The Flinck Connection

Genevieve Lenard #4

by Estelle Ryan

A murdered politician. An unsolved art heist. An international conspiracy.

A cryptic online message leads nonverbal communications expert Doctor Genevieve Lenard to the body of a brutally murdered politician. Despite being ordered not to investigate, Genevieve and her team look into this vicious crime. More online messages follow, leading them down a path lined with corruption, a sadistic assassin, an oil scandal and one of the biggest heists in history--the still unsolved 1990 Boston museum art theft worth $500m.

The deeper they delve, the more evidence they unearth of a conspiracy implicating someone close to them, someone they hold in high regard. With a deadline looming, Genevieve has to cope with past and present dangers, an attack on one of her team members and her own limitations if she is to expose the real threat and protect those in her inner circle.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Crime, Ebooks, Mystery Thriller, Art

358 pages, Paperback

First published February 11, 2014

About the author

Estelle Ryan was born in South Africa and spent her childhood being surrounded by African beauty, nature and diversity of cultures. Her first trip to Europe at the tender age of 16 transformed her world into a much larger place, endless in its possibilities and places to explore. For most of her adulthood she’s travelled all over the world, lived on a few continents, explored numerous cultures and still is insatiable in the quest to still the hunger for more life experiences.

She’s written for numerous international magazines, was the editor of a European lifestyle magazine and has seven romance novels published under a pseudonym. With her interest in international politics, arts, crime, behavioural psychology, criminal psychology and music, she decided to combine all these elements in her writing. And so Genevieve and the team came into being.

She is an unabashed coffeeshopaholic. Good coffee, ambience and music in the perfect combination is all that is required to turn a mundane coffee shop into her 'office'. The appropriate coffee shop is chosen depending on the mood, the weather, the type and amount of work that needs to be done, and of course the craving of the day. All of her books have been written in numerous coffee shops all over the world.

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fourth in the series and Ryan does not disappoint. I love that the relationship of the team continues to evolve. Ryan does an amazing job capturing Genevieve's struggle with autism and her ability to cope with human interaction.
Well written and detailed. A good mystery, but to be honest, the actual case always seems to take a back seat to the team's interaction. My one disappointment was that the whole issue of the Isabella Gardner heist was left hanging.
This series ranks right up there with Louise Penny's Armand Gamache or Archer Mayor's Joe Gunther series. So glad I still have six more left to read.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this one too, but I think after 4 books it becomes a bit formulaic and stagnant. Sure there is some character development still, but it becomes increasingly frustrating to read pages upon pages of Manny vs Colin/Vinnie, Francine flirting with Manny and him getting grumpy and blushing. Even adding a few new characters in the mix didn't do much to alleviate this. And I know very well by now that Genevieve interprets things literally, so I have no need to read many times that she is frustrated about that when people say "give me a second" or "I'll be there in a minute", it actually takes longer. I got the memo. Thanks.

Again there's a point where the last connections that need to be made to see the case as a whole become suddenly clear to Genevieve, and again I can't help but think "well, duh".

I guess it's hard with the world's foremost expert in reading non-verbal communication, but I'd really like to see a story where the villain has Genevieve fooled. At the moment she seems pretty much infallible, apart from the fact that I think she should have come to the conclusion sooner in some cases.

I do still enjoy the characters though, and am happy to "see" them again. Though I was disappointed that the writer seemed to dumb down Vinnie by saying something along the lines of him not being very smart but that he had "street smarts", whereas in previous instalments he's surprised them with his intelligence and seeing things that the others haven't - thus in yet another way defeating his thug stereotype.

I'd probably read another one, and I don't regret reading any of the books so far - but I think I need a palate cleanser or two before that.

[Arnaud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic plot

Loved to be back in Doctor Lenard's world after quite some time passed between reading Volume 3 and this volume 4. Plot was really well established, and I enjoyed tremendously the references to the old scandal around Elf (or oil companies in general). The intrigue between France and Gabon around corrupt politicians was absolutely well put, and Lenard's crew is a pleasure to follow as their dynamic evolves slowly but surely :-) Absolutely checking volume 5 now to see what's next!

[Niki · Rating 3 out of 5]

an excellent thriller, as for the other books in the series - a motley crew with a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor - a great heroine as well, with lots of courage and action which is difficult for her since she suffers from a kind of autism - will soon read the #5 since this thriller ends with what looks like a cliffhanger

[May · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed the novel, as I have enjoyed those of the series I have read. Living north of Boston, MA and remembering well the Gardner Heist made this particular mystery even more poignant!!

My only regret is that I have not read these in order, thus missing some of the character development which enhances each story. I need to go back to those I had missed!!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Corrupt politicians, dead people, art thefts, and conspiracies. All come together for an enjoyable thriller.

[anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

i’m getting tired of bad guys getting away. i hope this particular chase won’t be prolonged for other two books.

i liked this book less than previous ones. they had beautiful and logical hints and answers to them. this one consisted of complicated politics and tedious details. it bored me.

[Bette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Colin awakens Jenny at 2:00am and asks her to contact Manny for him. He is at the residence of Claude Saveux, Minister of Defense and Veteran Affairs, looking at his body. Colin needs Manny to get a warrant and people with him he can trust to get into the house. When Jenny asks Colin why he is there, he says “Ask Nikki”.
Nikki, an 18-year old student who was introduced in “The Braque Connection” is now living with Jenny, Colin and Vinnie. She had received a second direct message on Twitter from an anonymous source, that told her to tell Jenny about the message, a reference to a piece of art and an address, Jenny and her team have still been working to locate Ducwicz the “assassin for hire” that abducted, drugged and invaded her home, and Nikki didn’t want to further stress her out so she
showed Colin. Now a dead body has been found and the team is involved in two concurrent high-value investigations.

The story keeps developing the skills of the team and their relationships to one another. The clues, the subterfuge the team engages in, the twists and turns in the investigation continue to hold my interest and keep the pages turning. I highly recommend this series for the background into art as well as an exciting mystery.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Girlfriend writes a bada$$ novel! I love all the books in this series. The are mind bending, sexy, riveting, mysterious, but most of all FUN.

The characters are people you care about, and the interaction between them is real and honest and full on crazy. I think Daniel is my new favorite character....or maybe Pink...or Tom. IDK, they are so well written I would love to be friends with them all.

Can't say enough nice things about this book and the 3 others in this series.

And now, book hangover begins. You know, where you have trouble finding something new to read bacause you are still living in the last book's world. Yeah, I get that a lot when I read Estelle Ryan's books.

Read it! You won't regret getting pulled into the world of Genevieve, Colin, Francine, Vinnie, Philip, Nikki and Manny.

[Gavin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'll add more to this in a little while but wanted to get this down as it came to mind:

[Genevieve has Vinnie's blood on her pyjamas]
"I stripped the bed with trembling hands, holding tightly onto my control. ... I put fresh linen on the bed and walked to the bathroom. ... put everything I wore in a plastic bag and turned on the shower."

A real person with this type of OCD would not put fresh linen on the bed until *after* they had showered. The thoughts of potentially contaminating the clean linen would make any other sequence impossible.

[James Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series

Love this series. Another good story. Great characters, good plot, kept my interest until the end. On to the next.

[Kim Feuchter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another exciting novel by Estelle Ryan! The story did not disappoint and I'm now officially hooked on this series!

[Anne Christensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Genevieve Lenard book

Highly entertaining, a lighthearted read. With each of the books you get to know the various characters a little better.

[Becky Hardesty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent as always

Riveting details of art, espionage and crime bring the story together and continue the drama from the whole series. Great story

[Melissa Dinwiddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

007 Villains Can’t Sink My Favorite Autistic Hero!

Being autistic, Dr. Genevieve Lenard didn’t naturally learn to pick up on other people’s cues. Emotions and body language were mysteries to her, so she used her prodigious intelligence to study them, earning a doctorate, and becoming known as one of the world’s top experts in body language. Now she’s employed by Rousseau & Rousseau, an art insurance company, and she spends her days in a specially designed viewing room, looking at computer monitors, investigating insurance fraud.

Though in the past 18 months, since crossing paths with notorious art thief Colin Frey and his gang of friends, she’s been helping to solve other crimes as well.

The ensemble, rounded out by police inspector, Manny Millard, are often at odds with each other, but they make a great team. Now they’ve been sucked into investigating the suspicious murder of a politician, which looks more and more like it might be connected to some sort of conspiracy.

What I love most about these books, told from Genevieve’s (“Jenny’s”) first-person perspective, is that they give me a window into what it might be like to be neuro-atypical. Jenny finds it almost physically painful, for example, to be in a cluttered space, or to be touched by anyone not her lover. And she plays—or writes scores of— Mozart in her head in order to calm herself down, often losing touch with the outer world for minutes or hours at a time. She also doesn’t understand metaphors and idioms, and will take them literally until you explain their meaning to her.

These kinds of details make her character come alive, and make her relatable and lovable in her humanness. She has very specific challenges that neurotypical folks don’t, but she never lets that stop her live the life she wants to live (which may be quite different from the life you or I might want to live, but Jenny is nothing if not clear about what she wants!)

I would love to see even more of Jenny’s quirks coming through! I feel like her edges have been a bit rounded down since previous books, though to be fair, she has also grown as a character from her exposure to the other characters in the ensemble, who have softened her a bit, so that would explain her rounder edges.

I also enjoy the “ensemble cast.” Like a Classic Hollywood heist movie, each of the characters in this series has a particular strength she or he brings to the table, along with personality quirks that make the dialogue fun.

The mystery is well twisted, too, and not easy to figure out, so points for that.

What I didn’t like so much: well, it’s a bit crazy over-the-top. Villains so bad they’re just plain evil incarnate, and btw, they can scale buildings, bypass all security, and move practically at the speed of sound. I know this is not meant to be realism, but still...

Regardless, I plan to keep reading. Jenny and the gang are too fun, even if the villains feel like they dropped in from a 007 film.

Oh, and check out the bonus web page the author creates for each book, with videos of all the musical pieces and images of the art mentioned. It adds an extra dimension to the story! Bravo!

[Alis Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Flink Connection" by Estelle Ryan was my book clubs Book of the month and was a whirlwind of intrigue, mystery, and pulse-pounding suspense!
The main protagonist Dr. Genevieve Lenard, is a great character and takes centre stage in a riveting plot that kicks off with a cryptic online message leading to a grisly murder scene. From there, it's a rollercoaster ride through the underbelly of corruption, art theft, and international conspiracies.
What sets "The Flink Connection" apart is its masterful weaving of complex characters and intricate plotlines. I absolutely love Genevieve and her team who are not just investigators; they're brilliantly flawed individuals navigating treacherous waters while facing their own demons. As they peel back layers of deception, I was kept on the edge of my seat, trying to unravel the truth alongside them.
Ryan's writing is sharp and evocative, painting vivid scenes that leap off the page. The tension is there with each turn, and just when you think you've figured it out, another twist comes along.
What I think truly elevates "The Flink Connection" is its ability to leave a lasting impact. Long after the final page is turned, I cannot get enough of this series and I found myself thinking about the intricacies of the plot and the depth of the characters. And let's not forget the lingering sense of unease about the world around us—a testament to Ryan's skill in crafting a story that resonates long after the last word is read.
So, my fellow book lovers, if you're craving a five-star read that will keep you guessing until the very end, look no further than "The Flink Connection." Trust me, after experiencing this literary thrill ride, you'll never see the world the same way again.

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is really good! The group has become even more of a family. Genevieve Lenard is learning to cope better as she starts to understand the ways her more neurotypical associates perceive and react to the stimuli around them. The transition she started to make in the first book has slowed considerably, which I think is a plus for the series.

This book involves solving numerous, but definitely related, thefts involving art. One of the things I like about the series is that just because the art is recovered, not all of the details about its theft are ever revealed. The same is true about the ways in which the team actually solves the crimes. Each member has their own informants and ways to uncover information. The reader is told about about these, but not in any great detail. This allows the pace of the novel to continue unimpeded by too much information being provided. Estelle Ryan, or her editor, seems to know just how much detail the reader really needs to paint the necessary mental picture. Characters break into buildings, but very few details about exactly how they manage to enter undetected are ever provided. The violence involving the characters occurs, but is far from graphic. The computer whiz in the group hacks various systems to get necessary information, but her methods and exactly which sites she uses to avoid detection remain a mystery. I think that this is part of what makes this series so enjoyable.

This is the fourth book in the series and I found it to be as much as a page turner as the first book. There were many nights I stayed up late reading because I wanted to find out what happened next to the characters.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

While autistic-savant Dr. Genevieve Lenard, who works in an art insurance company in Strasbourg, France, is the storyteller and a prime character here, she is just one piece in a group the president has established to solve crimes. When a government official is found murdered, the group steps in. Curiously, they get pulled off the case, wonder why, and deal with a relatively minor art theft. The group is an engaging mix of people and skills. Everyone in the group is likeable, and I own up to liking tough guy and cook Vinnie better with each succeeding book. In this one, it does appear that there are potentially one or two additions coming to the group.

Back to the murder. Though forbidden to investigate, well, they do. The deeper they dig, the more involved things become, in two governments, with government officials, art thefts, and a return of an earlier book's terrifying bad guy. This is the fourth in the series and I am finding it a reliable 'go to' series, loving the ensemble, the pace and action, and the relationships within the group.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book series so much it is unreal. As soon as I finished this book, I started it over from the beginning and read it again.

I feel like I'm coming home every time I open a new book in the series. I know before I even crack it open that I will love it beyond words.

In this book,Genevieve and her friends are once again pitted against Dukwicz. Dukwicz has been hired to kill a man that becomes a crazy puzzle that the team has to unravel.

I loved both times that Genevieve stepped up and did the crazy thing. I was yelling in crazy encouragement to her both times. She was amazing!

I love her and Colin. There relationship is probably my favorite in all of fiction and that is really saying a lot.

Francine's never ending flirting with Manny never stops being enjoyable. I constantly wonder if it will eventually lead somewhere.That would be fun I think.

[Amanda Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Corruption costs lives

When a museum is robbed of 6 pieces of art valued at 13 million euros the team are stunned to be told not to investigate by the President's man Henri. While they are still working on tracking down Dukowitz they don't want to leave the art thefts to the regular force, who are being hampered by their lack of specialist knowledge. Nikki is receiving some strange tweets with warnings about potential missing artwork from the Isabelle Stuart Gardener heist in the 80's that also appear to be counting down to the President's new plans for transparency over ministers financial affairs. But things appear to spiral out of control as Colin discovers a body, Dukowitz returns and they continue to look into the forbidden case. Can Genevieve unravel the truth in time or will someone else fall victim to Dukowitz and his henchmen?

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic series, wonderful book! I love the characters in this series & the genuine love they have for each other. Each of the characters is uniquely different from those you find in average books. The mysteries are always complex & thrilling. The books are beautifully written. To top it off, Estelle Ryan's website shows the paintings & links to the music mentioned in the books, & they are loosely based on actual art thefts. Brilliant!

[Terri Giffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy this series, primarily for the characters and their relationships with each other, especially through Genevieve’s autistic eyes. The plots are fairly simple and standard and sometimes the banter is more schtick than anything else, but I do find them to be a nice “filler” in between other books I read. They do make me want to keep turning the pages so for that they get an extra star.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A different sort of mystery, fast paced, interesting plot.

Even after this fourth installment of the Genevieve Lenard series I am still into this group of unusual characters. You really need to start reading from the first in the series to fully understand all the dynamics. They are fast paced, with interesting plots - try one - I think you'll be hooked.

[BRT · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another enjoyable art mystery with the intrepid, neuro-atypical Genevieve Lenard. She's becoming more adept at handing her symptoms because of, or in spite of, the new group of friends and compatriots she gained in her previous adventures. An old nemesis rises again & threatens the President of Gabon as well as the President of France.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Art, music, murder, espionage

Stollen Art, never found and the case never solved. A self centered, power loving, greedy, misogynist lying to ruin a good mans name. A sadistic murderer, who takes money to kill. Through in a well known artist, classical music and an autistic crime solver and you have a mystery!

[Sharon Saxton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a lot of different mystery series. What makes this one so special is that there is not a formula for what is going to happen. Something unique enters the action each time often propelled by the technology Ryan uses. But this one riffs on the famous Isabella Stewart Gardner heist. Just terrific.

[Dianne Charnley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A different and enjoyable read

It is an interesting perspective for the series by choosing the main character who has Autism. Makes me understand a little more about the non verbal cues that those in the spectrum would look for. Always an adventure for the unusual team of characters, their banter between them, as they seek out the truth and bring people to justice.

[Shari & Ed Galloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Doctor Lenard

I really enjoy all the characters in the Genevieve Lenard series but the main character, Doctor Genevieve Lenard is my favorite. She is smart, well educated, and works through the challenges her neurodiversity presents in her life not with ease, but determination. She also works through inevitable setbacks with reflection and redoubled determination. Admirable example for anyone, especially anyone who is not neurotypical.

[JL Ballard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a later book in the series, but it was the first one I read. Probably a good thing, 'cause I don't know if I would have continued to read the books after just the first one. The characters are all interesting and well rounded.

[Meredith A. Heimo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling series

This is my fourth Genevieve Lenard book I have read. She brings a unique characterization to the story with her ability to read body language. The art world gives a good background to revolve around.