Review & Giveaway: A Trace of Deceit by Karen Odden


A Trace of Deceit by Karen Odden

Publication Date: December 17, 2019
William Morrow
Paperback & eBook; 416 pages

Genre: Historical Mystery/Victorian


From the author of A Dangerous Duet comes the next book in her Victorian mystery series, this time following a daring female painter and the Scotland Yard detective who is investigating her brother’s suspicious death.

A young painter digs beneath the veneer of Victorian London’s art world to learn the truth behind her brother’s murder...

Edwin is dead. That’s what Inspector Matthew Hallam of Scotland Yard tells Annabel Rowe when she discovers him searching her brother’s flat for clues. While the news is shocking, Annabel can’t say it’s wholly unexpected, given Edwin’s past as a dissolute risk-taker and art forger, although he swore he’d reformed. After years spent blaming his reckless behavior for their parents’ deaths, Annabel is now faced with the question of who murdered him—because Edwin’s death was both violent and deliberate. A valuable French painting he’d been restoring for an auction house is missing from his studio: find the painting, find the murderer. But the owner of the artwork claims it was destroyed in a warehouse fire years ago.

As a painter at the prestigious Slade School of Art and as Edwin’s closest relative, Annabel makes the case that she is crucial to Matthew’s investigation. But in their search for the painting, Matthew and Annabel trace a path of deceit and viciousness that reaches far beyond the elegant rooms of the auction house, into an underworld of politics, corruption, and secrets someone will kill to keep.

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Praise for A Trace of Deceit

"Odden's third effort injects a refreshing level of complexity, both in character development and plotting, into what one typically expects to find in historical cozies. This will appeal to fans of Victorian mysteries, as well as those interested in art history." -Booklist (starred review)

"Odden keenly evokes the physical as well as cultural milieu of Victorian England, and peoples her setting with fully realized and intriguing characters. This book will delight readers who like their mysteries cloaked in well-researched history." -Publishers Weekly

"...this thrilling, action-packed story [is] an absolute delight to read." -Historical Novel Society

"Odden’s literary brushstrokes vividly portray the misogyny and gender bias experienced by women in Victorian society, especially a woman battling to exercise her artistic talent. " -Washington Independent Review of Books

"Fans of Anne Perry, Deanna Rayborn, and Tasha Alexander will root for Karen Odden’s newest heroine, Annabel Rowe—aspiring painter and now amateur sleuth—investigating the murder of her art forger brother. The novel's a delightful mix of mystery, history, and romance, served with a delicious helping of lush period detail, while chemistry between Annabel and the investigating Scotland Yard detective add spice to the adventure." -Susan Elia MacNeal, New York Times bestselling author of the Maggie Hope series

"A darkly thrilling story filled with suspense and secrets, a courageous heroine, an edgy climax, and an atmospheric setting that perfectly captures the underbelly of London’s art world in the Victorian era. A Trace of Deceit is an absolute winner!" -Stefanie Pintoff, Edgar Award winning author

Review

⭐⭐⭐⭐

"The day I lost Edwin, I think my paintbrush knew before I did."

Annabel Rowe is an art student at the Slade school when she finds out her brother Edwin has been killed in his flat. The siblings aren't close except for a weekly visit and when Annabel shows up one day she discovers a Scotland Yard detective in the flat instead of her brother. Though she is saddened by his death she is not entirely surprised. In their youth he was fond of getting into trouble and did a short stint in jail, so she believes he has lost his way again and was hurt because of that. When Annabel finds out that her brother had indeed been on the road to redemption and working on and restoring a highly valuable 18th-century painting - a painting thought to have been lost in a fire - that was commissioned by a family friend and worker at a new Art auction house. Due to her knowledge of art, Inspector Hallam asks Annabel to assist him with the investigation into her brother's death.

I really enjoyed seeing the investigation unfold. The more clues they find, the more we get to know Edwin. Was the painting the reason why Edwin was killed? Or was it connected to something that happened in his past? What did happen at the boarding school he attended when he came back so different.

There were a lot of twists and turns in this book! Just when you thought you had it all figured out Odden rips the rug out from under you. And I love that! It's wholly apparent that the author did extensive research into artists and the world at art and auction houses. It was fascinating!

I cannot wait to go back and read the first book in the series! Odden's writing and way of keeping you guessing is stellar!

About the Author

Karen Odden received her Ph.D. in English literature from New York University and taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has contributed essays and chapters to books and journals, including Studies in the Novel, the Journal of Victorian Culture, and Victorian Crime, Madness, and Sensation; she has written introductions for Barnes and Noble editions of books by Dickens and Trollope; and she edited for the academic journal Victorian Literature and Culture. She freely admits she might be more at home in nineteenth-century London than today, especially when she tries to do anything complicated on her iPhone. Her first novel, A Lady in the Smoke, was a USA Today bestseller and won the New Mexico-Arizona 2016 Book Award for e-Book Fiction. Her second novel, A Dangerous Duet, about a young pianist who stumbles on a notorious crime ring while playing in a Soho music hall in 1870s London, won the New Mexico-Arizona 2019 Book Award for Best Historical Fiction. A Trace of Deceit is her third novel. She resides in Arizona with her family and a ridiculously cute beagle named Rosy.

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Review at Books and Backroads
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Tuesday, September 8
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Review at Hallie Reads

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Review at Gwendalyn's Books

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Review at Historical Fiction with Spirit

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Review at Pursuing Stacie

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Review at Amy's Booket List
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Review at Impressions In Ink
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Review at Probably at the Library
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Excerpt at Books In Their Natural Habitat
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Review at Jessica Belmont
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Giveaway

During the Blog Tour, we are giving away one paperback copy of A Trace of Deceit! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.

The giveaway is open to US residents only and ends on October 2nd. You must be 18 or older to enter.

A Trace of Deceit


2 comments:

  1. I just read this and loved it, too. I need to go back for book one as well. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yay! I am very excited to check the first one out & counting the days til her next one is released!

      Delete

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