You're Reading Everything on the Louvre Heist

Enjoy a cup of chai or want one more spooky season book

Hi friends,

When you read this, I will be on my way to California for a visit with a good friend on her birthday (HBD Allison!) and then on to LA for Steamy Lit Con, a romance book convention. I’ll be meeting some of my fave authors, taking a bachata/salsa class with Mia Sosa, Nana Malone and more, and enjoying the bookish vibes.

And, now, what to read if …

You’re Obsessed with the Louvre Robbery

The Art Thief by Michael Finkel

I love heists, so it is unsurprising that I have fallen down the rabbit hole and am devouring everything I can about last week’s Louvre robbery. I particularly loved this New York Times article interviewing notorious jewel thieves about their takes on the heist, and was bummed to learn the dapper man first reported to be the detective in charge was just a jauntily dressed gawker. I’ve also spent the past week pushing Michael Finkel’s The Art Thief on people, so I thought I’d re-up my recommendation of it here.

When authorities finally arrested Stéphane Breitwieser, he had stolen roughly $2 billion in art from museums and auctions across Europe. The thief never sold his more than 200 pieces of contraband, instead keeping them on display in his attic bedroom at his mother’s house. He was driven not by money but by an obsession with the art. Journalist Michael Finkel documents Breitweiser’s crimes and the years-long investigation that ended in his arrest in The Art Thief.

Finkel chronicles how Breitwieser pulled off his feats — a combination of athleticism, a deep understanding of museum security (or lack thereof), the (sometimes reluctant) assistance of his girlfriend, luck and hubris. It’s that last one that finally caught up to him, as his confidence that he could never be caught caused him to take bigger and bigger risks.

In between depictions of the thefts, Finkel draws on art theory and the thief’s psychological records to understand the roots of Breitwieser’s obsession.

It’s a short book —fewer than 250 pages — and Finkel uses each word and sentence judiciously. Art lovers and true crime fans won’t want to miss this one.

You’re Enjoying Chai Season

Detective Aunty by Uzma Jalaluddin

I am a year-round tea drinker — just alternate between iced and hot depending on the temperature — but I know that many of my coffee-drinking friends enjoy chai tea when the weather turns chilly. If this is you — or you’re looking for a fun whodunnit — grab Uzma Jalaluddin’s Detective Aunty, about a recent widow, who makes a mean chai, seeking to prove her daughter innocent of murder.

Kausar Khan is shocked to receive an early morning phone call from her distant daughter, Sana. She’s even more stunned when Sana says she’s been arrested for killing the unpopular landlord of her clothing boutique. Kausar quickly packs a bag and returns to the Toronto suburb where she raised her children for the first time in 20 years.

Kausar has long had a keen sense of observation — her teacher friend relies on her to suss out cheating rings. She’s determined to find the real murderer, hoping it will set her daughter free and repair their broken relationship. Still, the more Kausar digs, the more she becomes convinced Sana is hiding something from her. Working with old friends and her teenage granddaughter — and hiding behind the image of a meddlesome aunty — Kausar commits to finding the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it makes her.

Bonus Recommendation: An adorable new picture book, Tea is Love, celebrates the ritual of tea drinking around the world.

You Want to Sneak in One Last Halloween Read

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

Halloween is Friday (I’m dressing up as a Fairy Princess, if you were curious. My one-year-old niece is the most adorable Cookie Monster I’ve ever seen.) If you’re looking to get in one more spooky season book this week, consider Ali Hazelwood’s Bride, a romance starring a vampire and a werewolf.

When Misery Lark’s father, the leader of the Southwest vampyre council, volun-tells her into marrying the head of a werewolf pack as part of a peace deal, she balks. She’s already been used as collateral once, to prevent war between vampyres and humans, and now she’s being asked to do the same thing with ruthless and unpredictable werewolves. She changes her mind instantly after hearing the groom’s name, Lowe ­— and recognizing it from the last communication she received from her now-missing best friend Serena.

After the wedding, Lowe and his pack track Misery’s every move, complicating her plot to snoop on her new husband and find Serena. Making it even more difficult is that Lowe ­— a warm, fair architect raising his younger sister — isn’t what she expected. And she certainly didn’t plan for a spark between them to grow …

My book club met last week to discuss Bride, and I read it hesitantly because I’m not normally a huge supernatural/paranormal romance reader. But I had so much fun with it, I immediately grabbed a book from a series Hazelwood considers an inspiration. Beyond that: It was the rare pick everyone in my book club loved. (I think that’s happened only once before). The sequel, Mate, came out earlier this month, so it’s perfect timing for a double feature.

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