3 out of 4 stars
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The Girl Who Knew da Vinci by Belle Ami could classify as a thriller-romance novel. The author combines mystery with love to keep readers spellbound from start to finish.
Welcome to the races! This is a race to recover a missing, and yet unknown, da Vinci painting. Leading the way is Angela. She works as an intern at the Getty Art Museum. Recently, she has been having dreams and visions related to a mysterious painting. The second participant is the director of the museum. He uses his contacts with the mafia to advance towards the prize. Enter Alex Caine, a detective, who has been contracted by a German billionaire. His assignment is to clear his client’s family name of any association with the painting and the Nazis. Who will be the first to uncover further clues, or even, the painting itself? Let the races begin!
The setting spans three distinct time periods. Angela and Alex live and work in Los Angeles. Angela’s time travel episodes transport her to WW II Germany and also to Italy at the time of da Vinci. With each journey into the past, she acquires further details about the undisclosed location of the missing painting. A considerable portion of the narrative takes place in Florence, Italy. The descriptions of the museums and the city are utterly amazing.
The pacing of the book captures the reader’s interest. New information is shared gradually, maintaining the suspense. The tension of various characters converging on the location of the missing painting increases throughout the story. The omniscient third-person point of view reveals the plans of each of the runners as they race toward the finish line. Fascinating snippets of information about the Medici family add flavor to the narrative.
The change of focus, from unraveling the mystery to showcasing the increasing affection between Angela and Alex, was disappointing. The intimate scenes were well done but increased in frequency. What started out as a mystery about a missing da Vinci, slowly shifted focus to a love story. I also felt that some of the conversations were unreal, especially during the times Angela traveled back to Germany.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The plot had me absolutely intrigued. Nevertheless, the unreal conversations and numerous editing flaws impeded the reading flow. Readers who enjoy historical fiction will breeze through this book. Those who prefer romance novels will also race through this book.
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The Girl Who Knew da Vinci
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