Autumn Leaves, 1922: A Kiki Button Mystery
In this second in a series, it is 1922, and Kiki Button has returned to Paris from her native Australia, anxious to forget her past, memories of her late mother, and her work as a nurse during World War I. She also wants to escape memories of her secret wartime intelligence work and her controlling spymaster, Fox.
Kiki is contacted by Fox with another assignment. She reluctantly agrees on the condition that he help remove charges of treason against her lover, Tom Thompson. Fox wants her to foil a plot to kidnap the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Kent. The assignment involves some unsavory tasks like taking part in a Blackshirt rally in Rome, which introduces Benito Mussolini, an up-and-coming Fascist leader.
Set against a background of a decadent Paris between the wars, the story has exiled Russian princes, artists Monet, Modigliani, and Matisse, as well as writers Ernest Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald. While Kiki searches for the truth about her late mother, once a muse for Matisse, she becomes a part of this glittering Lost Generation.
Lunney does a superb job melding history with suspense. She artfully recreates a fascinating era, but does not hesitate to show the dark underside of the glamor. Lunney handles the famous characters with a light touch. They are believable and uncontrived, and contribute to the storyline rather than dominate it. This book is the second in a new series. It provides a look at a frenzied period on the cusp of another war. The story gives the reader a look at how fleeting both peace and love can be. Strongly recommended.
