My 2nd book for the Whodunit Reading Challenge (and 25th for the FFP Quantity Challenge, woot!) is The Mystery of the Third Lucretia by Susan Runholt. It's part of a big batch of books I'm helping my friend J find homes for, but I was granted special permission to read those I don't have copies of.
(Rembrandt's Lucretia)
Kari Sundgren and Lucas Stickney are teenagers whose juvenile crime-detecting alarms go off when they encounter a man copying Rembrandt's Lucretia at the Minneapolis Art Institute, and recognize him at the National Gallery in London in spite of his efforts to disguise himself, this time copying another Rembrandt work. When the art world is shocked by news of a Rembrandt masterpiece discovered in Amsterdam, Kari and Lucas know there's something amiss and they have to take action.This novel is so much fun to read. It reminds me of the Nancy Drew mysteries I got hooked on as a child, except that the main characters, Kari and Lucas, both talk and act like the 14-year olds that they are. Never mind that the adventure takes them across the Atlantic, has them traipsing all over Europe, involves a major art crime, a kidnapping and a murder or two. Runholt has her bases covered and throws in good, old-fashioned grounding for a more realistic and age-appropriate touch.
It says at the back of the book that it's recommended for "ages 10 and up" (I read that part after I finished the book, I swear), but it was still entertaining, even for a mature (ouch...) reader like me.
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1 comment:
I like art-related mysteries. Am I right in deducing that there is a forgery of masterpieces going on? is that what the plot is about? Curious though that the protagonists are teenagers. Looks like an interesting read.
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