Let's welcome author Claudia Riess today. Claudia is doing a virtual blurb blitz tour for Knight Light, a mystery available now from Level Best Books. The tour will run May 17 - June 11.
Claudia Riess will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes&Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Please use the following link to place your comment and stand a chance to winning: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3748/
Blurb
On
March 24, 1946, World Chess Champion, Alexander Alekhine, is found dead in his
hotel room in Estoril, Portugal. The cause of death remains mired in
controversy when, three-quarters of a century later, a letter of his that could
rock the art world is unearthed in a routine home renovation in upstate New
York. The letter is addressed to a person of international repute and
offers information about art works looted during the German occupation of
Paris.
When the young man in possession of the letter is
brutally murdered, his mentor, art history professor Harrison Wheatley and
Harrison’s sleuthing partner, art magazine editor Erika Shawn, hurl themselves
into the dual mission of tracking down both the killer and the looted art.
The hunt takes the couple to far flung locations,
and as the stakes rise along with the murder count, it looks like the
denouement will take place far from the comforts of home.
ExcerptMid-afternoon
Harrison was back from his lecture class on Baroque painting. He found Erika holed up in her third-floor
study, absorbed in whatever she was scribbling in her notepad. He pulled out the chair from what had once
been his grandmother’s vanity and sat beside her. Displayed on the computer screen was a series
of lines structured like a poem; at a glance, unintelligible. He planted a kiss on her cheek. “What the hell is it?”
She
put down her pen and turned to him.
“It’s a translated excerpt from Jean Arp’s poem ‘Der Vogel Selbdritt.’
“That
explains why it’s inscrutable. It’s
Dada. Why is it of interest to you?”
“To
us,” she corrected. “I’ve been trying to
get a handle on our proposed investigation.
Let me start from the beginning.”
“Will
Lucas be joining us?”
“Not
for a while. He’s sleeping.”
“He
does a lot of that.”
She
smiled and flipped back the pages of her pad.
“First question: What’s the main
subject of interest—the MacGuffin, so to speak?
Answer: Alekhine’s letter.
Why? Because Alekhine died under
murky circumstances shortly after he wrote it.
Because it contains leads to recovering art lost during the war, which
is of great interest on all fronts honorable and evil. Because it’s the only document Chuck conveyed
to you, so he must have thought it was the most important one of the
collection. And last, because it’s the
only tangible item we’ve got.” She took
a breath.
“Next. Who would benefit from getting their hands on
this letter, either to gain information from it or to make sure the information
remains hidden? We have to exclude
anyone with honorable intentions, since violence was employed to secure the
document. The agency of evil comes from
the dark side of the art world. From
blackmail to black market.” She stared hard
at him.
“We
can voice our suspicions, but we cannot actually go there. You do understand, right?”
Harrison
nodded. “I do.”
“I’m
not convinced.”
“I
will never put you at risk.”
She
shook her head. “You left yourself out
of the equation. Not good enough.”
It
will have to be, sweetheart. “We will
both stay safe,” he said aloud. “Behind
the line of scrimmage. Go on with your
report.”
“Just
so you know, I don’t quite believe you.
But for now, let’s not lose our train of thought. So.
What are the lines of inquiry generated by Alekhine’s letter to
Ambassador Martins? One. Learn anything
we can about the fate of the Jules Eisenberg Gallery in Paris. This includes
its owners, their living relatives, if any, and its wartime art inventory. Two. Try to trace the provenance of the
paintings specified in the letter.
Three. Contact organizations that might help identify the German
referred to in the letter—the one who Alekhine says fled to Brazil.” She skewered him with another look. “The operative word here is identify. We identify.
The guys in bullet-proof vests track down.”
“Got
it.”
“Do
you?” She glanced down at her notes to
check if she’d missed anything. She
hadn’t.
“Anyway,
the hope is that down the road these lines of inquiry will intersect, and we’ll
be able to contribute a couple of leads to pass on to the authorities.”
“Who
are fixated on another line of reasoning altogether,” Harrison reminded her.
“We’ll
have enough evidence to convince them otherwise.”
“You’re
an optimist.”
“Realistic,
not wide-eyed.”
“And
it’s contagious,” he said, laying his hand on hers. “Now, tell me why you’ve got Jean Arp’s
poetry on display.”
Author bio and links
Claudia Riess is a Vassar graduate who's
worked in the editorial departments of The New Yorker and
Holt, Rinehart and Winston. She is author of the Art History Mystery Series published by
Level Best Books and includes: “Stolen Light,”* “False Light” and “Knight
Light.” She is also author of “Semblance of Guilt” and “Love and Other Hazards.”
“Knight Light,” the third novel in her Art History Mystery
Series, released February 23, 2021, follows the series amateur sleuths Erika
Shawn, art magazine editor and Harrison Wheatley, art history professor, as
they tackle the sinister world of art crime that tests both their courage- and
love-under-fire.
www.claudiariessbooks.com
https://twitter.com/ClaudiaRiess
https://www.facebook.com/ClaudiaRiessBooks
Amazon buy link:
https://www.amazon.com/Knight-Light-Art-History-Mystery-ebook/dp/B08VY6RQVF
