The Collector: A Marion Spicer Art Thriller

Thi%C3%A9blemont's captivating mystery, the first in a series featuring intrepid Parisian art appraiser Marion Spicer, provides delightful peeks into Parisian apartments and galleries as well as glimpses of the murky world of art auctions and the often obsessive needs of collectors. Marion's ordered and self-contained life changes when she's offered a fabulous inheritance%E2%80%94which includes a priceless collection of pre-Columbian artifacts%E2%80%94from her long-lost father, Edmond Magni. But there's a catch: in order to inherit, she must track down three emerald-encrusted statues. When the people she interviews in her search start turning up murdered and mutilated, she calls on Chris, who works in a laboratory authenticating antiques, and Didier Combes, an old-school art theft detective, for help. As Marion unravels the mystery of the statues she also uncovers the truth about the father who abandoned her. Readers will hope the author's second novel, La Mouche d'Alexandrie, will soon appear in translation. (Aug.)