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Lost and Found in Prague
The author of The Woman Who Heard Color transports readers to a dreary Good Friday in Prague in an "intriguing thriller"* as the mysterious death of a nun sets off a tangled chain of events that inexorably draws three strangers together—and forever changes their lives…
Just after the fall of the Berlin Wall, aspiring journalist Dana Pierson joined the hordes of young people traveling to Eastern Europe to be a part of history. There, she and her best friend were swept up in the excitement of the Velvet Revolution. Twenty years later, Dana returns to the city of her youthful rebellion to reconnect with her old confidant, who never left the city. But the visit that was reserved for healing intimacies and giddy reminiscences is marred by a strange death in one of Prague’s most famous Catholic churches—and an even more peculiar mystery surrounding it…
In a city where the past is never far from the present, Dana must work with a conflicted Italian priest and a world-weary Czech investigator to unlock dark secrets hidden in Prague’s twisted streets. But the key to solving the puzzle may lie in memories of Dana’s long-ago visit, even as she is forced to face the reality of a more recent loss…
* Publisher Weekly
Just after the fall of the Berlin Wall, aspiring journalist Dana Pierson joined the hordes of young people traveling to Eastern Europe to be a part of history. There, she and her best friend were swept up in the excitement of the Velvet Revolution. Twenty years later, Dana returns to the city of her youthful rebellion to reconnect with her old confidant, who never left the city. But the visit that was reserved for healing intimacies and giddy reminiscences is marred by a strange death in one of Prague’s most famous Catholic churches—and an even more peculiar mystery surrounding it…
In a city where the past is never far from the present, Dana must work with a conflicted Italian priest and a world-weary Czech investigator to unlock dark secrets hidden in Prague’s twisted streets. But the key to solving the puzzle may lie in memories of Dana’s long-ago visit, even as she is forced to face the reality of a more recent loss…
* Publisher Weekly
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 6, 2015
27 people are currently reading
576 people want to read
About the author
Kelly Jones
104 books88 followersKelly Jones grew up in Twin Falls, Idaho. She graduated from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, with a degree in English and an art minor. During her junior year in Italy she developed a love for both travel and art history.
Her Dana Pierson mystery series includes Lost and Found in Prague (2015), Bloodline and Wine (2019), and Angel Boy (October 2021.)
The Woman Who Heard Color (Berkley Books, October, 2011), is a historical novel set in Munich, Berlin, and New York. A story of family loyalty, banned art, and creative freedom, it spans a period of over a century.
Other novels include The Seventh Unicorn (Berkley Books, 2005), inspired by The Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries in the Cluny Museum in Paris, France, and The Lost Madonna (Berkley Books, 2007), set in Florence, Italy.
In her novella and short story collection, Evel Knievel Jumps the Snake River Canyon . . . and Other Stories Close to Home, she departs from these settings in a story set in her hometown of Twin Falls, Idaho.
She is a mother and grandmother and is married to former Idaho Attorney General Jim Jones, who also served on Idaho’s Supreme Court. They live in Boise.
Visit Kelly at http://www.kellyjonesbooks.com
Her Dana Pierson mystery series includes Lost and Found in Prague (2015), Bloodline and Wine (2019), and Angel Boy (October 2021.)
The Woman Who Heard Color (Berkley Books, October, 2011), is a historical novel set in Munich, Berlin, and New York. A story of family loyalty, banned art, and creative freedom, it spans a period of over a century.
Other novels include The Seventh Unicorn (Berkley Books, 2005), inspired by The Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries in the Cluny Museum in Paris, France, and The Lost Madonna (Berkley Books, 2007), set in Florence, Italy.
In her novella and short story collection, Evel Knievel Jumps the Snake River Canyon . . . and Other Stories Close to Home, she departs from these settings in a story set in her hometown of Twin Falls, Idaho.
She is a mother and grandmother and is married to former Idaho Attorney General Jim Jones, who also served on Idaho’s Supreme Court. They live in Boise.
Visit Kelly at http://www.kellyjonesbooks.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
March 25, 2015
It took me a little while to get into this book... so many Czech words with unfamiliar accent marks... but once I grew accustomed to those details, I couldn't put Lost and Found in Prague down. This book has not one main character but three. Dana, Dal, and Father Borelli each have distinct personal issues to work through as they work together (mostly) to solve the mystery of the missing Infant of Prague. Their stories mingle together comfortably, and I found myself cheering each of them along on the personal yet intertwined journeys. The ending was both promising and mysterious - a fitting conclusion to a well written, well paced mystery novel.
October 6, 2015
I wanted to love it. I tried to love it. I failed to love it. You would think that as a Prague-lover and a mystery lover I would have adored this but alas, we just had a lukewarm first date then called it quits. I won't discourage anyone from reading this- it is nicely written with a LOT of rather cumbersome and long drawn out descriptions and I never warmed up to the characters but each reader has her or his own tastes and this might be something you would love. I respect the book though I didn't fall in love with it.
Read
December 4, 2017I happened upon this at the library when over in the mystery aisles, and thought it sounded promising, as it involved a character returning to Prague twenty years after an initial visit around the time of the Velvet Revolution. Unfortunately, I found it disappointing.
Previous commentators seem divided between those who loved it and those who found it thin stuff. The book's fans find it rich and subtle, with three appealing protagonists, while those who didn't care for it complain that it's pedestrian, predictable, features too many nuns and priests, and lacks a real sense of Prague. I can see how it would appeal to some readers--it's not what I'd consider a "cozy" but probably suits fans of that sub-genre tolerably well. However, this book misses many opportunities, and its mix of minute detail and inaccuracy makes me wonder whether the author did her research on Prague without ever visiting the city (or if she spent a few days there once but isn't all that familiar with it). Yes, she knows street names, and usually spells things correctly, which is more than most Americans do. But the book is just full of things that feel "off."
One of the protagonists is a Czech homicide detective--a Chief Investigator named Dal Damek. This instantly sounded phony to me. Damek is a Czech nickname for Adam and doesn't sound like a surname, while if the detective's first name is Dalibor or Dalimil, his nickname isn't going to be Dal, but perhaps Borek, Libor, or Mila. Similarly, a minor character is called Bo, which is also not a normal nickname for a Czech. And then there's Branislov, whose name should be spelled BraniSLAV because "slov" and "slav" don't mean the same thing and the Czechs don't mess with baptismal name spellings. (I can't comment on whether the Czech Republic's police have titles like Chief Investigator, as my only direct experience with today's police force was when I reported a pickpocketing incident back in 2003 or thereabouts.) Verisimilitude in names may seem trivial to some readers but is important; if you read a book set in present-day Fargo, wouldn't you be surprised if the local farmers were named Mercutio, Nigel, and Melibea?
Catholicism is a major theme in the book, which is fine--Catholicism has a long history in Prague. But given that the Czech Republic is a strongly secular country, it seems as though a passing mention ought to be made that most Czechs (unlike most of the characters in the book) are not devout Catholics. Likewise, the description of Jan Hus as "a revered Protestant preacher who'd defied the Catholic Church" does not exactly make clear that Jan Hus was actually a Catholic priest and theologian burned at the stake for his efforts to reform the church and that the Hussites were among the first Protestants.
This leads me to the term "dissenter." Dissenter and dissident are indeed synonyms, but "dissenter" is a term one associates with British Nonconformist church members of bygone times, while "dissident" is the term used in English for Charter 77 signatories and their supporters. I was baffled that the author repeatedly referred to the Czech dissidents as "dissenters." Given that the Velvet Revolution is vital to the story here and that the author brings in Civic Forum, the StB, and so on, calling the dissidents "dissenters" is really peculiar. The first time I saw "dissenter," I thought the author meant someone who dissented from the dissidents' position.
So... lots of strange big and small missteps. The American, whose hotel is on Nerudova (so is in a tourist hotel but not in a big chain hotel), gets her breakfast coffee in a paper cup and walks down the street with it--not impossible, but so very unlikely in Prague. Likewise, that the hotel management slips her final bill under her door. (I've only had a bill under my door at big conference hotels in the US.)
Nitpicking aside, this book could have done so much with the premise of young American college graduates getting involved in the Velvet Revolution, one staying in Prague and the other not returning until twenty years later. With or without a murder mystery, this theme has huge promise, but it just wastes its potential. And yes, too many nuns, but not surprising that the priests are all Italian, because how many Czechs these days become priests? Not very many, I think.
Previous commentators seem divided between those who loved it and those who found it thin stuff. The book's fans find it rich and subtle, with three appealing protagonists, while those who didn't care for it complain that it's pedestrian, predictable, features too many nuns and priests, and lacks a real sense of Prague. I can see how it would appeal to some readers--it's not what I'd consider a "cozy" but probably suits fans of that sub-genre tolerably well. However, this book misses many opportunities, and its mix of minute detail and inaccuracy makes me wonder whether the author did her research on Prague without ever visiting the city (or if she spent a few days there once but isn't all that familiar with it). Yes, she knows street names, and usually spells things correctly, which is more than most Americans do. But the book is just full of things that feel "off."
One of the protagonists is a Czech homicide detective--a Chief Investigator named Dal Damek. This instantly sounded phony to me. Damek is a Czech nickname for Adam and doesn't sound like a surname, while if the detective's first name is Dalibor or Dalimil, his nickname isn't going to be Dal, but perhaps Borek, Libor, or Mila. Similarly, a minor character is called Bo, which is also not a normal nickname for a Czech. And then there's Branislov, whose name should be spelled BraniSLAV because "slov" and "slav" don't mean the same thing and the Czechs don't mess with baptismal name spellings. (I can't comment on whether the Czech Republic's police have titles like Chief Investigator, as my only direct experience with today's police force was when I reported a pickpocketing incident back in 2003 or thereabouts.) Verisimilitude in names may seem trivial to some readers but is important; if you read a book set in present-day Fargo, wouldn't you be surprised if the local farmers were named Mercutio, Nigel, and Melibea?
Catholicism is a major theme in the book, which is fine--Catholicism has a long history in Prague. But given that the Czech Republic is a strongly secular country, it seems as though a passing mention ought to be made that most Czechs (unlike most of the characters in the book) are not devout Catholics. Likewise, the description of Jan Hus as "a revered Protestant preacher who'd defied the Catholic Church" does not exactly make clear that Jan Hus was actually a Catholic priest and theologian burned at the stake for his efforts to reform the church and that the Hussites were among the first Protestants.
This leads me to the term "dissenter." Dissenter and dissident are indeed synonyms, but "dissenter" is a term one associates with British Nonconformist church members of bygone times, while "dissident" is the term used in English for Charter 77 signatories and their supporters. I was baffled that the author repeatedly referred to the Czech dissidents as "dissenters." Given that the Velvet Revolution is vital to the story here and that the author brings in Civic Forum, the StB, and so on, calling the dissidents "dissenters" is really peculiar. The first time I saw "dissenter," I thought the author meant someone who dissented from the dissidents' position.
So... lots of strange big and small missteps. The American, whose hotel is on Nerudova (so is in a tourist hotel but not in a big chain hotel), gets her breakfast coffee in a paper cup and walks down the street with it--not impossible, but so very unlikely in Prague. Likewise, that the hotel management slips her final bill under her door. (I've only had a bill under my door at big conference hotels in the US.)
Nitpicking aside, this book could have done so much with the premise of young American college graduates getting involved in the Velvet Revolution, one staying in Prague and the other not returning until twenty years later. With or without a murder mystery, this theme has huge promise, but it just wastes its potential. And yes, too many nuns, but not surprising that the priests are all Italian, because how many Czechs these days become priests? Not very many, I think.
March 27, 2021
I really liked this book - a good mystery with characters that were not cliche. Jones tells a good, believable story with characters that you care about and want to spend more time with. It seems I have discovered a new author and a new series.
October 22, 2015
I received this book as an ARC at the ALA Midwinter meeting.
I always appreciate a sense of place in a book and this book has a wonderful sense of place. The cast of characters includes a police detective, a Vatican official and an American tourist. Unlike a Dan Brown thriller, no one is chased down by an evil mastermind planning the destruction of the planet, no one falls in love and no one performs superhuman feats. This is a mystery with three detectives working toward the same goal with different methods. The three actors tease apart the clues and solve this mystery with ties back to the Velvet Revolution. Dana Pierson is traveling to Prague to visit a cousin who has lived in a closed abbey as a Carmelite nun for twenty years, but on her arrival, she finds that her cousin cannot meet her because of a death among the sisters. The nuns are disturbed because at the same time as her death, the Infant of Prague was stolen from the cathedral. Dana agrees to help them and sets off to investigate a crime in city where she does not speak the language. Father Giovanni Borelli is in Prague at the request of a childhood friend to investigate the loss of the Infant of Prague. Borelli adds a sense of glamour to the search, a serious gourmand, Father Borelli does not believe in denying the flesh when it comes to wine, food and tobacco. Chief Investigator Dal Damek is tied up with another murder, that of a powerful senator, when he is approached by Father Borelli with questions about his investigation of the nun's death and then Dana Pierson with a trumped up interview regarding post revolution crime, during which she snoops through his file on the nun's death. He is suspicious of them both but reopens the investigation when he is told the Infant of Prague has been stolen.
Very much recommended for those who like books with complicated plots, realistic characters, and moody suspense.
I always appreciate a sense of place in a book and this book has a wonderful sense of place. The cast of characters includes a police detective, a Vatican official and an American tourist. Unlike a Dan Brown thriller, no one is chased down by an evil mastermind planning the destruction of the planet, no one falls in love and no one performs superhuman feats. This is a mystery with three detectives working toward the same goal with different methods. The three actors tease apart the clues and solve this mystery with ties back to the Velvet Revolution. Dana Pierson is traveling to Prague to visit a cousin who has lived in a closed abbey as a Carmelite nun for twenty years, but on her arrival, she finds that her cousin cannot meet her because of a death among the sisters. The nuns are disturbed because at the same time as her death, the Infant of Prague was stolen from the cathedral. Dana agrees to help them and sets off to investigate a crime in city where she does not speak the language. Father Giovanni Borelli is in Prague at the request of a childhood friend to investigate the loss of the Infant of Prague. Borelli adds a sense of glamour to the search, a serious gourmand, Father Borelli does not believe in denying the flesh when it comes to wine, food and tobacco. Chief Investigator Dal Damek is tied up with another murder, that of a powerful senator, when he is approached by Father Borelli with questions about his investigation of the nun's death and then Dana Pierson with a trumped up interview regarding post revolution crime, during which she snoops through his file on the nun's death. He is suspicious of them both but reopens the investigation when he is told the Infant of Prague has been stolen.
Very much recommended for those who like books with complicated plots, realistic characters, and moody suspense.
January 8, 2015
LOST AND FOUND IN PRAGUE is a complex, multi-layered mystery involving a politician's recent murder that has possible ties to a priceless holy relic and events that took place during the Velvet Revolution. Dana, an American journalist, last visited Prague in 1989 during the protests of Communist rule. Her cousin Caroline stayed in the city, but she has called Dana back to help investigate a suspicious death at Our Lady Victorious church. She then gets pulled into an even bigger mystery involving the murder of a senator and the Infant of Prague holy relic.
The plot was complicated, but I was intrigued to find out how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together. My mind was spinning at times trying to keep the details straight, since past events kept overlapping with the present. I enjoyed learning the back stories of the characters (most of whom where troubled) and how they related to the mystery. I was especially curious about Caroline, and her decision to stay in Prague 20 years earlier. My favorite character was the city of Prague itself. The author did a great job bringing this fascinating Eastern European city and its rich history to life. 3.5 Stars.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The plot was complicated, but I was intrigued to find out how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together. My mind was spinning at times trying to keep the details straight, since past events kept overlapping with the present. I enjoyed learning the back stories of the characters (most of whom where troubled) and how they related to the mystery. I was especially curious about Caroline, and her decision to stay in Prague 20 years earlier. My favorite character was the city of Prague itself. The author did a great job bringing this fascinating Eastern European city and its rich history to life. 3.5 Stars.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
June 11, 2017
The premise of this novel had so much potential, but it ended up delivering a read with some flat and tedious characters and a plot that wrapped up too succinctly. If less time was spent on repeating plot points in a brief novel, there may have been more room for character development to make readers actually care about the protagonist, Dana Pierson, and the mystery she finds herself involved in on a visit to Prague.
January 21, 2015
I did not like this book... and I think it might just be me. The issue I had with this book is that from the moment I started to read it, I could not get into it. Nothing in the beginning captured me enough to engage me, and it ended up being more of a hassle to read than a pleasure.
Thanks Edelweiss
1.5 stars.
Thanks Edelweiss
1.5 stars.
November 30, 2014
Being that it was set in an exotic East European locale involving an American journalist, a Czech detective, and an Italian priest, I was expecting a lot from this mystery. Unfortunately, I never really felt intrigued while reading it, and was totally disappointed with the ending and then even more so with the epilogue. Both of them easy, complete, and total copouts
July 14, 2015
I really enjoyed this cast of characters. The solving of the mystery kept me reading with anticipation until the end. I loved the way all the intricate pieces fell together at the conclusion. A well written, well researched, intriguing novel.
October 31, 2016
It was fun to read about walking around in Prague and learning about the Infant Jesus of Prague (which I first came across while looking for vintage Japanese planters on ebay!) and never did see when I was in Prague!
May 18, 2019
I actually went to an author signing for the second book in this series, Bloodline and Wine, and of course had to buy this one so I would be up to date before reading the second. This was an enjoyable taking place in Prague during present day times, but the roots of the story were wrapped up with the Velvet Revolution that occurred when Czechoslovakia's students, artists, musicians, and youth led the movement that ousted the Communists from their country. The mystery also concerns The Infant of Prague, a small statue of the Infant Jesus tended by the Carmelite nuns that has a reputation for religious miracles and healings. An American woman who is a journalist is visiting Prague to see her cousin. The two girls had been in Prague when they were in their 20s and had been involved in the Revolution. Dana had returned home, her cousin Caroline had remained in the country and had entered the convent, becoming one of the Carmelite nuns. When Dana arrives on this, her first visit back to Prague, now in her early 40s, the convent is closed due to the death of one of the elderly nuns. This begins the search for the truth about several deaths and the Infant icon. Dana forms a collaboration with and aging Italian priest and a Czech police detective. Dana is also dealing with personal loss, tragedy and anger in her life which overshadows the story. I liked the characters, and Czech history is something completely new to me, other than headlines from the past, so I learned a great deal also.
December 2, 2025
Lost and Found in Prague by Kelly Jones is a taut, atmospheric thriller that threads past and present together with precision and emotional depth. Set against the haunting backdrop of post-Velvet Revolution Prague, the story begins with the mysterious death of a nun and spirals into a tightly wound puzzle of secrets, loss, and history that refuses to stay buried.
Jones excels at creating characters whose emotional landscapes are as intricate as the city itself. Dana Pierson’s return to Prague two decades after the heady days of the Velvet Revolution is more than a homecoming; it’s a reckoning with memory, grief, and the unexpected ways the past shapes the present. Paired with a conflicted Italian priest and a world-weary Czech investigator, Dana navigates a labyrinth of danger, intrigue, and moral ambiguity, forcing readers to question what is hidden versus what is remembered.
The novel’s strength lies in its combination of psychological suspense and historical richness. Jones captures Prague’s twisting streets and layered history, turning the city itself into a character that observes, judges, and occasionally shields its secrets. Fans of The Girl in the Spider’s Web, The Historian, or The Shadow of the Wind will find themselves immersed in a story that balances cerebral mystery with human stakes a thriller where solving the puzzle demands reckoning with the self.
Jones excels at creating characters whose emotional landscapes are as intricate as the city itself. Dana Pierson’s return to Prague two decades after the heady days of the Velvet Revolution is more than a homecoming; it’s a reckoning with memory, grief, and the unexpected ways the past shapes the present. Paired with a conflicted Italian priest and a world-weary Czech investigator, Dana navigates a labyrinth of danger, intrigue, and moral ambiguity, forcing readers to question what is hidden versus what is remembered.
The novel’s strength lies in its combination of psychological suspense and historical richness. Jones captures Prague’s twisting streets and layered history, turning the city itself into a character that observes, judges, and occasionally shields its secrets. Fans of The Girl in the Spider’s Web, The Historian, or The Shadow of the Wind will find themselves immersed in a story that balances cerebral mystery with human stakes a thriller where solving the puzzle demands reckoning with the self.
August 3, 2017
I find it interesting how so many people can read the same book and come to different conclusions. I do not understand how others did not like this one! The book is well written with a plot that flows with little confusion. I am a sucker for historical fiction. I loved learning about the city of Prague and the velvet revolution. The story involves 3 strong characters. A priest, an American journalist and a Czech investigator. The trio works together to solve the recent string of murders and the involvement of a missing religious relic. The author sets the reader up right away with a Nun collapsing at the altar. There is no crazy twists and turns, but the way she writes captivates the reader. So begins the steady pace of a good old fashion "who dun It" mystery.
June 20, 2025
I think I've been gifted every book by an American set in Prague, and I never enjoy them. Am I overprotective and hypocritical? Probably, but I didn't write a book so y'all can't judge me back. There are some errors here, in geography and language, which stand out because it does seem that care was taken in being accurate - just not quite enough. But more importantly this ultimately isn't a story of Prague, despite the trappings of political intrigue and general scenery. There is a way to tell an interesting and even fun mystery that also explores the difficulties of lustration and post-revolution politics, and this isn't it.
February 15, 2024
Dana flies to Prague to visit her sister at a Convent in Prague, only to find another nun has died at an old age, but possibly murdered. Dana has a tenacious talent for investigating facts as she is a journalist on holiday. An inquisitive priest befriends her on the plane on the way to Prague and becomes a very good friend. Her past history catches up with her from 20 years ago, as she attempts to find answers about the nuns death. I really enjoyed reading this story and am interested in reading the remaining two books in this series.
October 22, 2017
This book was great. It was a little slow in the beginning and I am always wary of books that go back and forth in time. However this was definitely worth the read. You really get to know the characters and feel for their struggles. This book intricately weaves together 3 characters with different backgrounds and different ages into a moving story of forgiveness, change, and revolution.
I will definitely be reading more by this author!
I will definitely be reading more by this author!
November 2, 2017
Finally I have a new author.
This book held my attention throughout. The characters were three dimensional and I could relate to their humanity. The three main characters had actual weaknesses and pain. I liked that the ending was atypical as well. The author walked a fine line between religion and mysticism and carried it off.
The locale was one I had visited and now revisted via the story.
This book held my attention throughout. The characters were three dimensional and I could relate to their humanity. The three main characters had actual weaknesses and pain. I liked that the ending was atypical as well. The author walked a fine line between religion and mysticism and carried it off.
The locale was one I had visited and now revisted via the story.
March 31, 2020
This book was hard to get into, but I was able to find the author's writing style. The book became intriguing, with the different characters interaction. Dana the American, the Italian Father Giovanni Borelli, and Dal Damek, the Czech Police investigator. They all meet in Prague, after an aging Nun, is found dead in a church. This is Dana's first time back there in 20 years. Can the past help them find out what happened now. Intriguing.
January 21, 2024
I loved this book, the setting, the characters. I’m not really a mystery reader, but this has more to it than most. The characters were well written and complex, the political history interesting, the pacing even. Easy to get lost in, although all the Czech names were hard for me to keep track of at first!
I just read that there are two more sequels about these characters, which puts the epilogue into a totally different light.
I just read that there are two more sequels about these characters, which puts the epilogue into a totally different light.
September 26, 2017
Wanted to like this one more because I fell in love with Prague this summer. This book didn't give me much of a feel of the atmosphere of the city, or much depth to its history, or even life in Prague today. The story lines were forced to come together in the last few pages, but I didn't really care too much by then as I couldn't get invested in the characters.
December 23, 2017
It is easily a 3.5 with a very interesting plot and a mystery that encompasses Prague, the Catholic Church, a murder. I enjoyed the story being set in Prague and I certainly have found Kelly Jones' books very readable. She mixes a historic setting with some kind of mystery. I do recommend this book.
March 1, 2022
Good book! Kept my attention from start to finish. I visited Prague years ago and it was fun to wander thru the streets again in my mind - the author did a wonderful job of describing scenes. The character names were a bit hard to keep straight but I think it actually helped me to focus. I have already started the next book and it seems just as great.
May 23, 2018
At first I was trying to understand where the author was going with the characters. After little time I was enthralled and almost couldn’t put the book down. There are some twists and turns which made the book more intriguing. Overall I am glad I picked up this book.
December 28, 2023
It was a lukewarm read but it read very easily. I would read this by the pool for something easy and light. The author did a good job tying up the loose ends but it wasn’t my cup of tea and leaned towards the political side over murder mystery.
March 2, 2024
A European City setting, history, intrigue, a mysterious death and a journalist and a priest joining forces to help to solve the mystery of a missing Holy Infant Icon - there's lots to like in this novel. Kelly Jones is a great storyteller and writes beautifully. I enjoyed this book.
July 17, 2017
Not great and I'd have given it a 2.5 if I could.
June 24, 2018
I didn't like this book as much as The Woman who heard color, so in that way the book was a bit of a disappointment. I would say it was a so so mystery.
March 15, 2020
3.5 stars
April 6, 2015
This book has many layers of mystery and intrigue. Chief Investigator Damek of the Czech National Police Force is investigating the murder of a prominent politician. Dana Pierson, an American reporter, is returning to Prague after a twenty-year absence to visit her cousin Caroline, who is now Sister Agnes. On the flight to Prague, she meets Father Borelli who has been called to Prague by his friend Father Ruffino. Sister Agnes does not show up for her set appointment with Dana as there has been a death among the order, an elderly nun. However Sister Agnes does leave a note indicating that the famous Infant of Prague has been stolen and a fake is in its place. Thus begins a dangerous cat and mouse chase that brings Dana, Damek and Borelli together. It quickly comes to Dana that perhaps the youth she and Caroline were involved with twenty years previously, the time of the Velvet Revolution, may be behind these strange occurrences.
I had to read slowly and carefully as there were several plots involved. Also the unfamiliarity with Czech names and places required a bit more effort. However, it was worth the effort. The writing is quite descriptive and I could feel the emotions of the characters. I really cared about Damek, Dana, and Borelli. They had their flaws which made them that much more real. I got wrapped up in the personal stories of Damek and Dana. The political intrigue kept me wondering as to who could trust whom. I loved how the author brought Prague to life through her descriptions. I definitely will be reading more of her books.
Additional note: Visit her website at kellyjonesbooks.com to see photos of the places mentioned in the book.
I had to read slowly and carefully as there were several plots involved. Also the unfamiliarity with Czech names and places required a bit more effort. However, it was worth the effort. The writing is quite descriptive and I could feel the emotions of the characters. I really cared about Damek, Dana, and Borelli. They had their flaws which made them that much more real. I got wrapped up in the personal stories of Damek and Dana. The political intrigue kept me wondering as to who could trust whom. I loved how the author brought Prague to life through her descriptions. I definitely will be reading more of her books.
Additional note: Visit her website at kellyjonesbooks.com to see photos of the places mentioned in the book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews