Today I'm on the Blog Tour for Don't Blink - A Kate Carpenter Thriller by Vanessa Robertson. I received an ARC free of charge to enable me to take part in the Blog Tour.
A stolen painting. A gangster intent on revenge. And nothing is what it seems.
Art consultant Kate Carpenter has an off-the-books sideline in art recovery, dealing with thieves, gangsters and the occasional war criminal to reunite priceless artworks with their owners. But when she refuses a request from the owner of one missing painting, Yuri Sokolov isn’t prepared to take no for an answer.
Her knowledge has cost him millions, he wants revenge, and he isn’t planning to show any mercy. The only way that Kate can get Yuri Sokolov to keep his distance is to find out exactly what happened to his painting, but when she starts scraping away at the surface, she finds that nothing is exactly as it appears. Don’t Blink is the first full-length book in the Kate Carpenter series.
About the author:
Vanessa Robertson has lived in Scotland for over twenty years. A former publisher and bookseller, she won the Pitch Perfect event for unpublished writers at the Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival in Stirling in 2015. Death Will Find Me, a crime novel set in 1920s Edinburgh featuring former spy, Tessa Kilpatrick, was her first novel, and Don't Blink, the first in a series set in the world of art crime investigator Kate Carpenter was published in May 2020, with the second, Trace Evidence, scheduled for later in the year. Vanessa has also published a short novella, Vanishing Point, introducing the character of Kate, which is available on Amazon and free via her website at www.vanessarobertson.co.uk
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My thoughts?
What a fast paced and thrilling read! There's a lot going on in the story which involves Art Consultant to the rich and famous, Kate Carpenter working her second job in Art recovery which takes her all over Europe. She's on a retainer for insurance underwriter to the super rich, Joe Cathcart and he often calls on her expert knowledge to undertake a job for him.
He asks her to look into the theft of a valuable painting from Russian gangster, Yuri Sokolov's London house. To her it looks like it's an inside job but falls short on culprits - it's not going to be his minders or his girlfriend is it?
She's still in touch with her ex Pete whose Team sometimes protect her on more dangerous assignments and has a long distance relationship with dancer Kolya - who wants their relationship to progress into something more serious. After being brutally beaten up by her then boyfriend Chris back in Edinburgh she's understandably wary of commitment.
There are lots of twists and turns and when Kate won't bide to Sokolov's wishes the story turns dark and dangerous and my heart was totally in my mouth! It's a brilliant read which I so recommend.
Thank you very much for taking part in the blog tour!
ReplyDeleteMeggy from Love Books Tours