. 

When not writing, she can be found perusing a museum, biking around Amsterdam, or enjoying a coffee along the canal while planning her next research trip.

Book Review: A STATUE TO DIE FOR (Carmen De Luca Art Sleuth Mysteries Book #2) by Jennifer S. Alderson

About the Book

Carmen De Luca is having the time of her life recovering stolen artwork from nefarious European collectors for her employer, the Rosewood Agency…until her partner, Baroness Sophie Rutherford, is injured during a mission gone wrong. 

Their boss wants to ground them, but Carmen’s not ready to give up on her newly revitalized career without a fight. So she begs her best friend, Rhonda Rhodes, an antiques expert and the host of a popular television show, to fly over and take the Baroness’s place. Carmen isn’t rich or interesting enough to get on the guest list of the exclusive parties she uses to access her targets’ homes—but Rhonda is. Carmen’s boss agrees to her unorthodox plan, but with one caveat—she can’t disclose to Rhonda that she’s actually an art sleuth currently on assignment. 

With no alternative other than to pack up and fly home, Carmen agrees to deceive her friend. She picks Rhonda up at the airport, thinking they can see some of Europe’s most famous sights before her next assignment, only to discover that her friend’s already made other plans. On the flight over, Rhonda’s seatmate invited her to attend an exclusive party being held on a pirate ship and hosted by a Hollywood director. How can they resist? 

What begins as a fun night partying with an eclectic group of film directors, actors, and producers turns into a deadly game of whodunnit when their host is murdered with his own copy of the Maltese Falcon statue. Now Carmen must use her wits and expertise to sift through the many motives and uncover the killer’s true identity, if she and Rhonda are to get off the ship alive. 

Movie moguls, priceless props, and long-buried secrets make for a deadly combination in this delightful mystery that is sure to appeal to fans of cozy crime and amateur sleuth mysteries. 

Carmen De Luca Art Sleuth Mysteries

Collecting Can Be Murder 

A Statue To Die For 

Forgeries and Fatalities 

A Killer Inheritance

Review

Carmen's job is rather unorthodox at times. She goes along with the "Baroness" to exclusive locations all around Europe, trying to locate long lost (stolen) art objects. This time, her target is Hollywood memorabilia stolen by Alistair ten years ago, who promptly disappeared. The Baroness is in the hospital and Carmen convinces her friend, Rhonda, to help her. Rhonda, unlike Carmen, is famous and well-received and doesn't realize the true goal of Carmen's viewing the memorabilia - to get the thief arrested and the goods returned. 

Rhonda manages to get them invited to a party hosted by Alistair and the people at the Rosewood Agency are thrilled. Alistair almost doesn't let them attend - no uninvited guests - until he recognizes Rhonda. The party is on an old ship and goes out to sea with a group of guests, other than Rhonda and Carmen, who have nothing positive to say to Alistair. He stole from all of them. 

The story is well-written, and the characters have unique voices, if not similar motivations, including Alistair. Carmen manages to alert the Coast Guard when the Captain and crew abandon them rather than follow Alistair's directions. Suspense, danger, and secret passages keep the story moving. If you like a good mystery, you'll enjoy this one. This is my second in the series, but it could be easily read out of order - Carmen and the Baroness are now in a different country with mostly different characters.

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book in the hopes that I would post an honest review. This has not affected the content of my review in any way.

About the Author

Jennifer S. Alderson was born in San Francisco, grew up in Seattle, and currently lives in Amsterdam. After traveling extensively around Asia, Oceania, and Central America, she lived in Darwin, Australia, before finally settling in the Netherlands. 

Jennifer’s love of travel, art, and culture inspires her award-winning Zelda Richardson Mystery series, her Travel Can Be Murder Cozy Mysteries, and her Carmen De Luca Art Sleuth Mysteries. 

Her background in journalism, multimedia development, and art history enriches her novels. When not writing, she can be found perusing a museum, biking around Amsterdam, or enjoying a coffee along the canal while planning her next research trip. 

For more information about the author and her upcoming novels, please visit: http://www.JenniferSAlderson.com.

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Book Review: COLLECTING CAN BE MURDER (Carmen De Luca Art Sleuth Mysteries Book 1) by Jennifer S. Alderson

About the Book 

Coming out of retirement can be deadly… 

After tragedy struck three years earlier, art sleuth Carmen De Luca vowed to never work in the field again. But fifty is too young to fill her days with water aerobics and bingo, so when her former partner calls and begs for her help, Carmen gladly agrees. 

Yet after their first assignment – the recovery of a rare medieval prayer book from an eccentric collector living in rural France – goes horribly wrong, Carmen ends up in the crosshairs of both the local police and a murderer! 

With her target dead and the stolen book missing, she and her partner will have to pull out all of the stops to sleuth out the true killer’s identity – before their stay in France becomes permanent. 

Introducing Carmen De Luca, an art sleuth with a nose for mystery and the job of locating valuable artwork stolen from museums around the world. If you love strong and resourceful heroines, puzzling mysteries, and a dash of art history, pick up Collecting Can Be Murder now! 

Review 

Carmen and her partner, the Baroness, have a series of stops as they travel through Europe in hopes of identifying historical artwork that has been missing for years. This time they're attending the home of an art collector, not to be confused with an art lover, in hopes that they will find a rare illuminated prayer book, stolen, lost, and only resurfaced at an art auction recently.

As Carmen, posing as a journalist and playing to her host's ego, finally gets into the library, filled floor to ceiling with rare first editions and illuminations, and finds the prayer book they were seeking, the bookcase 'falls' over. Harold is dead and the prayer book is lost in the scattered book. It's clear that Harold has been murdered, and now someone has stolen the missing prayer book.

As the story progress, the pace speeds up with a houseful of suspects, all snowed in a countryside in France. There are twists and turns, many of suspects - all prestigious. The characters are well developed, conflict abounds as they wait for the gendarmes, and Alderson keeps you guessing. Carmen is a likable main character. If you enjoy cozy mysteries and strong women sleuths, you'll enjoy this one. If I ever can get my TBR list manageable, I'll be adding the others in this series as well as Alderson's other series. 

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book in the hopes that I would post an honest review. This has not affected the content of my review in any way. 

Carmen De Luca Art Sleuth Mysteries: 

Collecting Can Be Murder 

A Statue To Die For 

Forgeries and Fatalities 

A Killer Inheritance  

About the Author (from Amazon)

Jennifer S. Alderson was born in San Francisco, grew up in Seattle, and currently lives in Amsterdam. After traveling extensively around Asia, Oceania, and Central America, she lived in Darwin, Australia, before finally settling in the Netherlands. 

Jennifer’s love of travel, art, and culture inspires her award-winning Zelda Richardson Mystery series, her Travel Can Be Murder Cozy Mysteries, and her Carmen De Luca Art Sleuth Mysteries. Her background in journalism, multimedia development, and art history enriches her novels. 

When not writing, she can be found perusing a museum, biking around Amsterdam, or enjoying a coffee along the canal while planning her next research trip. For more information about the author and her upcoming novels, please visit: https://www.JenniferSAlderson.com

You can also follow her on Twitter : https://twitter.com/JSAauthor