The Winged Tiara
Europe, immediately after the First World War, is a rich hunting ground for talented jewel thief, Esme Fox. Also, it turns out, for Jasper Truitt, an equally talented jewel thief whom Esme married during the wonderful chaos of Armistice Day in Paris. She regrets the marriage and leaves him before he can awaken the following morning. He spends the next four years searching Europe for her.
Unexpectedly he finds her on the French Riviera, at one of Madame Rothschild’s parties for the rich and famous. Each is there, separately, to steal the enormously valuable Valkyrie tiara – two glittering wings set with over 2000 diamonds. Esme has been offered a large sum to obtain it for Countess Accardi; failure means death in the hands of a brutal bodyguard. Jasper, illegitimate son of an illegitimate son, needs the tiara to prove his worth to his aristocratic grandfather. Together Esme and Jasper romp through the parties and entertainments of the fabulously wealthy in the fashionable spots of Europe, each needing to outwit the other by stealing the Valkyrie tiara.
This is a fast, fun read as sparks fly between Esme and Jasper and they find themselves in one impossible situation after another. Settings vary from King Ludwig’s castle in Bavaria to champagne grottos in France to gondolas in Venice. Rich and eccentric characters range from opera divas to princes to a French comte with his most recent wife.
The author accurately conveys the spirit of post-WWI Europe for the conspicuously rich, where excess appears to cover the pain of shattered countries and broken lives. She has drawn from this a fast-moving tale full of dramatic twists and brilliantly rich settings. The escalating emotional tension between the two main characters is a bonus as they represent the hope of the future.
