Buried gold, pirate treasure, ancient artifacts... The lure of "easy" riches often carries a dangerously high price. Bill Sinclair, New York antiques dealer specializes in finding unusual items for upscale decorators and occasionally for wealthy collectors more interested in acquiring artifacts than knowing where they came from. Stella Duchene, self-reinvented from bright, savvy New York design student into an upscale Paris Designer only the very wealthy can afford, enters the dangerous world of stolen antiquities to satisfy her appetite for excitement and money.Both rank among the elite of Black Market Antiquity dealers but have very different operating styles. Stella considers Bill too honest, too nice in a business of thieves, and Bill laments the fact that Stella frequently allows greed to impair her judgment. The two have an on-again, off-again personal relationship that depends on whether they team up for mutual benefit or their paths collide as they try to outwit both the good and the bad guys chasing them. When Bill receives an 18th Dynasty vase from a trusted Middle Eastern contact, his fascination with the piece draws him into a hunt for the jewelry Queen Nefertiti is shown wearing in the vase’s bas relief. It also brings a detective from the Special Crimes: Theft of Art Objects from Museums and Galleries, to his door.In London, Stella's associate and mentor, Casper, asks her to pick up and deliver a silver medallion to a meeting place he is arranging. Reluctant because of the tightened security she encountered on her last delivery, she agrees and promises to return for the coin that night. When she does, Casper is dead, and the police arrive suddenly. She makes a daring escape with the medallion—and the killer not far behind her. When there's a second murder, Stella buys herself murder insurance by sending the coin to the one person she can trust and the killer can't find—Bill.When odd gifts begin arriving, Bill and friend computer wiz, Larry figure out the wild scheme Stella has devised, Then, unable to stop her, they become part of the chase that follows.In these days of gloomy news and predictions about the economy, Artful Misdirection is the perfect pick-me-up for readers who enjoy intrigue, suspense and heart.
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