cover image The Theft

The Theft

Andrea Kane. Pocket Books, $6.5 (432pp) ISBN 978-0-671-01887-0

Kane (The Music Box) uses characters from her short story ""Yuletide Treasure"" for this delightful Regency. Art detective Ashford Thornton, the Earl of Tremlett, is hot on the trail of London's notorious art thief, Franco Baricci. He is keeping close tabs both on Baricci's cohorts and his newly discovered illegitimate daughter, the lovely Lady Noelle Bromleigh. In his efforts to find out more about her father, Ashford plans to get quite a bit closer to Noelle only to realize that Noelle is an innocent in a deadly game. Complications arise as Ashford and Noelle fall in love and she insists on helping him. Well-known for her Regency romances, Kane has created another exciting mystery complete with a spirited heroine, a dashing older hero and plenty of dark secrets. There are lots of good plot twists cleverly woven into Regency mores and styles to keep readers intrigued and entertained. The killer, however, is very predictable. (Oct.)