Book Description

Florence, Italy 1996: a young archaeologist follows a hunch that compels her to knock down a wall and retrieve a hidden sketch which may be by the renown Renaissance master Botticelli. But before she can alert the authorities and claim the find, the sketch is stolen leaving her standing in the rubble. Three decades later, the drive for retribution brings this woman to Phoebe McCabe's door. The sketch may have been a study for a secret portrait, she claims, and she has enough clues to point the way to its location. When the Agency of the Ancient Lost & Found joins the hunt to track down what may become the art find of the century, little do they know that they will be dragged into the crosshairs of a ruthless arms cartel as well as plunged deep into a centuries-old mystery involving key players of Renaissance Florence. What does Lorenzo di Medici, the Bonfire of the Vanities, the artists Sandro Botticelli and Filippino Lippi have to do with a tailor's daughter who once dared to imbed a secret into a sleeve? That's only part of the story Phoebe must untangle. In the end, she must also grapple with remnants of her own past that not only come back to haunt her but chase at her heels with murderous intent. Either trump those monsters at their own game or perish. The wondrous city of Florence, past and present, combined with the sweeping vistas of Tuscany wrap the reader in visions of art, rich textiles, and political intrigue while revealing the triumph of the human spirit that thrives across the centuries. Welcome to book 3 of the Agency of the Ancient Lost & Found.