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A DEATH IN CORNWALL is Daniel Silva's 24th novel featuring Gabriel Allon—Israeli spy master and brilliant art restorer. Here Allon is living a very different life from the one he had been living as the head of the Israeli intelligence agency. Now he works solely as an art restorer of old masterpieces, a profession which used to be his cover when he was a renowned spy and assassin. He resides in Venice with his beautiful wife Chiara and his lively twins. His livelihood is using his gifted skills to restore priceless works of art. Yet though no longer in the world of espionage, he cannot stop solving criminal mysteries, hunting down the perpetrators of nefarious endeavors.
His chance comes soon. Charlotte Blake, an art professor and expert in researching the provenance of artwork, is found murdered near her cottage in Cornwall. As there is a serial hatchet murderer on the loose in this area, the police at first believe that she is the latest victim. However, her murder does not quite fit the pattern. When an old acquaintance in the local police contacts Allon, asking for his help, Allon is drawn into the investigation.
Charlotte Blake had been researching the provenance of a Picasso which may have been stolen from its rightful owners, a Holocaust victim and then his descendants. When Allon discovers this information, it leads him to travel around the globe following a trail of international money laundering, art theft, and high stakes politics. Along the way, he is aided by beautiful women, mostly incredibly wealthy, as well as his previous connections with some of the richest and most powerful people in the world. As we have seen in past adventures, there are evil thugs who die quickly, as well as other bad actors who are sorry to have met Allon. But in the end, we get the answers he has worked to reveal.
The stakes and the suspense in this current novel are different from many of the earlier books when Allon was working full time as a spy, surrounded by his familiar and talented entourage, and
backed up by "the office,"—code name for the Israeli spy organization. Of course, with the on-going turmoil in Israel, he is best out of that situation. The only reference to it is when someone asks him about the Middle East, and Allon quickly dismisses him with an admonishment to take it up with the Israeli ambassador.
In A DEATH IN CORNWALL, Gabriel Allon is as clever, enigmatic, and charismatic as ever. Silva's intricate plotting, memorable characters, and engaging writing style create a book that the reader is sad to finally finish.
§ Anne Corey is a writer, poet, teacher and botanical artist in New York's Hudson Valley.
Reviewed by Anne Corey, July 2024
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