This book was hard for me to follow. It jumped into the action right away, and I didn't realize that it was the third in a series when I requested it. There is a whole lot of violence. I don't mind, but if you're expecting to read a cozy this one is definitely more violent than your typical cozy.

“Abstract Aliases” is the third book in the A Bodies of Art Mystery series by Ritter Ames. Each book builds off the previous ones, so I highly recommend reading the books in order. There are many references backwards to the prior books and it could be both a bit confusing and a bit of a spoiler to read them out of order.

In this book, Laurel Beacham is on the run from those who would hurt her. As a change, she is not actively searching for a particular piece of art. Instead, she and Jack, the infuriating Englishman who keeps pushing his way into her life (and maybe her heart) are on their trail of a group that is busy murdering art forgers. The settings are primarily Italy and a bit in England with descriptions of beautiful landmarks and artwork as well.

As the bodies start piling up, there seems to be a target on Laurel and Jack to be added to the list. The action is non-stop and the reveals are surprising. I am certainly ready to read more in this series to find out where it is all leading.

I was provided a digital advance reader copy of this book by the publisher via Netgalley.

Well written, action packed, modern mystery series featuring Laurel Beacham, an art lover with a criminal set of skills.

This is book three in the series, and after finishing it, I still feel like Laurel is a bit of a question mark. We know only the very basic background of her life, and because of the breakneck pacing, we learn about her only sparingly, sprinkled in amidst chases, fights, travel, art, and dead bodies.

This is much more thriller than cozy, the body count is so darn high. Much like the first two books, sleep rarely happens and Laurel is really put through the wringer. Questions raised in the first two books are maybe sorta partially answered, but new ones are raised. The way that this series is written reminds me of a serial comic book, never fully concluding, a bit detached, and very masculine. I do like how her working relationship with Jack is evolving, slowly and quickly at the same time.

Once begun, I simply must finish the books to find out what happens and to see if we are gifted another crumb about who Laurel is as a person. I liked Laurel from the start, but wanted to know more about her. I still feel like she is keeping me at arm's length, and that is making it hard for me to totally fall in love.

I loved that the story takes so many suspenseful twists and turns to wind up where it began, but with welcome changes afoot.

Laurel Beachum and her team are still on the trail of a mega art heist, but the suspects are nowhere to be found. After a while, during a New Year’s Eve celebration in London, two of the suspects shows up at the party. The suspect also find Laurel and Jack in the crowd within minutes of the other, and now a chain of events take them from London to Florence and eventually ending in Cologne. Instead of trying to find the missing art, suddenly the case include a rash of forgeries, deaths and a kidnapping.

The characters of Laurel and Jack are developed more in this story and we find out more about their background and families. It is very interesting.

My Opinion and Rating 4.6

This book is a real page turner and will keep you up late at night because of the surprises that Ms. Ames places at some very interesting places in the story. This book s a wonderfully written, a fast paced mystery that will grab and hold your attention. While the first two books in this series are well written, entertaining reads, this one provides a lot of background information. I strongly encourage you to read all of this series!!