The Year of the Projects - The March Madness + The Gardner Heist

I do love a good list.  It gives a nice sense of order and focus and I love making lists about the books I want to read.  Last year I focused just on series I was behind on.  The project went great and I caught up on a ton of series but I felt like I was neglecting other books on my shelf and books at my library.  This year I have a few lists going - Series, Library, Clear Off My Shelves, and a random TBR Bingo where I pull books off my Goodreads TBR.  Here are a few of my most recent reads.

Goodreads: The Marsh Madness (A Book Collector Mystery #4) by Victoria Abbott

Project: Catch Up on Series

Blurb:  Jordan works hard to improve Vera Van Alst’s collection of classic detective stories. So when Chadwick Kauffman—heir to the Kauffman fortune—offers a very good price on a fine collection of Ngaio Marsh first editions owned by his recently deceased stepfather, she is thrilled to meet with him at his fabled summer estate, Summerlea.
The next day, Jordan and Vera are shocked to read that Chadwick has died in a fall from the grand staircase at Summerlea. But when the picture in the paper is of a different man, it becomes clear that the ladies are victims of a scam. And they’ll have to unmask the imposter fast, because someone is trying to frame them for murder…

My Thoughts:  I'm so sad that I only have one book left in this series.  I have really come to love these characters - even Vera - and will miss them when I have finished the last book.  This was an interesting mystery and the author has done a good job of mixing up the type of mystery in each book.  In this book nothing is what it seems and when the dust settles it becomes clear that someone is targeting Jordan and everyone she holds dear.  Sherry is quickly becoming one of my favorite side characters of all time and I loved seeing her in this book as well as Lance and I liked that Jordan isn't giving him or her friend Tiffany a free pass for their behavior in the last book but isn't making a big deal of it either.  The mystery surprised me which doesn't happen all that often and I was sad to see this book end.  My Rating:  Really Liked It!

Goodreads: The Gardner Heist by Ulrich Boser

Project: TBR Bingo

Blurb:  “The True Story of the World’s Largest Unsolved Art Theft,” The Gardner Heist by Ulrich Boser is a fascinating account of a brazen and amazing criminal act—a book that could help police and investigators solve the mystery of the 1990 break-in and burglary at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. “A tantalizing whodunit” (Boston Globe) and a “riveting, wonderfully vivid account [that] takes you into the underworld of obsessed art detectives, con men, and thieves” (Jonathan Harr, author of The Lost Painting), The Gardner Heist is true crime history at its most spellbinding.

My Thoughts:  I wasn't sure how I would like this because this is an unsolved case but I ended up being fascinated from beginning to end.  The author explores the history of the Gardner Museum, the rise of art theft, museum security (or more accurately - the lack thereof), and a number of the major theories about who was behind the theft and where the paintings are now.  Boser's writing style is clean and to the point and hooked me from the beginning.  All the information he shared (with the exception of two little blips in the last two chapters) felt crucial to understanding the different theories and really had me thinking.  After reading this The Gardner Museum is now up at the top of my list of places I want to visit in Boston.  As well I felt a new appreciation for the art itself and I can see just what about the heist fascinates so many people.  My Rating:  Really Liked It!