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| This mesmerizing tale begins with a mother talking to her daughter from the grave. Sophia died suddenly and tragically when she recognized someone from her past on the Manhattan street, and was hit by a car as she attempted to reach them. She regretted not telling her daughter about her past and hopes that somehow she can reach her daughter's mind. 1948 - New York City Isobelle Moon, a hard-working junior architect, is struggling with the grief of losing her mother, as well as feeling frustrated with her job where she is one of very few women architects. She knows that her salary is lower than the men she works with, and she is angry that her immediate boss, whom she had a brief fling with at her previous placement, is dumping all of his work on her but taking credit for it himself. Isobelle returns to her and her mother's apartment in the building Sophia and her close friend Lana bought during the Depression. The two women opened an art and furniture restoration business on the first floor, then settled in their own apartments in the rest of the building. Wanting to modernize the place more to her style, Isobelle begins her redecorating by tearing the wallpaper off the walls in her mother's room. That's where she finds a secret area covered over. Inside is a case containing an elaborate tiara, minus its jewels, and receipts for the sale of the stones. 1915 - Petrograd, Russia Sofiya Petrovitch is volunteering at the Tsarevich Alexey Nikolayevich Hospital at the behest of her childhood friends, the Tsar's daughters, Grand Duchess Olga and Grand Duchess Tatiana who are also volunteers. The wounded men from the front are in need of care, even if the three young women have no experience in medicine. Sofiya, whose mother tutored the duchesses in painting, is extremely uncomfortable and focuses on one young man who is comatose, talking to him, reading to him, until one day she arrived to find his bed empty. Another soldier in a nearby bed tells her that her patient had died during the night. Befriending this man, Sofiya is saddened when he reveals that his head wound has left him with no memory of who he is. He was found, wounded, in the Carpathian battle, so Sofiya calls him by that name. They become close and she helps Carpathian work on regaining his memory. He seems artistic, and soon they conclude that he worked for Faberge. In the meantime, Grand Duchess Olga has gifted Sofiya with a small tiara, bejeweled with diamonds and sapphires, swearing her to secrecy that she's not to tell anyone she has this. Then the Grand Duchess reveals that her father will be abdicating soon, and she doesn't know what the future holds. 1948 - New York City Isobelle has taken the remains of the tiara to the jeweler whose name is on the receipts, hoping to find some answers. The grandson of the man who bought the jewels, Jules Reed, runs the business now, and he tells Isobelle that his grandfather is in prison. They visit the older man, but he's not much help, though Isobelle suspects he knows more than he's letting on. Later, Jules reveals that he, Jules, is a member of the Midas Society, a secret organization that is tracking down treasures stolen during the wars and returning them to their rightful owners. He is intrigued by the tiara and has offered to help Isobelle solve this mystery. Can Isobelle trust Jules? And who is the man with the Russian accent who has visited Jules' business, and seems to be following Isobelle? THE LAST TIARA is a poignant mystery that was difficult to put down. Isobelle has difficulty trusting Jules at first. Is he just being attentive because he wants to move up the ladder in the Midas Society? Why couldn't her mother have been more open about her past, Isobelle's father, and, most of all, why hide the tiara as she did? What was she hiding, or whom was she hiding from? Beautifully written, historically accurate, and excellent, realistic characters make THE LAST TIARA a brilliant start to the new year. Jani Brooks |
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THE LAST TIARA - M. J. Rose