“A life without earrings, is empty.” – Elizabeth Taylor
- Book: The Monte Carlo Connection
- Location: French Riviera (Cote d'Azur), London
- Author: Josie Goodbody
OMG! If there was a star rating for energy, passion, exuberance and the sheer joy of loving the subject you are writing about with such total authority and confidence, then this one would get 10 stars out of 5!
Never have I felt so immersed, not only in a storyline which features such a unique cast of characters, but in a location described with such a vividly real sense of time and place, that I could picture myself there and part of the action and lifestyle, without any problem at all.
Whilst in some ways the Monte Carlo Connection is an extension of the previous two stories in the Jemima Fox series and leads nicely into the upcoming fourth episode, each book works absolutely fine as a stand alone story, with the ongoing backstory details being fed in slowly at intervals on a need to know basis, so that you don’t miss out on anything vitally important. Beware of the killer ending to this book though. I was totally unprepared for events that happened in the final 10% of the story, which left me floored, a little sad, more than a little angry, and rooting for Jemima.
The narrative and dialogue took me on a journey which was unique and totally unexpected. The writing was effortless, intuitive, fluid, exhilarating, visually descriptive and very compelling. If you are a lover of the finer things in life, from exquisite jewellery to designer clothing and accessories; superb food and wine to classy cars and ‘to be seen at’ venues; rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous to having your own mini ‘Pink Panther’ style gang to unmask, then this book is going to suck you in from the very beginning. You need to be prepared for some serious name dropping, a lesson in descriptive brand awareness from a cast of the rich and famous who believe that Monte Carlo’s lifestyle of opulence and plenty is their by right. Oh! and be really eager to engage in a mini crash course about some of the classiest jewellery houses from around the world and the magnificent collections their skilled craftsmen can produce. Written in short, sharp chapters, Josie needed to focus and channel what could easily have become a very sprawling saga, a task which she achieves most adroitly.
The action in this ‘escape to’ storyline, is non-stop, fast and furiously paced, and rich in detail. Our amateur jewellery detective, Jemima Fox, does liken one of the real life detectives to Inspector Clouseau, because of his appearance, however with that and the several other subtle references interjected into the text, not least our daring gangs of jewellery thieves calling themselves the ‘Pink Panthers’, (the first film in the series derived its name from the eponymous pink diamond that had an enormous size and value. The diamond was called the “Pink Panther” because the flaw at its centre, when viewed closely, was said to resemble a leaping pink panther) I can surely be forgiven for visualising the debonaire actor, David Niven organising these daring thefts and leaving his signature, single white glove, calling card. This particular storyline is however, definitely no comedy or gentleman’s game, with the Russian historical connection adding an altogether sinister dimension to proceedings and leaving no one in any doubt that they will stop at nothing to take back that which they believe is rightfully theirs. The double crossing, violence and duplicitous behaviour, invoked several twists and turns in the story and brought into play almost every aspect of the action and excitement you would expect from a great ‘James Bond’ epic film and with almost the same amount of rather tongue-in-cheek, subtle humour.
The profusion of characters, whilst you may not like them all (indeed probably many of them!), are on the whole well defined, with great panache and in a very superficial way, as befits their singularly false personalities and the carefully choreographed circles in which they move, which makes them very difficult if not impossible to connect and empathise with. Jemima, who is very knowledgeable about so many things, but not so astute and single-minded when it comes to business matters, is quite obviously out of her depth for much of the investigation. Although she is basically on the right track, she makes some rather rash and questionable decisions, gets rather side-tracked and distracted by the entire Monte Carlo experience and spends much of her time playing catch-up, before in true ‘Clouseau’ fashion, everything somehow comes good in the end. She is desperate to both fit in to the world she is longing to become part of, whilst at the same time trying to focus on the main role her company has set for her, that of protecting the new Vogel collection and recovering the previously stolen jewels, which she has already so publicly failed to do. Because her attention is constantly straying to the materialistic lifestyles of the people she has surrounded herself with, she takes her eye off the ball far too many times and allows history to repeat itself, which on this occasion, for her personally, ends in emotional disaster and much self-loathing. Although an unforeseen joy and the second part of a well planned revenge, seem only just over the horizon!
Definitely a book to escape into, before you turn the last page and are dragged back into reality, kicking and screaming!
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