Stealing The Spanish Princess by Bea Green
In this captivating and dazzling art crime mystery, eccentric detective Richard Langley hunts for a 16th-century masterpiece by the artist El Greco.
The thief stole the priceless painting from an apartment in Kensington, London, and in the process knifed to death a Russian woman.
DCI Richard Langley from Scotland Yard's Art and Antiquities Unit joins colleagues from Homicide as they pursue a trail that leads them to St Petersburg and then to Madrid.
Following closely in their footsteps is a maverick private investigator hired by the painting's owner. Knowing how hard it is to sell on stolen artworks of that calibre, Richard wonders what the motive behind its theft might be.
The answer, when it comes, takes everyone by surprise.
About the author.
Bea Green has had a somewhat roving life as the daughter of a British diplomat. Her mother is Spanish and growing up Beaspent every summer at her grandfather’s olive tree farm in Andalusia. This olive tree farm was the inspiration for her contemporary romance book, La Finca.
Bea studied Art throughout school and then did Art History for two of her four years at St Andrews University, where she met her husband. She graduated with an MA in English Literature.
Her interest in art was fostered by her father and her Spanish grandmother. Her Spanish grandmother accompanied her to many of Madrid’s art galleries and several of El Prado’s paintings are fondly remembered in Bea’s art crime book, Stealing the Spanish Princess.
Stealing the Spanish Princess was inspired by a Spanish painting, Lady in a Fur Wrap, at Pollok House, Glasgow. When Bea wrote Stealing the Spanish Princess there was a huge debate among art experts about the painting, with some claiming it was painted by El Greco. Some experts thought the painting was of Princess Catalina Micaela, daughter of the Spanish King, Philip II.
Bea Green has lived in Edinburgh since leaving St Andrews University, with her Glaswegian husband and two daughters. She also maintains close links with her family in Spain.
Review
I have been indulging in this subgenre over the last year - art crime and the resolution, both with Jeffrey Archer and Vanessa Robertson (who is also a write hailing from Edinburgh) and Bea Green’s work has slotted in very nicely to this area. It extremely well researched, there is a motley crew of characters, the pacing was great and the end of the book was amazing.
At the beginning of the book, we find DCI Richard Langley summoned to see his boss in room 406 - but that deals with homicide and he deals in art theft! He soon realises that this case will be a combination of the two - a Russian oligarch has had a previously unknown El Greco painting stolen and his girlfriend was murdered in the process. Richard now has to work with homicide to help solve both crimes!
This is a random point but something I appreciated. Bea showed that cases like these take a long time to solve as most paintings are stolen to order, set to be hidden away in someone’s private collection or to be used as financial collateral in organised crime. She has months pass between leads and silently gave this a round of applause in my head! The story also resonated with me as I actually live up the road from the inspiration behind this book. There is a painting at Pollok House by El Greco ‘Lady In A Fur Wrap’ which went through the discussion and debates about whether this was an authentic work or not. I hope to revisit this painting over the coming weeks.
Richard as a lead character was affable, knowledgeable, a bit of a bumbling nerd at times and I loved him. He came across as a kind soul and someone I would like to have on my side.
I sincerely hope that this is going to become a series as I want to know more about Richard and his new colleague! A girl always likes a bit of romance. But what will draw me in will be the knowledge that you will learn something from these books and enter a world that is completely different to yours. I hope that there is another book on the way!
