The Last Tiara

Rose’s engrossing latest (after Cartier’s Hope) chronicles a New York City architect’s quest to unravel the mystery behind a tiara she finds hidden in a wall of her late mother’s Manhattan apartment in 1948. Upon finding the tiara, Isobelle consults Jules Reed, a handsome jeweler who takes a romantic interest in her. Isobelle worries Jules is more interested in the tiara than in her, after he tells her about his involvement in a secret society of jewelers dedicated to returning stolen objects to their owners. A parallel narrative of Isobelle’s mother, Sofiya, as a 19-year-old art restorer in love during the Russian Revolution, fills in the blanks, as the reader learns the tiara was given to Sofiya by Olga, a daughter of Russian royalty tutored by Sofiya’s mother. Sofiya also chronicles her love story with Isobelle’s soldier father, Carpathian, whom she meets with Olga while touring an art-filled palace-turned-hospital, and sheds light on a wonderfully twisty plot involving a man with a Russian accept who seems to be following Isobelle. Rose unfurls an engaging structure that keeps the reader wanting to know more. Fans of Russian history and art will find much to appreciate in this winning story. (Feb.)