THE STEAL - C.W. Gortner and M. J. Rose
Blue Box Press
ISBN: 978-1-952457-53-1
August 2021
Fiction

France - 1957

Jerome Curtis is in the magical city of Cannes, but not for fun or for the film festival. He's an investigator for an insurance company, and one of their clients was just robbed of millions of dollars of priceless jewelry. Jerome is almost positive that he knows who committed the heist. It's been six years, but it's most likely the notorious Leopard who has taken off with the jewels specifically designed for certain stars at the film festival. First of all, Jerome must interview the director of the jewelry company, and hopefully, he can get some clues to work with.

Ania Thorne, who took over the family business, Thorne & Company, from her father, turning the company around, is sickened by the stunning loss of the jewelry she, herself, designed for Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, and other major stars. She's angry, too. How dare someone steal from her? And now she has the insurance investigator plying her with very personal questions.

To Jerome's shock, the man assigned to guard the jewels is a former soldier that he worked with after the war. The assignment they had was highly secretive, and no one, even today, knows about it. But now here is John Darcy, and Ania Thorne's assistant, Sylvia, in the room where the heist took place. Darcy had been knocked out with chloroform, so he wasn't much help. Sylvia, however, reports that the culprit, forced her into the corner waving a gun, and took the cases. What isn't explained is how he managed to get the jewels out of the boxes so quickly without the codes to get into them. The empty boxes were found just outside. Sylvia is unable to help much with the identification. She does report that that the thief wore black gloves - the only hint to Jerome that the Leopard has changed his tactics. He usually wears leopard-print gloves.

From this point on, it's non-stop excitement as Ania and Jerome try to outwit the Leopard. Racing to Paris to intercept the replacement jewels being flown in from New York, they must cover their tracks, and find a way to draw the thief out into the open before he strikes again.

With a fabulously stunning ending, THE STEAL is a must read collaboration by two terrific authors.

A quick and fast read. It’s very well written with interesting and fun characters that reads like a movie. I really enjoyed all the jewelry heist details. The mystery itself is full of twists and turns and leaves the reader guessing until the very end. Highly recommend!