Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Romance, Art, and Murder at a Jazz Age Estate


Jenny Bell, an aspiring artist, is studying art in New York City, but is saving to go to Paris. Her roommate, Minx Deering, a wealthy socialite sculpture, also wants to go to Paris. She pushes Jenny to come with her and let her parents provide the money.

Jenny is adamant. She wants to make her own way and keeps to the shadows to avoid her difficult past. When a chance to attend a summer workshop at Laurelton Hall, Louis Comfort Tiffany’s estate, arrives,  Minx prevails on Jenny to take the opportunity of a lifetime. She finally agrees. In the luscious setting, Jenny starts to use color in her paintings. Before she stuck to a black, white and gray pallet. She is encouraged by Tiffany and by his grandson Oliver, who is also romantically interested in Jenny.

As the competition for a showing in the Tiffany gallery heats up, Jenny’s past haunts her. The summer that started so bright darkens, and Jenny is at the center of the mystery.

A hallmark of M.J. Rose is her use of color and scents to bring her novels to life. This is particularly true in this book. You can almost breathe in the scents and see the vivid colors at the Tiffany estate. I think this is one of her best descriptions so far.

Jenny is a driven character with a past she tried hard to bury. I like her and hoped that she and Oliver would get together. He also has his demons. His grandfather wants him to manage the business, but Oliver prefers to design jewelry.

I loved the scenes from the Jazz Age in New York City. The clubs sparkled with detail. I did wonder how they got anything done after staying up half the night. Historically, this novel is quite accurate including the scenes at
the Tiffany estate.

I highly recommend this book if you enjoy romance and suspense in a spectacular setting.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.


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