Title: A Dangerous Talent (Alix London #1)
Author: Charlotte Elkins and Aaron Elkins
Genre: Adult, Cozy Mystery
Length: 270 pages
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Release Date: March 6. 2012
Source: Purchased
Reviewed by: JasmynAlix London has a promising career as an art consultant, a sumptuous condo in Seattle’s toniest neighborhood, a gorgeous figure, and a presence that exudes Ivy League breeding and old money. She has it all…or does she? Only Alix knows that the image she presents to the world is a carefully constructed mirage that veils an embarrassing truth. A brilliant, once-promising art student, the daughter of a prominent New York art conservator, her world was left in ruins when her father went to prison for art forgery. Now a Harvard dropout with an emptied bank account, she is languishing in a career that has produced little more than a lucky house-sitting gig. But all of that changes when Alix meets Christine Lemay, a novice art collector with money to burn and a hot tip on a recently discovered painting by American master Georgia O’Keeffe. Chris hires Alix to perform the authentication, an assignment that finally could launch Alix into the big leagues. But soon after her arrival in Santa Fe, she finds herself tangled up in a web of forgery, deceit—and murder. Anxious to avoid becoming the next victim, she teams up with FBI Special Agent Ted Ellesworth—and gets a little unlikely help from her roguish father—to uncover the truth behind the painting and those who would kill to have it. Sharp, witty, and devilishly fun, A Dangerous Talent offers an insider’s look into the surprisingly treacherous contemporary art world.
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A Dangerous Talent was a really fun read. I won't vouch for the accuracy of the artistic facts, I'm not an expert in that area. However, the main character, Alix London, is. Alix has an interesting history in the art world, and it's a history that doesn't really help her reputation. With a father convicted for forgery, she's had a hard time finding clients that will trust her.
But she does have a few, and the newest one, Christine Lemay, has decided she just must have a Georgia O'Keefe. And so begins Alix's first trip into mystery and mayhem. Chris and Alix are a great team. Chris is the loud and wonderfully outrageous woman that doesn't care what anyone thinks, and is a nice balance to Alix's much more conservative nature.
A simple trip to view and authenticate Chris's painting turns out to involve a dead body, an explosion, and an FBI agent. With a great mix of mystery and action, and maybe the beginnings of something with a certain hunky guy. This may not top the list of all-time favorites, but A Dangerous Talent was something I was very happy to stumble upon.
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