Maestra

Maestra by L.S. Hilton.  309 pages.

Art. Thievery. Intrigue. Sex.

You'd think that would sum up a lot of stories, but this one felt completely fresh.  We have a main character, Judith Rashleigh, who is working in a reputable London auction house.  However, when she comes up against corruption when appraising an important art piece, her ambition to move up in that world is thwarted.  To make ends meet, she starts working a hostess in a West End bar (although what she does on her own time goes way beyond her work there).   When she takes one of her bar's client's up on his offer to take her to French Riviera, and her ill-advised attempt to slip him sedatives takes a nasty turn, she winds up running for her life.   However, she's able to hit the ground running, relying on her innate ability to fake it among the rich and famous.   Soon, she's on the inside track of the lucrative (and dangerous) business of art fraud.

Judith's encounters in the story take her all over the world, from the French Riviera to Paris, to Florence, and beyond.  The author is well-traveled, and this is clearly reflected in the story because all of the settings felt quite realistic.  The pacing is steady, but also steadily increasing, with a definite feel of danger that lurks beneath the surface of the story.  As a reader, you turn the pages, only to be shocked (perhaps not, though) at the next thing that happens (and wondering just when Judith's luck will run out).

Judith is an interesting character in that she seems pretty amoral.  And, this seems to deepen as the story continues and she commits acts that escalate how deeply in trouble she is.  However, she's unapologetic about most things.  For example, when one person asks her about why she goes to clubs for sex, she tells him she likes it.  She likes sex.  She's pretty confident in who she is, even as she is evolving throughout the story.  While I don't think this is someone I would want to know personally, she's a compelling and intriguing character to read about.  And, truly, how many characters in books would we really want to meet outside of the pages of their story?

This story is supposed to be the first installment in several novels, and I'm already eagerly anticipating the next book.   I will note that the reviews on Goodreads are quite mixed, which makes me believe that this is a polarizing book; either you like it, or you don't, and there isn't any in between.  Personally, I found it an entertaining read, which is usually all I'm asking from a story.  The advice I'd give a reader is: give this book about 30-40 pages.  If you don't like it by then, close it and return it to the library because it's probably not going to grow on you.