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ETRUSCAN CHIMERA, THE
by Lyn Hamilton
Berkley Prime Crime, May 2002
304 pages
$22.95
ISBN: 0425184633


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

A chimera is a mythological creature, part lion, part snake, part goat. The word has another meaning as well which is a good description of the plot of this book. Crawford Lake, a reclusive billionaire, commissions Lara McClintock, Toronto antique dealer, to purchase a 2000 year old Etruscan statue for him. Lara goes to France to see the owner of the statue, realizes it is fake, and then the owner is found dead. Somehow a very valuable chimera hydria from his collection finds its way into the trunk of her car. It appears and disappears several more times while Lara is trying to find out what is happening.

This is more of a caper story than anything else. There are deaths but they may or may not be connected to Laraís search. But we race about with Lara from Rome to Vichy, France, to Tuscany, back to Rome and off again. In the process we get to see much of Italy and learn a great deal about the Etruscans and their art. It is like we have a mini-textbook about the Etruscans only it is painless to study. They are most interesting people, having inhabited the Italian peninsula prior to the Romans. One of their kings was the last king of Rome and they were eventually obliterated by the Romans as so many peoples were.

The story is suspenseful and intricate. I defy you to figure out who is doing what to whom. It is a tangle and a conundrum. There is misdirection and misconstruction. They do it with mirrors. Now you see it; now you donít. A shell game for the mind.

The character of Lara is well-drawn. We get to know her quite well. She finally begins to figure out what is happening and tries to rectify the situation. She is loyal to those she likes and angry with those who are befuddling and confusing others. Lola, an older lady whom Lara meets, is a delightful woman, eccentric, quirky, everything an older woman ought to be. The rest of the characters are fairly two-dimensional and with so many Italian names, there ought to have been a cast of characters so the reader could keep t hem all straight. Hamilton does the best she can to remind the reader of who each person is, but it still got confusing toward the end.

This is a pleasantly told beguiling little tale. If you like information with your mysteries, I think you will like this book. There are few people more intriguing than the Etruscans were and Hamilton gives us just enough information to make us want to learn more.

Reviewed by Sally A. Fellows, June 2002

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