Meet Me in Venice

Elizabeth Adler, . . St. Martin's, $24.95 (374pp) ISBN 978-0-312-36447-2

In this globe-spanning, intrigue-filled thriller from veteran bestseller Adler (Hotel Riviera ), an American antiques dealer working in Paris, 38-year-old Precious “Preshy” Rafferty, is drawn into a scheme that also ensnares a cousin she's never met in person, Shanghai antique dealer Lily Song. Lily owns a fabulous, superexpensive necklace that Lily's business associate, Mary-Lou Chen, is out to steal. It's the job of Mary-Lou's paramour, American businessman Bennett Yuan, to find a buyer. As the suspense builds, Lily and Preshy must travel to Venice to meet and, among other things, protect the fortune Preshy is due to inherit from her Aunt Grizelda. Adler remains as adept as ever at making her various locales come to life and doesn't disappoint in keeping the mystery surrounding the necklace, and the two cousins, swirling. (July)

Featured Fiction Reviews

Joseph Earl Thomas

The magnificent first novel from Thomas (Sink, a memoir) centers on an Iraq War veteran who works in a Philadelphia emergency room. Joey, who grew up in poverty, relies on Continue reading »

Briony Cameron

Cameron debuts with an exciting and multidimensional story inspired by the women pirates who sailed the Caribbean in the 17th century. Jacquotte Delahaye, who is of Haitian and Continue reading »

Marcela Fuentes

Fuentes debuts with the astonishing story of two malas, or women who challenge traditional Mexican gender norms. The year is 1951 and Pilar Aguirre, who is eight months pregnant Continue reading »

Scott Preston

Preston’s blistering debut takes place in the farthest reaches of northern England, on “cloud-eaten” fells battered by wind and inhabited mostly by sheep. There’s nothing much Continue reading »