Bearer of Secrets - A Guest Post, Review, & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Nupur Tustinback to Cozy Up With Kathy. Nupur writes the Celine Skye Psychic Mystery series. BEARER OF SECRETS is the third book in the series and was released last month.

Master Thieves Or Inept Hacks?
Nupur Tustin

Master thieves or inept hacks? That’s the question I asked myself when I began researching the Gardner Museum theft for the Celine Skye Psychic Mystery series.

Celine is a psychic art sleuth working with the FBI on the case, and every mystery in the series, including Bearer of Secrets, the newest release, develops on the theory I’ve developed of what happened and why.

But first let me tell you about the theft and why the jury’s still out there on whether the men behind the most notorious heist in American history were master thieves or inept hacks.

Here’s what happened:

On March 18, 1990 two men broke into Boston’s Gardner Museum. They didn’t smash doors or break windows to effect their entry. Dressed as policemen, they persuaded the night guards—college students trying to earn a little extra money—to let them in.

What’s intriguing about this theft is not how the thieves managed to get in nor how much time they spent in the museum—a total of 81 minutes—nor how many works they made off with—a total of 13.

No, what’s intriguing is that there’s absolutely no viable lead about who was behind the theft and where the works might have ended up.

And when one looks at what was stolen, invariably one has to wonder: were these truly masterminds or inept hacks?

The media has always been divided on the issue, tending toward the latter view. It’s fair to say investigators aren’t sure either.

On the one hand, the works taken from the Dutch Room—the Rembrandts and the Vermeer—were among the most valuable pieces taken. Today, the Vermeer alone is valued at about $500 million. I wasn’t able to find out how much the Chez Tortoni stolen from the Gardner was worth, but Manet’s works have fetched as much as $65 million at auction.

So clearly, the thieves knew the value of what they were stealing. That would suggest a master thief, right?

Not so fast. You see the more valuable a stolen painting, the more well-known the artist, the harder it is to get rid of the item. One way to move such a painting would be to use it as currency in the criminal underworld—as collateral for a loan, let’s say, that gets used to buy and traffic drugs or arms.

The other would be to sell it to an unscrupulous collector through perhaps a dealer with a less than stellar moral code.

Only a hack would steal a valuable painting worth millions of dollars. It would be very hard to get rid of. You could ransom it, of course. But that, too, is a tricky affair. Some art sleuths like Holland’s Arthur Brandt aren’t above paying “middlemen” for their help in recovering a stolen masterpiece.

Most in the art recovery business prefer not to go that route for the simple reason that it encourages more art theft.

The theft of the Degas sketches from the Short Gallery where Mrs. Gardner placed her drawings and sketches is a puzzle, too. There were Michelangelo prints that were of far greater value.

And the Degas sketches—the most finished of them was a watercolor, the least finished look like scribblings; nicely done scribblings, but scribblings none the less. Why would anyone want these? Where could they hope to sell them?

So the thieves must have been inept hacks, right? Maybe not.

The same argument that applies to the Dutch works applies here. Surely the Degas sketches would be easier to sell than the more recognizable Michelangelo.

And because artists typically proceed from small- and large-scale sketches to a full-fledged painting, sketches contribute to an art connoisseur’s understanding and appreciation of their favorite artist. Their presence can help authenticate a work and in its attribution and might also arguably make an artist’s finished work even more valuable.

So you can see why stealing the sketches might’ve been the work of a master thief.

So, master thieves or inept hacks? What do you think?

Share your thoughts with Kathy and me. And don’t forget to enter the Giveaway for a print copy of Bearer of Secrets, the latest Celine Skye Psychic Mystery.

If you enjoy art heists, intrigue, and murder, this is a book you won’t want to miss!

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Review

BEARER OF SECRETS by Nupur Tustin
The Third Celine Skye Psychic Mystery 

Back in California Celine Skye is trying to work at her newly inherited winery, but thoughts of the Gardner Heist and concern for the elderly Clara have her mind elsewhere. A news article and visions of danger around Clara soon compel her to return to Boston. While FBI Agent Blake Markham looks into a Degas sketch with questionable provenance and ownership, Celine and retired FBI Agent Julia Hood focus on Clara who just may hold the key to the Gardner Museum theft. Will they recover more of the stolen items? Will they finally find out who was behind the heist? Will they be able to keep Clara safe?

While BEARER OF SECRETS is a work of fiction, the Gardner Heist was real and is still unsolved. An unsolved mystery is compelling in so many ways. It's fascinating to read what may have happened and the slow reveal found here is executed so well. Leads pop up and are followed. Each step has us learning more, following clues. But supposition isn't enough. Suspects are tied together like flies caught in a web, but just who is the spider?

Emotions run high and danger is rife, as Celine tries to decipher the meaning behind her visions. I was enthralled and felt as if I was on a runaway train...knowing there was disaster ahead and unsure who, if anyone, would escape unscathed. 

With smart taut writing along with great characterization BEARER OF SECRETS will have you on the edge of your seat pondering the unsolved crime while waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

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 Bearer of Secrets: An Art Heist Mystery (Celine Skye Psychic Mystery Series) by Nupur Tustin

About Bearer of Secrets

Bearer of Secrets: An Art Heist Mystery (Celine Skye Psychic Mystery Series)
Psychic Mystery 3rd in Series
Setting – Paso Robles, CA and Boston, MA
Publisher: ‎ Foiled Plots Press (June 27, 2024)
Print length: ‎ 397 pages

SIZZLING SUSPENSE: Based on the True Story of Boston's Gardner Museum Theft!

Could a stolen Degas unravel a cold-case art heist? Celine must find out before murder closes in . . . Shattered by a journalist’s death and sensing danger to his mother, Clara, psychic art sleuth Celine Skye struggles to focus on the Gardner Museum theft. Until a stolen Degas taken eight years after the heist surfaces—along with new clues and visions of Clara in peril.

Compelled to investigate, Celine has a startling revelation linking Clara to a Gardner Museum insider. Could Clara’s son have uncovered evidence implicating her friend in the theft?

With the threat to Clara escalating, Celine must find the truth before murder finds them both. . .

About Nupur Tustin

Nupur Tustin is a former journalist who misuses a Ph.D. in Communication and an M.A. in English to paint intrigue and orchestrate murder. She is the author of the Joseph Haydn Mystery series set in eighteenth-century Austria and the Celine Skye Psychic Mysteries about a psychic art sleuth who takes on the still unsolved Gardner Museum theft of 1990. She also writes the Sophie's Adventure series about an art sleuth who recovers stolen art as an undercover tourist. For more about her and her books, please visit https://ntustin.com

Author Links

• Website (Get a Free Taste of Murder): https://ntustin.com
• N Tustin Bookstore: https://ntustin.com/shop
• Blog: https://ntustin.com/blog
• GoodReads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/nupurtustin
• Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/nupur-tustin
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ntustinauthor/

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