Stealing The Spanish Princess
By Bea Green 

I stand in art galleries sometimes, just gazing at paintings, wondering what the story is behind them, or the pose of a portrait. With Stealing The Spanish Princess, you see part of the painting through a door and wonder what’s going on as you step inside.

Thanks to Love Books for inviting me on the blog tour and for The Conrad Press for sending me the book. Follow down to find out more of my review and about the author and what gave inspiration to include a particular piece of art in this first in the series crime fiction book.

Blurb

In this captivating and dazzling art crime mystery, eccentric detective Richard Langley hunts for a 16th-century masterpiece by the artist El Greco. The thief stole the priceless painting from an apartment in Kensington, London, and in the process knifed to death a Russian woman. DCI Richard Langley from Scotland Yard’s Art and Antiquities Unit joins colleagues from Homicide as they pursue a trail that leads them to St Petersburg and then to Madrid. Following closely in their footsteps is a maverick private investigator hired by the painting’s owner. Knowing how hard it is to sell on stolen artworks of that calibre, Richard wonders what the motive behind its theft might be. The answer, when it comes, takes everyone by surprise.

Review

This is the first Inspector Langley Mystery and readers are in for a treat with this debut that takes readers into the art theft scene and murder! 

Chief Inspector Richard Langley begins his day studying a mummified foot…. as you do… until he is requested to head up to room 402, a room that doesn’t specialise in antiquities and art crime, so comes as a surprise to be called to meet Chief SuperIntendant Alan Matthews, Chief Inspector, Abdul Hazim and Detective Inspector Eilidh Simmons and Super Intendent Lionel Grieves. Then all becomes clear to Langley as murder and art theft of a valuable El Greco painting mix together like colours on a pallet. Bea Green has done some interesting research on El Greco that is intertwined smoothly into the story. You can check out what the paintings are like online. I did a quick internet search. It’s worth doing.
The book is rich with art references to several artists and art security in such a tumultous world, especially in some parts. There are interesting parts about Russia and the art and opera world there, that also become intriguing and all becomes a murky, sinister world with the Russian Mafia.

Rosamie is an interesting character as a person of interest to the police and I found her to be intriguing, especially in her reactions.

There is much for readers to be interested with this book from styles of art to theatre to history, to present times to connections to different countries and of course, crime; all of which takes some unexpected turns.

Author Bio for Bea Green

Bea Green has had a somewhat roving life as the daughter of a British diplomat. Her mother is Spanish and growing up Bea spent every summer at her grandfather’s olive tree farm in Andalusia. This olive tree farm was the inspiration for her contemporary romance book, La Finca.

Bea studied Art throughout school and then did Art History for two of her four years at St Andrews University, where she met her husband. She graduated with an MA in English Literature.

Her interest in art was fostered by her father and her Spanish grandmother. Her Spanish grandmother accompanied her to many of Madrid’s art galleries and several of El Prado’s paintings are fondly remembered in Bea’s art crime book, Stealing the Spanish Princess.

Stealing the Spanish Princess was inspired by a Spanish painting, Lady in a Fur Wrap, at Pollok House, Glasgow. When Bea wrote Stealing the Spanish Princess there was a huge debate among art experts about the painting, with some claiming it was painted by El Greco. Some experts thought the painting was of Princess Catalina Micaela, daughter of the Spanish King, Philip II.

Bea Green has lived in Edinburgh since leaving St Andrews University, with her Glaswegian husband and two daughters. She also maintains close links with her family in Spain.