Book Review: "Reluctant Burglar" by Jill Elizabeth Nelson

Art Smart Desiree Jacobs works as an art security adviser that has been trained in the ways of an art thief by her father. She knows everything about how to get around security systems in museums and how to tell a genuine piece of art from a fake. Then she gets the news that her father has been murdered and he has left behind to her a container full of stolen paintings. Desiree needs to return the paintings to their rightful owners before anyone notices. Meanwhile special agent Tony Lucano is hot on Desiree's trail, trying to find out what her plans really are. They have a sketchy relationship where he doesn't trust Desiree and she can't stand him. However the two will have to set aside their differences to find out who her father's murderer is and to stop the art thieves.

I think that Desiree had an awesome job. I really liked Desiree's ability to disguise herself enough to fool people for her job. I enjoyed the scene where she almost got caught even though the room she was in was almost impossible to get out of. I know that the guy on the cover is supposed to be Tony but for some reason I kept picturing Tony Almeida from 24. He just suited better to me what Tony would look like. Desiree's and Tony's relationship starts off annoying at first because no matter what she does he doesn't trust her. Eventually he realizes her true character, it was just frustrating that he had already prejudged her. I kept thinking about the Da Vinci Code while reading the book because of the talk about paintings and art museums. And I also recalled an episode of Magnum PI where there is a father/daughter art thief duo just like in this book. While I enjoyed the book, I felt that some parts dragged a little. To me the middle part of the story didn't grab my attention the way the first part or the end did. I still enjoyed reading this book though. There were twists that I didn't see coming and lots of suspense. I also have a new respect for art after learning so much about it in this book. I'll be looking forward to the next one in the series. Reluctant Burglar by Jill Elizabeth Nelson is published by Multnomah (2006)