French Art Mystery, THE COLLECTOR, Anne-Laure Thiéblemont

"Paris had a way of making even gray beautiful." That's Marion Spicer's observation, as she steps out of a mansion after examining a phenomenal art collection that could someday belong to her, and into a classy neighborhood from which she can head toward Paris's "Golden Triangle: Avenue Montaigne, with Dior, Chanel, Nina Ricci, wealthy clients, and prestigious auctions."

That neighborhood, and Spicer's profession as art examiner to detect forged or stolen work at exalted value levels, are alluring invitations into a newly released investigative novel, THE COLLECTOR, the debut by Algerian-born Anne-Laure Thiéblemont. Thiéblemont, a journalist, magazine editor, and art historian, grew up in Madagascar, Lyon, Paris, and Bogota. The South American slant appears immediately in the book, as Marion Spicer's challenges all connect to items of Pre-Columbian art from one of the continent's most inaccessible mountain villages. The art was collected by Edward Magni, whose recent death also became the announcement to Marion, at last, of who her father really was. 

Except ... who was Magni, really? His sneering and manipulative assistant Gaudin seems unlikely to help Marion track down the three other art items that she must locate in order to claim her inheritance -- three that Magni personally sold, even though he "never" sold his collected items. Moreover, they are clearly of excessive value, laden with extraordinary gems, as well as cultural significance.

It turns out that the Golden Triangle of Paris also represents top-level manipulation of the art market and its afficionados. Soon Marion, directed blindly by her dead father's specifications, is dealing with the dark underside of the greed and art lust of the global network of collectors and their nexus in Paris. 

All this makes THE COLLECTOR a must for a shelf of art-related mysteries, or French ones, or those featuring strong women, or, best of all, the wide scope of today's translated crime fiction. Le French Book brought out THE COLLECTOR this week, adding to its rapid expansion in translated mysteries with "French accents." This one, translated by Sophie Weiner, reads fluidly, and satisfies the traditions of a fast-paced international crime novel, with enough twists and red herrings to keep the pages flipping. 

I would have liked a bit more of a "French accent" to the dialogue, which lacks the zing of some other translations -- and the occasional misstep in slang (a career woman referring to another professional as a "dude"? I don't think so) can be a bit jarring. I would have enjoyed a more quirky ending, too, with Marion Spicer speaking out better from her expertise and experience. But I enjoyed the ride of action and investigation. Thiéblemont is a skilled storyteller, and the suggestion of a series ahead is good news -- this journalist's move into crime fiction is a fruitful one, and I already expect that she'll bring more French-speaking locales into the Marion Spicer art-action books to come.

14th Peter Diamond Investigation: THE STONE WIFE, Peter Lovesey

Peter Lovesey's nicely paced British crime fiction takes the old-fashioned taste for classic Agatha Christie, and updates it with quirky humor and just enough staff friction to make Chief Superintendent Peter Diamond tear out a bit more hair. Lovesey begin his crime writing in 1969, winning a 1970 award for Wobble to Death, which combined his knowledge of Victorian athletics (who knew!?) with neat plot twists and likeable characters.

With this season's release, Lovesey steps onto the hallowed ground of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales -- the "stone wife" is a relief carving of the Wife of Bath, one of Chaucer's more ribald narrators, and the book opens with the massive stone at auction. Who's pushing the price beyond twenty thousand? How can the lightweight Professor Gildersleeve hang in with the bidding? And, strangest of all, why are three robbers in black face masks trying to hijack the auction? Ooops -- a fierce gesture of courage from the otherwise ignorable professor leads to a shot fired, and suddenly there's a death to investigate, as the would-be robbers panic and take off.

The investigation jams up quickly with problems: Chief Superintendent Diamond literally falls on the stone carving, damaging his office in his tumble; he has a plan for Sergeant Ingeborg Smith to dig into the crime, while the youngest member of his team "takes initiative" and turns Smith's careful work into a dangerous disaster; and motives abound for an ex-wife, another professor, an art hound, and more.

Awarded the 2000 Cartier Diamond Dagger from Britain's Crime Writers Association, Lovesey (born in 1938, author of more than 30 books; I also like his Victorian series with Sergeant Cribb, which was a TV hit) hasn't slowed down, although his characters are a bit less fractured and a bit sweeter in their old age. THE STONE WIFE will entertain a reader for several autumn evenings, or can go in the "to be read" stack to grace the shorter days ahead. Kudos to Soho Crime for sustaining this stylish series.