Friday, November 15, 2013

The Braque Connection by Estelle Ryan

The Braque Connection 

I very much enjoyed the two previous books in this series.  This latest in the series is  less satisfying.  Not terrible, by any means, and I still enjoy the characters, but beginning to feel forced.

Has Ryan painted herself into a corner with the artist titles?  :)  OK, OK.  Forgive the pun.  Nevertheless, the mysteries have become self-confined by connections to great artists and leave the reader considering new titles like  The Rembrandt Connection, The El Greco Connection, The Van Gogh Connection and wondering how many murder mysteries an insurance agency can encounter.  

(Spoiler) -- At least we can eliminate one villain from the scene.  Kubenov disappears from the picture.  These are not deliberate puns; it seems that artistic terms apply easily to different genres.  Kubenov as the villain had certainly run his course; however, an accomplice survives and disappears.

I understand that with Genevieve's ability to decipher and interpret patterns, the use of complicated patterns are part of the charm of the novels.  The complicated pattern of the under paintings, however, stretches my view of plausibility.  

Will I read the next in the series?  Certainly.  I still like the characters and can hope for a bit of expansion in the format.

Mystery.  Sept. 2013.  Print length:  376 pages.

1 comment:

  1. Haha! It'll be interesting to see what the next book in the series is called.

    This sounds like a fun book and series.

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