Jennifer S. Alderson

Panama and Costa Rica are the locations which give this very short Zelda Richardson tale its color and flavor. It’s a tie-in with the author’s mystery series based around artifacts or art, and appears to be set between the first (Down and Out in Kathmandu) and second (Lover’s Portrait) entry in the series, which now has a third entry (Rituals of the Dead). Having read and reviewed Lover’s Portrait, which I enjoyed, I picked this up as a supplement to the series.

On the positive side, it’s light and breezy and moves quickly. You get some travelogue type color which makes for a pleasant read, and it doesn’t take long to begin and finish. A situation arises in Panama involving unwanted amorous advances from someone who won’t take No for an answer. Because of the situation, Zelda is forced to cut her time short in Panama and head for Costa Rica. She runs into mystery there, and someone insistent in a less amorous vein. It’s all very light and pleasant and there’s no real danger. This short bauble in fact feels like a colorful cozy mystery — very light on the mystery — set in pretty locations.

However, even in a story as brief as this one — the actual story portion ends at 63% on my Kindle — you can draw the reader in, give them a beginning, middle, and satisfying conclusion. I didn’t find that here. While I did enjoy this, I felt like I was just being rushed along from one place to the next. There is a difference between movement within a narrative, and quickness. The difference can sometimes be one of reader involvement, and that’s what I felt the problem was here. We get no setup. We are simply dropped into the water, figuratively speaking, with Zelda while on vacation. A short prolog or chapter of her arriving, acclimating the reader to the exotic setting, seeing it through Zelda’s eyes, would have helped toward that end. As it is, it felt like I was dropped into the second chapter, the first one missing.

That continues throughout this short story, at least for me. The reader is given no background about the guy (I don’t want to give too much away) with the hots for Zelda, for example. Just adding a paragraph or two, a scene where he’d seen her at the hotel bar or sun-bathing, whatever, and a moment showing how dangerous he could be would have lent that initial scene with a tiny bit of believability it doesn’t have. Instead this comes off like standard chick-lit cozy fluff. The entry in this series I read, Lover’s Portrait, was so much better than that. The small mystery Zelda uncovered in Costa Rica in this story continued with that same artificiality. It seemed rushed along, which is not the same as movement.

As I said, I did enjoy this, but if I’d had a better setup that immersed me into Zelda’s time in Panama and Costa Rica, and I’d had a couple more chapters to give this story background and real movement rather than just jumping quickly around, I’d have enjoyed this much more. Stuff written to accompany a series should be like a mini version of it, a satisfying bite. But this felt more like too much of a nibble around the outer edges.

Had this very short story been turned into a novelette by a few more brief but welcome chapters, I’d be much more enthused about it. It is pleasant, light and distracting for when you only have a short time for reading, which is a good thing. If that’s what you’re looking for this will do the trick, and you’ll find it enjoyable. As someone who has read and enjoyed Lover’s Portrait, however, I think it misses the mark slightly in giving readers a real sense of the series, at least the entry I read. Just a tick over three stars, because it’s a pleasant read.… (plus d'informations)

The third entry in the museum and artifact-themed Zelda Richardson quasi-cozy mystery series has much to offer those fascinated with other cultures, especially primitive ones. Like Lover’s Portrait, the second in the series, there are intermittent flashbacks woven throughout the present day narrative which have a direct correlation to what’s happening now. The author has done a good job in making the flashbacks to Nicholas Mayfield’s expedition in 1962 as interesting as the present day narrative of Zelda’s involvement with an exhibition about the Asmat culture. Because Mayfield disappeared mysteriously, the reader already has one mystery, and more are added when crates stored for decades create more mysteries than they solve.

Bis Poles, old bones that shouldn’t be there, a belt buckle and a discovered journal Zelda is charged with transcribing for the Tropenmuseum of Amsterdam are only a few elements of this mystery. The author does a good job of bringing the reader into this world, showing the conflicts between governments and museums in regard to exhibits and ownership of artifacts. She does an even better job of making it all interesting, and flow well. While there is no breathtaking pace, a likable protagonist, and the developing mystery — amidst the museum setting, and in the past — is all entertaining enough and interesting enough to keep the reader turning pages.

Zelda photographs and catalogs items while transcribing a journal they hope will help answer some of the questions surrounding Mayfield’s expedition, and his mysterious disappearance. It turns out that someone close to home was part of that expedition, but their reaction to the discoveries are unexpected, creating another mystery. Up to this point, this is definitely cozy mystery country, but then there is a brutal murder, and the journal is gone. The sudden violence, though committed offscreen as befits a cerebral cozy, is very well done, and has an impact for the reader. This is where I had a minor caveat, however.

It’s done so well, you expect it to take the story — Zelda — in that direction. Yet, we quickly get back into the day-to-day work on the exhibit, alternating between flashbacks of the ill-fated expedition of young and wealthy Nicholas Mayfield. While that isn’t a bad thing, as it’s all interesting, the impact of the murder was muted somewhat, the opportunity to ratchet up the tension smothered a bit in the day-to-day goings on for this reader. By the time there is a second murder, it was difficult to recall the first, and recapture the impact. It’s a minor caveat, however, since this is an entertaining and interesting read in this genre. It did make the finale a bit flat for me, however, but I suspect those who love the cozy genre will be very pleased.

My only other caveat, has to do with the romantic side of the Zelda Richardson mysteries. In the previous entry, Lover’s Portrait, the reader got to know and like Zelda’s friend, Friedrich. The narrative very much appeared to be building toward a romance between them. The author went another direction, however, which is fine, and the Friedrich character was relegated to “friend” status. I assumed at the time — and believe I commented about it in my review of Lover’s Portrait — that this was probably to keep Zelda free for future books. And that’s exactly what I got here with the Jacob character. But…

My first issue was that Friedrich here didn’t figure in much, and a few times came off as sort of immature. My second was the blandness of Zelda’s relationship with Jacob. When it came up, I actually had to go back to remember who he was in the story. The relationship of Friedrich and Zelda in Lover’s Portrait was engaging — even if inevitably disappointing. I felt at the time that it was an opportunity missed, because there was such charm there. Here, I neither liked nor disliked Jacob, and it didn’t have the same charm or backstory as the one in Lover’s Portrait. Like the climax, it seemed a tad artificial, just a tiny bit perfunctory.

I have to stress these are ticky-tack caveats, and not ones I’d allow to affect my rating. The audience for this will most likely find it extremely enjoyable. I did as well. I guess what I’m saying, is while I really liked Rituals of the Dead, I liked Lover’s Portrait a tad more. Rituals of the Dead is a fine read in the cozy mystery genre. But while it is perhaps more technically polished than the previous entry, I thought Lover’s Portrait had a bit more heart. Still, I’m giving this four stars (probably 4.2 for me) because it succeeds as an entertaining read in this genre, and I enjoyed it.… (plus d'informations)

A swiftly flowing narrative, the beauty and rhythm of Amsterdam, mystery and intrigue surrounding paintings pilfered during the second world war by Nazis, and a charming relationship between the protagonist, Zelda, and her young Dutch tutor, Friederich, make this a wonderfully readable mystery.

It opens with a flashback to 1942, with a man named Arjan trying to stay one step ahead of Nazi Oswald Drechsler by keeping art treasures out of the hands of the Gestapo. These flashbacks are intermittent throughout yet involving, balancing what is occurring in the present with slowly revealed glimpses into the past. Zelda Richardson is a likable protagonist easy for the reader to embrace, because she’s far from perfect, yet resilient. Thanks to Professor Marianne Smit, who has encouraged her, she gets an unpaid internship at the Amsterdam Museum. Her boss Bernice Dijkstra, and the stern curator Huub Konjin enlist her aid in helping with the website tied to the Stolen Objects exhibition. The translations from Dutch to English are a mess. It seems a dream assignment for young Zelda, who views the museum as a kind of Camelot. It is through her eyes that the reader gets a wonderful sense of living in Amsterdam.

Zelda is soon at odds with Huub, however, when two separate claimants step forward to claim one of the paintings even before the exhibit has opened. In the background, Konrad Heider has been searching religiously for his family’s paintings. The difficulty of proving prominence for both Rita Brouwer, and Heider’s client, Karen O’Neil, is a tricky one, however. After a day escorting Rita around Amsterdam, enjoying her company as she shares with Zelda her memories of this part of the world during the war, Zelda is convinced of Rita’s genuineness and becomes her champion. This places her at odds with Huub, who clearly is ready to grant the overbearing Karen rights to the painting. Zelda cannot understand why, or why Karen is spending so much money to claim a relatively worthless painting.

There are secrets and intrigue here, and when Zelda oversteps her assignment by speaking with a relative related to the search for documentation, it sets in motion unexpected violence, as the past reaches out to the future. Sixty-five paintings, forty-five crates, and war-time homosexuality and blackmail make for intrigue and a touch of danger amidst a colorful backdrop. More and more, as Zelda attempts to be Rita’s champion, she places in jeopardy the Master’s program she so covets so that she can become a curator and work at exhibition design. On the personal front, Zelda’s boyfriend Pietro seems to be using her, and ignoring her, while her pal Friedrich, with whom she has no romantic feelings, is always there to help. He operates quadrocoptors and small drone planes by remote control as a hobby, and this will come into play as Zelda tries to discover what one of the claimants is really up to.

The mystery surrounding the painting, Irises, and its provenance is augmented by the wonderful atmosphere of life in Amsterdam. The heroine and her sidekick are likable and the reader wants them to succeed. The narrative itself is fairly breezy, flowing and unfolding naturally, even within the flashbacks. The last third of the book is quite exciting, with a sprinkling of danger, and a dash of violence. The conclusion to the mystery is very satisfying, suggesting promise of other adventures for Zelda. All in all, this appears to be a very fine mystery series.

If I have a caveat, it is that Zelda did not take the romantic direction I’d hoped for, and where the story-line appeared to be heading. Perhaps with this being a series, the author felt that Zelda being too entangled romantically would smother options in upcoming books, but it would have been charming, in my opinion. It is a very minor quibble, however. The Lover’s Portrait: An Art Mystery by Jennifer S. Alderson is a wonderful read for fans of the genre, and is much more enthralling than its breezy narrative and cerebral subject matter — a museum, works of art — suggests. Highly recommended!… (plus d'informations)