The Collector by Anne-Laure Thieblemont

211 Pages
Publisher: Le French Book
Release Date: August 11, 2015

Fiction, General Fiction (Adult), Mystery, Thriller, Art, Pre-Columbian, Forgery, France

Marion Spicer inherited her father’s collection of pre-Columbian art. There is a catch to her inheritance. She must find three sculptures missing from the collection in order to collect it. If she fails to collect the final three, the collection goes to the museum curator. Someone does not want her to find the pieces and there are several attempts on her life.

The book has a fast pace, the characters are not very developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. This is a French book translated to English. I loved the concept of finding the missing art pieces and the possibility of forgeries. There is a lot if intrigue and action with Marion’s life in danger. If you like mystery thrillers with an art theme, you may like this one.

Marion is an investigator whose focus is both authentication and retrieval of stolen pieces. She (incorrectly) believed her father to be already dead, but the surprising news of his recent passing comes with an even bigger surprise - that he is leaving her an inheritance of in the form of rare art collection. There is just one catch. Or rather 3. In order to receive her inheritance she needs to track down 3 specific collection items that were already sold. The investigation that follows is full of secrets, twists and turns, but most of all lots of danger for our main protagonist.

This was a quick, fun read and though it's not a typical police procedural, it had a lot of similar elements. Though I was entertained for the most part, I think I wanted a bit more in terms of character development especially when it came to Marion.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Le French Book for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I received this book so long ago. I never was given any information from the publisher as to how these loans worked. I never had the chance to read this book before it disappeared from my library. I'm sorry that I didn't understand back then that there was a time limit on how long I could keep the book and that a review was required. I've learned a lot since then. I wish the publisher had been more specific at the time. I'm sure this is a fine book.

From the age of three Marion believed her father was dead. The first time Marion’s mother said her father had died in a plane crash. But in truth her father had abandoned his family as well as his name. Her mother would never talk in any way about her father when Marion asked. Thirty three years later an an executor informed her father hadn’t died so long ago but made a new life for himself. She would be inheriting one of the greatest collections of Pre-Columbian art in the world. There were some stipulations with the inheritance George Gaudin had been Edmund Magni’s- Marion’s father- P A until a week ago when Edmund had been found in Peru dead. Marion met with Gaudin in her father’s home and he was taking her down in the cellar to see the collection. There was a reinforced steel door and than three rooms. Two rooms with hundreds of clay sculptures and vessels that Marion felt there was nothing pleasing in this collection. The space was a shrine to her father’s obscenity negotiated at the cost of gutted tombs and stolen memories. Than Marion was led to a third room with thirty beautiful pieces- intricate lapis lazuli inlays. Than Marion suggested they go back upstairs and look at pictures of three sculptures she had to find which was a provision of the will. Magni had sold the pieces three years ago. He had kept them barely six months before selling them. As long as the three sculptures weren’t found Gaudin stayed master of the house and owner of everything in it. That was the second provision of the will. Thirty years Gaudin had served Magni , Gaudin would tell Marion nothing to help her. Marion worked at SearchArt. Her boss gave her a case she didn’t want and was another employees expertise and not hers. Marion goes to two lifelong friends of hers in the art world to help her find the sculptures. As Marion looks for the pieces her ;life is threatened and she is almost drowned.
I had mixed feelings about this book. I did learn about the art market and rich determined collectors and not all activities were legal and I feel this was realistic in a lot of ways. I liked Marion’s character in her love of art and determination to finish something she started even when her life is being threatened. I enjoyed the action, mystery and danger in this book. I was however disappointed by the end of this book. There are: life threats and murder attempts, tomb raiders, missing sculptures, statuettes -forged and real, double dealing, thieves, a hidden collection, a creepy assistant to a dead man, stolen art and so much more in this book. I had some problems at times keeping my attention on this book. So as I said I had mixed feelings on this book and wouldn’t read it again.

For some reason, I really enjoy art mystery type of books. I think it is the intersection of art history and interpretation with traditional mystery storytelling. This was a fun read and I am very happy to have had the opportunity to read this story.

So, your dad is a shady underworld art thief. When he dies, he may or may not have left you a collection, that might or might not be legitimate. This is Marion Spicer's lot. The collection in question is a set of pre-Columbian statuettes. There's a series of works of art Marion has to find before she can inherit. It quickly becomes evident that Marion is entering a dangerous world where people's actions are not necessarily legitimate, or legal. In this whole fiasco Marion proves remarkably willing to enter situations about which she should absolutely know better. Marion is no novice in the art world. She works for a Paris gallery, detecting forgeries. While the plot of this book moves quickly, it felt disconnected. I never quite felt like everything hung together.