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Genevieve Lenard #21
The Fuseli Connection
Destroyed masterpieces. Budding artists. AI.
In a world where art can be both priceless and perilous, Doctor Genevieve Lenard and her unorthodox team are thrust into a high-stakes investigation when three valuable paintings spontaneously ignite at one of the world's most esteemed museums.
As the flames flicker out, a chilling wave of threats cascades across other cultural institutions, hinting at a cunning arsonist with a sinister plan to obliterate humanity's artistic heritage. With the pressure mounting, Genevieve must decode cryptic messages and look for connections in every tiny detail.
Racing against the clock, the team grapples with an elusive enemy whose motivations remain shrouded in mystery. Genevieve and her team have to use all the tools at their disposal to uncover the truth and thwart the next attack before it's too late—before the world is left to mourn its irreplaceable masterpieces and before someone gets hurt. Or worse.
In a world where art can be both priceless and perilous, Doctor Genevieve Lenard and her unorthodox team are thrust into a high-stakes investigation when three valuable paintings spontaneously ignite at one of the world's most esteemed museums.
As the flames flicker out, a chilling wave of threats cascades across other cultural institutions, hinting at a cunning arsonist with a sinister plan to obliterate humanity's artistic heritage. With the pressure mounting, Genevieve must decode cryptic messages and look for connections in every tiny detail.
Racing against the clock, the team grapples with an elusive enemy whose motivations remain shrouded in mystery. Genevieve and her team have to use all the tools at their disposal to uncover the truth and thwart the next attack before it's too late—before the world is left to mourn its irreplaceable masterpieces and before someone gets hurt. Or worse.
Kindle Edition
Published February 27, 2025
91 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
Estelle Ryan
31 books625 followersEstelle 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 28, 2025
A friend of Colin’s who works at an art gallery is in distress after receiving an email warning of paintings being burned. It turns out many large galleries all over Europe received the same message, and Manny’s also asked to work on the case.
Three paintings by Fuseli are burned, and the team learns that a special incendiary paper was used with a trigger being the culprit calling a phone number. There’s a pattern to the flames and Francine identifies it as an AI company logo.
The paintings are forgeries, which means this thief took the paintings and installed copies, and there are eleven more found in several galleries.
The case brings them to London, where Manny’s ex, Amy, and her husband, Stephen, who runs Tate Britain, help the team. An MI5 agent, Nazir, is an enemy of Daniel’s who beat him up, and he’s come to help but also make amends.
They work in a remodelled monastery, and put together that the paintings are related to various Shakespearean plays. Further emails are sent that contain Shakespearean quotes from various plays talking about revenge.
The criminal gives them a deadline to find him, and Jenny figures out the quotes are from different acts and scenes that can be used as GPS coordinates. They arrive to get the last coordinate, where the thief lived with his aunt.
She explains that he’s unhinged, and he inherited money from his grandmother that he spent on this elaborate plan. They return to London and Amy calls to tell them the man came into their home and took Stephen, her husband.
It turns out they’re in the basement if the monastery, and Genevieve is able to talk to him and see his gun is a toy, though the paintings around them are the genuine ones.
They save Stephen, the artworks, and the ill man is in an institution for treatment. The AI link is that the man worked for a company but was let go, and he chose Stephen as a target because his amateur art was rejected for the Tate.
I loved this book, with lots of interesting views on AI mixed in with the Shakespearean clues and the artworks. There’s so much to learn when I read this series, and the characters and their adventures are unique and amusing.
Can’t wait for more.
Three paintings by Fuseli are burned, and the team learns that a special incendiary paper was used with a trigger being the culprit calling a phone number. There’s a pattern to the flames and Francine identifies it as an AI company logo.
The paintings are forgeries, which means this thief took the paintings and installed copies, and there are eleven more found in several galleries.
The case brings them to London, where Manny’s ex, Amy, and her husband, Stephen, who runs Tate Britain, help the team. An MI5 agent, Nazir, is an enemy of Daniel’s who beat him up, and he’s come to help but also make amends.
They work in a remodelled monastery, and put together that the paintings are related to various Shakespearean plays. Further emails are sent that contain Shakespearean quotes from various plays talking about revenge.
The criminal gives them a deadline to find him, and Jenny figures out the quotes are from different acts and scenes that can be used as GPS coordinates. They arrive to get the last coordinate, where the thief lived with his aunt.
She explains that he’s unhinged, and he inherited money from his grandmother that he spent on this elaborate plan. They return to London and Amy calls to tell them the man came into their home and took Stephen, her husband.
It turns out they’re in the basement if the monastery, and Genevieve is able to talk to him and see his gun is a toy, though the paintings around them are the genuine ones.
They save Stephen, the artworks, and the ill man is in an institution for treatment. The AI link is that the man worked for a company but was let go, and he chose Stephen as a target because his amateur art was rejected for the Tate.
I loved this book, with lots of interesting views on AI mixed in with the Shakespearean clues and the artworks. There’s so much to learn when I read this series, and the characters and their adventures are unique and amusing.
Can’t wait for more.
April 11, 2025
I continue to really enjoy the adventures of Genevieve and her friends -- well, really her family. Partly, it's just having characters who have positive attributes like: morality, ethics, honesty, and empathy. Not to say they're all perfect, but they're all real and always trying to be their best. Mostly, they care about each other.
In this case, they're called in to look into some artwork that seems to have spontaneously combusted. They quickly realize the good news is that the works that burned were actually forgeries. The bad news is that the person behind it has promised to burn more AND they have no idea where the real paintings are. There's a real danger of damage to priceless artworks, not to mention injury to people.
The investigation takes them to England and hinges on Colin's knowledge of the artist Fuseli, and Genevieve's ability to connect the dots with the Shakesperean clues the vandal is leaving, as well as Francine's knowledge of AI and how it is used/abused/approved/despised in the arts community. It's fairly action packed and moves quickly to a satisfying conclusion.
This is one of the few series that I regularly spend money on -- partly, I admit, because they don't appear in Kindle Unlimited nor are they in most Library catalogs. But they're also well priced for very well written stories.
In this case, they're called in to look into some artwork that seems to have spontaneously combusted. They quickly realize the good news is that the works that burned were actually forgeries. The bad news is that the person behind it has promised to burn more AND they have no idea where the real paintings are. There's a real danger of damage to priceless artworks, not to mention injury to people.
The investigation takes them to England and hinges on Colin's knowledge of the artist Fuseli, and Genevieve's ability to connect the dots with the Shakesperean clues the vandal is leaving, as well as Francine's knowledge of AI and how it is used/abused/approved/despised in the arts community. It's fairly action packed and moves quickly to a satisfying conclusion.
This is one of the few series that I regularly spend money on -- partly, I admit, because they don't appear in Kindle Unlimited nor are they in most Library catalogs. But they're also well priced for very well written stories.
March 1, 2025
The Fuseli Connection (Book 22 of the Genevieve Lenard series) was another great read from Estelle Ryan, though it is still a shorter story than her first books. In the last several, Ryan leaves out a lot of the back-and-forth the characters go through while solving the case in the team room (or wherever they are if they travel for a case).
She also leaves out some of Genevieve's quirks caused by her autistic brain. For example, in this book, they had to take a helicopter flight - Genevieve was not arguing about it with Manny or with herself.
Francine didn't have the frustration of looking for the criminal. I almost missed where Ryan revealed the criminal's real name. In fact, I had to go back and reread that - my thought was, "Wait, how did they figure that one out?"
Yes, clues led up to it, but the fine details that Ryan usually includes were missing.
I know a lot of people prefer less detail, but what made this series for me was the excessive detail, which was actually interaction and connection between the characters. Still, it's a 5-star read.
I'm looking forward to more, hopefully with more of those pesky details! I know they will take longer to write, and like many others, I'm impatient, but...
She also leaves out some of Genevieve's quirks caused by her autistic brain. For example, in this book, they had to take a helicopter flight - Genevieve was not arguing about it with Manny or with herself.
Francine didn't have the frustration of looking for the criminal. I almost missed where Ryan revealed the criminal's real name. In fact, I had to go back and reread that - my thought was, "Wait, how did they figure that one out?"
Yes, clues led up to it, but the fine details that Ryan usually includes were missing.
I know a lot of people prefer less detail, but what made this series for me was the excessive detail, which was actually interaction and connection between the characters. Still, it's a 5-star read.
I'm looking forward to more, hopefully with more of those pesky details! I know they will take longer to write, and like many others, I'm impatient, but...
March 4, 2025
Entertained but disappointed.
It seems that the last 3 books have followed a particular pattern : lots more geographical location . I am not sure as to the purpose of that. Some is good but it feels like it is mostly filler. The relationship descriptions seem much more surface: people do the same things in each book, and the same words used to describe relationships: Bestest bestie, best female and male friend, Manny always being gruff with Genevieve and her always recognizing he is correct. And in the last book in the epilogue there was a description of the housing situation and Genevieve's concern about Phillip. That same piece was near the beginning. An editing issue ?
Perhaps lots of pressure to keep churning these out?
It seems that the last 3 books have followed a particular pattern : lots more geographical location . I am not sure as to the purpose of that. Some is good but it feels like it is mostly filler. The relationship descriptions seem much more surface: people do the same things in each book, and the same words used to describe relationships: Bestest bestie, best female and male friend, Manny always being gruff with Genevieve and her always recognizing he is correct. And in the last book in the epilogue there was a description of the housing situation and Genevieve's concern about Phillip. That same piece was near the beginning. An editing issue ?
Perhaps lots of pressure to keep churning these out?
October 27, 2025
I enjoyed this installment in the Genevieve Lenard series. Having read all of the books thus far, I am very acquainted with the characters as they seem like old friends. Ms. Ryan's use of Shakespearean quotes in this story was interesting; to be able to use multiple quotes intertwined in the characters' conversations and pertain to the mystery they are working to solve is simply genius. It's quite apparent that she did much research to make them flow so smoothly. Tackling the growing concern of nefarious AI usage was also very intriguing. I enjoy how she seemed to effortlessly weave together a story with elements from both the Shakespearean period as well as contemporary society.
I look forward to the next book in this series.
I look forward to the next book in this series.
March 1, 2025
Artificial Intelligence be damned!
“And therein lies the conundrum.” Francine looked at me. “What do you think about AI?”
And therein lies the focus of this, the 22nd book of Estelle Ryan 's marvelous series centered around non neurormative Dr Genevieve Leonard and her "family" of art experts and computer geeks and some with just plain military backgrounds.
These days Artificial Intelligence is a hit topic that Estelle Ryan has done a lot of study on to be this knowledgeable and keep my interest as I abhor AI and avoid it at all possible. But weaving state of the art with state of the mind and Shakespeare? Leave it to Genevieve! Highly Recommended 5/5
“And therein lies the conundrum.” Francine looked at me. “What do you think about AI?”
And therein lies the focus of this, the 22nd book of Estelle Ryan 's marvelous series centered around non neurormative Dr Genevieve Leonard and her "family" of art experts and computer geeks and some with just plain military backgrounds.
These days Artificial Intelligence is a hit topic that Estelle Ryan has done a lot of study on to be this knowledgeable and keep my interest as I abhor AI and avoid it at all possible. But weaving state of the art with state of the mind and Shakespeare? Leave it to Genevieve! Highly Recommended 5/5
April 16, 2025
such a treat
How is it possible that after 21 books Estelle Ryan can capture and entertain long time readers with a new crime and creative investigation. And of course a diverse and amazing cast of people I always looking forward to being with them again.
The entire series moves in great cohesion and unity but each book can be fully enjoyed on its own except for the main character and her continuing emotional growth
Do your self a favor and read them all from the beginning !
How is it possible that after 21 books Estelle Ryan can capture and entertain long time readers with a new crime and creative investigation. And of course a diverse and amazing cast of people I always looking forward to being with them again.
The entire series moves in great cohesion and unity but each book can be fully enjoyed on its own except for the main character and her continuing emotional growth
Do your self a favor and read them all from the beginning !
March 2, 2025
Better and Better
Ryan's series with a neurodivergent protagonist gets better with each new book. At a time when we all seem to want to rip each other apart, her characters come together in love and friendship, supporting each other as they hunt down the bad guys. Can't wait for the next installment!
Ryan's series with a neurodivergent protagonist gets better with each new book. At a time when we all seem to want to rip each other apart, her characters come together in love and friendship, supporting each other as they hunt down the bad guys. Can't wait for the next installment!
March 5, 2025
Genevieve and her team at their finest!!!
I don't know much about art, but it's always explained so you feel like you're on the team.
I love these books!!!!
The places they go, the details they uncover, it's all so involving!!! And the feeling of love the team has for each other is brillantly portrayed.
Fabulous book!!!
I don't know much about art, but it's always explained so you feel like you're on the team.
I love these books!!!!
The places they go, the details they uncover, it's all so involving!!! And the feeling of love the team has for each other is brillantly portrayed.
Fabulous book!!!
March 6, 2025
Great read!
Another excellent story in the Genevieve Lenard series. Compelling, intriguing and informative. Mystery, mayhem, classical art, classical music, and AI. What more could you want? Keep writing please Estelle Ryan!
Another excellent story in the Genevieve Lenard series. Compelling, intriguing and informative. Mystery, mayhem, classical art, classical music, and AI. What more could you want? Keep writing please Estelle Ryan!
March 9, 2025
one of the best!
Have enjoyed the entire series
The growth of the cast and their relationships are lovely and add to the zest. Good plots. Great villains all add up to a great series that is fun to read
Have enjoyed the entire series
The growth of the cast and their relationships are lovely and add to the zest. Good plots. Great villains all add up to a great series that is fun to read
February 28, 2025
Another fabulous, action packed read from Estelle Ryan!
March 1, 2025
intricate as always
I love all of the Genevieve Lenard books even though they are getting shorter. I read this book in one day.
I love all of the Genevieve Lenard books even though they are getting shorter. I read this book in one day.
March 1, 2025
new editor?
I LOVE this series and enjoy the characters interactions but this time there were several typos/editing issues. Hope it gets back to the excellence I enjoy
I LOVE this series and enjoy the characters interactions but this time there were several typos/editing issues. Hope it gets back to the excellence I enjoy
March 2, 2025
Another excellent book in this series!
May 17, 2025
The method for destroying art was really fascinating in this one. Great mystery, fun location going to London, fun to get more of Manny’s history. Really enjoyed Genevieve in the ending!
October 22, 2025
I am a fan but starting to feel very formulaic with less care and attention to characters and story.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews