Artifacts

by Natalie Lemle

Successful trusts and estates attorney Lena Connolly is asked by a colleague to assist on a the Italian government claims an artifact was looted and sold to a museum illegally and is seeking repatriation. The object in question is a cup made of dichroic glass, which would have been rare even in Ancient Rome, let alone thousands of years later.

Lena has done everything she can to put the study abroad summer she spent on an archaeological dig in the Italian Alps behind her. Her dreams of being an archaeologist shattered when her mentor Cyrille disappeared and her enigmatic boyfriend Giamma went dark, but with this new case, the past comes roaring back.

Told in alternating timelines, Artifacts follows young Lena as she falls in love with both archaeology and Giamma on the streets of Torino while her adult self pieces together what truly happened on the dig, now a fully restored Roman villa with World Heritage status. The dichroic cup, Lena discovers, may have been taken from the very site she helped unearth.

Powerful and exuberant, Natalie Lemle’s Artifacts brings readers behind the museum glass and asks questions about cultural heritage and the historical preservation of our shared sense of humanity.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Italy, Mystery Thriller, Romance, Art

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 19, 2026

About the author

Natalie Lemle studied classics and art history at Tufts University and earned an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College. She is the founder of art_works, an art advisory connecting contemporary artists with global companies, and previously worked in corporate relations at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She serves on the boards of the ICA/Boston and the Associates of the Boston Public Library. Artifacts is her first novel.

Reviews

[Matt Bender · Rating 3 out of 5]

Artifacts is a mystery-thriller about an archeological dig excavating a Roman villa in the Italian Alps. Lena, the protagonist works at the site as an undergrad, and 20 years later she becomes involved in connected case about stolen heritage items as a lawyer. The legal case becomes a reason for her to reconstruct the people and events of her college experience in Italy.

There’s quite a bit to like about the plot and the story is relatively propulsive. At first I thought the novel’s themes would be about memory, nostalgia, history and art, or maybe a literary exploration of who owns art and history. Those themes, to the degree they were present, end up so far in the background of the mystery plot that they felt neglected. I was also a bit overwhelmed by the degree everything was connected in the end while struggling to grasp why I should be worried about danger for anyone or whether I cared about ‘ndragheta and corruption. On top of all of this, Lena, was a struggle for me as a character because she is so passive and so naive. Her decisions as a lawyer also annoyed me because they seemed implausible and her sole affirmative act to investigate her own connection to the case seemed to veer into ethical violations of her duty of confidentiality and loyalty for no good reason.

I think the novel will appeal to people that hate loose ends and want a page turner, but I think it could have been a stronger novel if it had been more character driven and nuanced.

[Pfeffers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was hooked early. The “who done it” and “how will it end” kept me up late at night rooting for Lena. And Natalie paints such a vivid picture of NYC and Italy I felt I was right there with her.

I’ll have to read this again because the amount and layers of historical detail and references to ancient civilizations are incredible and I’m sure there are many more layers of meaning I’ll get on a second or third read. Would be great for a bookclub to discuss with friends to really see the complexity of the case from different perspectives and to reflect on the role of archeology, museums, and historic objects in reflecting the past.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely interesting historical fiction combined with mystery and suspense. I loved the historical details throughout which kept me reading more than the mystery.

Some of Lena’s personal story could have used some additional editing, but the characters surrounding the dig, the artifacts’ theft and black market dealings were intriguing.

Four rating based on length and editing needs but overall entertaining and compelling history. I look forward to the author’s next book.

Thanks to Edelweiss and Simon and Schuster.

[Angelie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is thick with detail and brings to light the ethical concerns of cultural heritage, theft, ownership rights, and history aspects of discovered artifacts. That aspect was intriguing. Personally, I am big on character development and connecting to a main character in my favorite reads, and this book was less compelling on that front.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Dena Schulze · Rating 3 out of 5]

A unique archaeological adventure with tons of detail, but the plot was pretty hard to track. I appreciated the research, even if the story didn’t fully pull me in.

[Nawal Qadir · Rating 4 out of 5]

(w) (wish i was summering in italy on a morally questionable yet undeniably cool archeological dig where i randomly met my morally questionable yet hot italian fling who sends me into a trauma spiral about my morally questionable yet alluring professor a decade later)

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-crafted novel that blends mystery and suspense with history and archaeology, demonstrating how they often intersect in unsavory ways.

This is a novel that requires a bit of knowledge coming in, so I’m not sure it has the commercial appeal of, say, The Cloisters or The Bequest. As someone with an academic background in this stuff, I found it refreshingly intricate and far better informed about the realities of museums and acquisitions than most Fiction that touches on the subject.

Though I’m not sure I fully agreed with the ultimate conclusion reached here from a moral and academic standpoint, this book did do a very good job of recognizing that repatriation and the acquisition and sale of antiquities is a lot more complicated than often thought. This is not and has never been a black and white issue, and kudos to Lemle for painting a much more sophisticated and enlightened portrait of this than we usually get in Fiction.

The story is well paced and well structured, and it does the academics of it all justice, another thing often missing from mystery/thrillers that make a go at this subject.

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm shocked this has such a low Goodreads rating, because it's a reminder to trust what you love over the rankings.

I really enjoyed this one. I loved how it wove together history, art, archaeology, and intrigue. It also opened my eyes to a corner of the Roman Empire I knew nothing about, in a region I don't think I've ever read about before. I finished it clamoring to learn more, which is one of my favorite things a book can do.

Is it perfect? No. The main character could have been developed a bit more, and with a little more finesse this could have read like a Da Vinci Code-style thriller set high in the Italian Alps. But for a debut? This was fantastic, and I'm already looking forward to whatever Lemle writes next. Don't let the rating scare you off. This one's worth following your own taste on.

[Kate | Date With A Thriller · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, I love this cover!! It’s gorgeous! 😍

I enjoyed the history and the artifacts were all interesting, but I had a hard time staying engaged in the story, unfortunately. Not sure if I just had a hard time connecting with the FMC or if it was something else I just can’t put my finger on. It most likely was a me problem, so I still recommend checking this one out! 👏

Thank you to partner Simon & Schuster for the gifted advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review! ❤️

[Lizzie Fusco · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I’m being honest I’m still super confused about a lot of the happenings in this book - I’m not sure I’ve ever read a more intricate book - but I am FASCINATED by Natalie Lemle. I can’t believe this is a debut.

[Kayla Oswald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just kind of boring and disjointed. Loved the sister relationship though

[Em · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got a little lost at times, and couldn’t tie all the story lines together—but that might have been because I did the audio version.

[Jamieanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Jaime Clarke · Rating 2 out of 5]

super interesting premise! terrible execution!

[Dee's Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has archeology, musuem dealings, art looting, and organize crime at the heart of it! This was a slow moving story filled with mystery and antiquities. Once the story developed more, about halfway through, it hooked me in on the mystery surrounding that summer in Italy, at the archeological dig. I did feel like our main character was a bit obscure, I found myself not being able to relate or understand her well. Overall, I love the mysterious dive into archeology, looking to the past can be dangerous.
Thank you NetGalley and Simon Books for the e-Arc!

[Roo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Artifacts by Natalie Lemle

This was a super interesting read! I love anything to do with archeology so the synopsis drew me in and the story kept me hooked!

4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[crybabybea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Artifacts is bogged down by an execution that makes a genuinely interesting premise feel overcrowded and underdeveloped.

The themes presented by Lemle have great potential. Artifacts has an interest in archaeology and who is allowed to write history, exploring how stories change depending on who controls the narrative and how the past carries different meanings depending on who claims it. Unfortunately, the book does not fully develop these ideas, and they remain promising background noise that neither shape the rest of the story nor Lena's personal arc.

The major issue with Artifacts is its overwrought descriptions, abstract jargon, and niche references. It's possible to write a book that includes niche material and uses it well, but Artifacts fails to make its specialized material useful to the narrative. References are fine when they are integrated into character, atmosphere, or theme, but in Artifacts, it felt more like sediment burying the rest of the novel's genuinely interesting components.

As someone with zero interest or knowledge in any of the topics presented, the insistence on these details felt muddy and confusing. Paragraphs upon paragraphs felt more like a lecture than a compelling narrative and made it difficult to follow the specifics of the plot, let alone connect with any of the characters.

The heavy use of Italian felt especially grating and created a weird narrative distance. Since Lena is fluent in Italian, by not translating the Italian passages, the reader is locked out of information possessed by the protagonist, which interrupts alignment with her as a character. These structural issues served as amplifiers for smaller issues that would have otherwise been negligible or forgivable.

Lemle tries unsuccessfully to balance a mafia mystery, a legal procedural, a traumatic family history, and an academic tone. Each narrative thread twists and stumbles in its own clumsy way. The mafia subplot adds danger but not much substance, while the family subplot involving Lena's sister and mother has emotional potential but is never fully interrogated. As a result, the novel feels busy without feeling rich.

Artifacts immediately introduces a relatively sizeable cast of characters who serve an important function but are thin and underdeveloped. They each hold a small key to the plot, but because they are given so little interiority or distinction, they blur together rather than deepening the story, making them feel like plot devices rather than fully realized characters.

Lena has all the ingredients for a fascinating protagonist. She has a deadly, intriguing cocktail of unreliable narrator traits: dissociation, memory fog, and naivete. Though she is a lawyer, she is herself an archaeologist of sorts, going back in time to unearth memories and histories and rewrite the story she once told herself to believe. The potential for connection between Lena's character arc and the overarching themes of historical preservation was incredibly compelling.

Ultimately, Lena's character feels uncontrolled. It's difficult to understand her motivations or to feel invested in what happens to her. Her job as a lawyer feels more like a necessary plot device rather than a meaningful part of her characterization. Since the story deals with questions of ownership, history, and justice, her legal background could have been utilized to deepen the book's themes, but it never feels fully integrated.

When the author does take the time to address the larger questions introduced at the beginning of the book, it feels like the summary to a thesis. Characters talk at each other about the importance of cultural preservation, about the benefits and failings of museums and historical sites. A single mention at the very beginning of the book is given to the complicated colonial histories of artifacts and state ownership, and the topic is never meaningfully addressed again.

The narratives wrap up with a tidy bow, with convenience rather than emotional payoff or complex outcomes. Thematically, Artifacts culminates in a resolution that feels politically rancid. The ending imposes a clean administrative solution backed by private tech infrastructure and surveillance, which feels out of place in a book that sets up questions about contested memory and the instability of history.

The novel's interest in the idea that artifacts and people hold multiple histories means that ending with a "true history" flattens the entire premise. The whole point should be that histories, cultural or personal, are historically entangled, not that they have one recoverable truth that can be certified. An ending that should feel liberatory feels stale and coldly corporate. Ironically, it retroactively rewrites the entire claimed purpose of the book and makes everything land with even less force.

I received an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

[Sofia Baraklilis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley.

This story reminded my a lot of The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis in terms of dual timelines, stolen artifacts, a main character that was involved in an archeological dig in the past and museums. There are, however, a lot of differences to set this apart. Beware of spoilers below.

Lena works in law but gets pulled into a case involving artifacts at Fordham University’s museum that may have been stolen and that Italy wants back. While working on this case, her time spending a summer at a dig site comes to mind and the connections between the donor to the museum and what Lena experienced as an undergrad are too close to be coincidental.

I liked that Lena was in law, and seeing the stolen artifacts and repatriation through a lawyer’s eye and the legalities involved with it was interesting. We are led to believe that this Dichroic Glass cup links Lena’s past and present and I was interested in seeing its ‘founding’ as it were in Lena’s past but that is not the case. We never hear or see a glimpse of this cup in the past Lena’s story so its significance in the present falls a little short. Lena’s character in itself could also have been fleshed out more. Her relationship with her sister is fraught both in the past and present with no clear resolution, and she is clearly struggling with some shady things that happened during the summer of the dig but we don’t really get a clear arc for her character and so I’m just left feeling eh. Also, as a very small side note, I wish we had more dig time in the past but the story was more focused on Lena’s relationship with Giamma which does make sense as that criminal aspect plays heavily into future Lena’s life. I just enjoy the archeology aspect and wish we had more of that in the story.

The reason for my 3.5 out 5 star rating comes largely from the ending of the book. To me it felt so abrupt that I actually went back to make sure I didn’t accidentally skip a page. Beware of spoilers below! There is this sense of danger for Lena especially since Pietro has been murdered and she’s encouraged by her friend to leave now but yet she joins Si in going back to the villa one more time and then the story just finishes? There is no resolution to the danger, and to Lena’s story and instead we are just left hanging. What’s going to happen with Giamma? Giamma is such a big part of the story from Lena’s past and we are shown how he is part of the criminal activity and how past Lena struggled to face that aspect. Present day, however, there is no resolution to his story. Had his criminal ways just been in the past to get back to the US as he led Lena to believe? Is he still apart of that world and behind the stolen artifacts donated to Fordham? Why did Si let Lena believe she was in danger in Italy, that she can’t speak freely on the phone, but when Lena gets there Si is like “oh great you made it!” and is, in fact, not in danger. Pietro was always an ambiguous figure in past Lena’s life and in the present he does takes a step forward and speaks out, putting a spotlight on the villa and criminality involved and then abruptly gets murdered. Great for building the stakes and tension in the story but we as readers are just left hanging.

Overall I was enjoying the story but the abrupt and unsatisfactory ending made me reevaluate the rating I was planning to give to this book. Normally with so many loose ends I would assume there is going to be a sequel but I don’t get the impression of that with this book. So while I did enjoy the archeology with the criminal aspect and the repatriation aspect, I feel like it was not executed well in the story and there is no actual ending, leaving me feeling slightly frustrated and bereft.

[Get Your Tinsel in a Tangle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listen, I love a good mess. And Artifacts by Natalie Lemle is an absolute Mediterranean salad of ancient crime, trauma flashbacks, and a main character who keeps tripping into morally grey legal territory like it’s her brand. It's got the bones of a highbrow literary thriller, but keeps tossing in wild mafia shenanigans like someone dared it to become The Da Vinci Code with tenure.

Our leading lady Lena Connolly is a trusts and estates attorney. Which, okay, not sexy on paper, but apparently “vaguely bored lawyer with a suppressed archaeology kink” is enough to launch a full spiral. The second someone brings her a case involving a stolen ancient cup made of rainbow glass (yes, dichroic, but also gay chalice energy), she’s yeeted right back to the Italian dig site of her youth, where things were hot, suspicious, and extremely above her pay grade.

Past Lena was out here falling in love with archaeology and with Giamma, a beautiful local man whose dad just happens to be a walking RICO charge. Add a mentor who straight-up disappears into the night, an artifact that may or may not have been looted on Lena’s watch, and about 42 unanswered emails from the ethics committee, and you’ve got yourself a plot.

We bounce between timelines. Young Lena in Italy, thinking she’s on a sexy Indiana Jones field trip, and older Lena lawyering her way through institutional gaslighting and cultural repatriation lawsuits. But here's the thing. Adult Lena is somehow less emotionally coherent than her collegiate self. This woman finds out she maybe helped traffic an ancient artifact and her reaction is basically a shrug and a vague comment about closure. Girl, what?

The dual timelines almost work, but it’s like watching two half-formed plots running on parallel tracks and occasionally waving at each other across time. The mystery? Intriguing. The moral questions? Genuinely thoughtful. The emotional stakes? Somewhere off-page taking a nap. I wanted Lena to either totally crack or go full Veronica Mars, but she just kind of... middle-manages her way through personal revelation.

Also, the sheer amount of mythological deep-cuts and ancient Roman side quests in this book? It’s giving “graduate seminar PowerPoint with a body count.” If you’ve ever yelled “WHERE is the provenance document?” at a museum exhibit, congrats, this book is your new problematic fave.

But while the plot sometimes folds in on itself like cursed origami, Lemle does manage to sneak in some big, chewy questions. Who gets to own history? What happens when we put our faith in institutions that are low-key laundering ancient loot through Ivy League connections? And, my personal favorite, why do hot men with mysterious accents always have bodies in the metaphorical (or literal) basement?

By the end, you’re not sure if Lena has solved a mystery, uncovered a conspiracy, or just deeply violated like five clauses of attorney-client privilege, but it feels like a win. The final chapters bring enough heat to make the earlier slog worth it... mostly. I wanted more from her personal arc, especially that weirdly unresolved family trauma breadcrumb trail, but the ancient cup drama? Deliciously messy.

This one’s a 3.5 star ride. A little dusty, a little tangled, but absolutely worth it if you like your thrillers with side-eye, stolen art, and the occasional academic meltdown.

Whodunity Award: For Making Me Suspect Both the Mafia and the Museum Gift Shop

Big thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC, and for trusting me with ancient artifact drama I absolutely would’ve fumbled in real life by yelling "IS THIS CURSED?" out loud in a museum.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

Chaos, but make it academic and emotionally unhinged—because this book had me questioning not just the mystery, but my own moral compass somewhere between an Italian villa and a very bad decision I would’ve absolutely made at twenty.

Natalie Lemle’s Artifacts pulled me into a sun-drenched archaeological dig in the Italian Alps and then quietly wrecked my peace with questions about memory, ownership, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive. Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the gifted ARC.

This is one of those layered, slow-burn, brainy reads that doesn’t spoon-feed you anything. We follow Lena across two timelines: her younger self, naive and aching to belong during a summer abroad filled with excavation, academia, and a dangerously charming local (hi, Giamma—walking red flag, but make it irresistible), and her older self, now a lawyer tangled in a case involving stolen artifacts that feels a little too close to home. And when I say close, I mean buried-secrets-coming-back-to-haunt-you kind of close.

What I loved most is how this book isn’t just about stolen antiquities—it’s about stolen certainty. Lena is not your typical strong, decisive heroine. She’s passive, observant, sometimes frustratingly complicit, and deeply human. Watching her piece together her past while navigating a present that demands accountability felt like watching someone excavate their own guilt layer by layer. It’s quiet, tense, and honestly? A little haunting.

“History doesn’t disappear. It waits.”

That line lives rent-free in my brain now because it perfectly captures the entire vibe of this story. The atmosphere is lush and immersive—you can practically feel the dust of the dig site, taste the wine, and sense the undercurrent of danger simmering beneath every interaction. The relationships are messy, the ethics are murky, and the line between right and wrong is basically a suggestion.

That said… this book does not hold your hand. The plot can get dense, the timelines blur a bit, and not every thread gets a satisfying bow at the end. If you’re here for a clean, fast-paced thriller, this might test your patience. But if you love literary mysteries that prioritize mood, theme, and character over tidy resolution? You’re going to eat this up.

This is for the reader who highlights passages, Googles historical references mid-chapter, and texts their book club like “wait… do we trust him or am I spiraling?” It’s for the ones who don’t mind sitting in ambiguity and maybe even enjoy it a little too much.

For me, this landed at a thoughtful, slightly conflicted, but ultimately appreciative 3.5⭐️—because while it didn’t fully sweep me off my feet, it absolutely lingered in my head long after I turned the last page.

⭐⭐⭐✨

Would you rather have all the answers handed to you… or be left digging through the emotional rubble like Lena, trying to decide what truth you can actually live with?

#Artifacts #NatalieLemle #BookReview #ARCReview #NetGalleyReads #SimonAndSchuster #LiteraryMystery #Bookstagram #ReadersOfInstagram #DualTimeline #ArtHistory #ArchaeologyReads #MysteryBooks #SlowBurnReads #BookClubPick #ThoughtProvokingReads #CozyReader #BooksAndCoffee

[LindaPf · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Artifacts “ is loosely based on Fordham University Museum of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Art’s return of over 200 artifacts back to Italy in 2021. It was the largest-ever repatriation agreement between the two countries, and mostly linked to a single unscrupulous antiquities dealer (who escaped because of statute limitations). The book spotlights an ancient cup of Dichroic glass, which is a rare and amazing artifact.

Lena/Maddalena, a young international tax lawyer, on the partner-track and who usually deals with estates, is recruited by her firm primarily (she thinks) because she speaks Italian,a language she learned fluently during a Classics seminar/archeological dig eighteen years ago. Their client is the university art museum which is obviously sensitive about having possibly acquired looted artifacts. As she investigates deeper, Lena also encounters (coincidence?) many of the same people who were on that collegiate dig nearly two decades ago. What was disturbing about that time was a mysterious looting, a lover with familial criminal connections and an art history degree, and a professor who disappeared in Italy.

This is a fascinating story that incorporates disparate topics like ancient irrigation techniques, Calabrian criminal gangs, and modern-day art restitution. It’s Lena’s first person POV over two timelines: an overseas summer internship in 2004 and and a legal assignment in 2022. The author emphasizes the little known fact that art theft is the third-largest area of international crime, after drug smuggling and arms trading.

I found “Artifacts” extremely interesting but way too complicated at times. I ended the book still without a clear understanding of how Lena’s summer in Italy as a teenager was actually an unrealized dangerous time for her and why the past might catch up with her now, although she had nothing more than a fling with vivid memories. We also get a backstory about her mother and a way too knotty relationship with her older sister that added some depth to her character but could have been eliminated. There’s quite a bit of philosophy about our connections to ancient objects and the meanings of mythical stories — however, if you consider this a mystery story, those ruminations can be lost on the reader just looking for a solution. All in all, a good debut for Natalie Lemle. 4 stars.

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES we have an intriguing green eyed man in a boutique.m
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): YES Mistletoe actually does grow in Egypt, and not just on oaks, but hardwoods like apples, elms and poplars.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy!

[Stacy DeBroff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel blends archaeology, stolen artifacts, black market art sales, organized crime, and shady museum donations to generate charitable deductions, all wrapped in a complex plot involving a dig in the Italian alps.

During a summer at Columbia University, classist student Lena Connolly goes to work on a dig in the Italian alps with her art history professor, Cyrille. There’s tension at the dig between American Cyrille, who’s focused on the pre-Roman historical and religious significance of the site and Italian Pietro who wants to show its provincial importance. There Lena falls in love with Giamma, a handsome local boy who’s both pursuing a Ph.D. in art history in Columbia while currently taking time out of his studies to help out his Dad who’s a leader in the ’Ndragheta, a large Calabrian crime syndicate. Lena knows looting has occurred at the dig site, but she still helps Giamma get a valuable blackmarket artifact into France. Wrapped in much mystery and intrigue, Cyrille vanishes one night from the site never to be seen again.

Fast forward and Lena’s a seasoned estate attorney in New York City, working to defend Fordham University from having to repatriate to Italy a rare dichroic glass chalice. Turns out that this artifact and other donated connect back to the Italian Alps dig, possible looting, and the Italian mafia.

There’s much Roman and Greek history to take in, along with mythology, gods and goddesses, politics and religious and culture tensions between the Romans and those they conquered. But the plot does get overly convoluted as it jumps back and forth in time, with constant new revelations creating murkiness as to what actually transpired. And the character development proves thin, and Lena’s character questionable. For instance you being left wondering at the naiveness and lack of morality of Lena as she both accepts $18,00 for helping get a looted artifact out of Italy and at the same time never realizes how much organized crime wraps into this or questions the foundations of her own morality.

At the very heart of the novel is the much larger question of artifacts themselves: should they be housed in their country of origin or where most people will be able to see and appreciate them; how much responsibility do museums have for tracing back provenance or spotting fraud produced documents of origin; what role does organized crime play in using artifacts to launder money? The ethics ambiguity leaves much to muse over.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy

[Casey | Essentially Novel · Rating 3 out of 5]

“𝘛𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵.”

Thank you Simon Books for the gifted copies; the premise of this is so different from what I’ve read before that I was immediately intrigued and elevated it high on my tbr of new 2026 releases.

I know nothing about archaeology and never would I be mistaken for a history buff, of any kind, so this book threw me into topics that essentially are almost entirely new-to-me. I do enjoy art and taking time to wander and reflect in museums (though I don’t get this chance very often), so there was still something that pulled me in. It did take a while to adjust because there’s a lot of terminology that is unfamiliar and quite a bit of Italian thrown in without translation, but that could be a struggle for some readers.

It is a dual timeline slow burn, more character-driven than plot, and there’s a mystery under the layers. And there are a lot of layers: several characters, subplots, various mythologies, and other aspects, and somehow by the end most loose ends are tied but not all, though I did feel things were rushed at the conclusion. While I didn’t particularly feel drawn to Lena or any of the side characters, I still was curious about how things would unfold.

Overall it was fine. I wasn’t blown away and I think that was mostly due to all the layers and parts, several of which I was unacquainted with, but also I personally struggled with the flow of the writing. Even though very much a slow burn at times it was almost like it suddenly, briefly, moved too fast for me to make the connections, but again, unfamiliar fields and topics to me. Anyways, I’m grateful for the publisher for sending me copies and giving me the chance to review. I probably won’t literally visit Italy this year but at least I did in my mind. Too bad it didn’t also come with some pasta and pizza.

Other noteworthy quotes:
“𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘺 - 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶? 𝘖𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶?”

“𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬? 𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴?”

“𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯.”

“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴' 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵?”

“…𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴, 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘨𝘪𝘢.
𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘕𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘨𝘪𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳. 𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘵.”

“𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 -“

[Erin Hawley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like Artifacts, but it just wasn't for me.

Artifacts is a dual timeline murder and legal mystery told from the point of view of an American classics student turned estate and tax lawyer. We bounce back and forth between 2004 and 2022, from the main character's archaeological dig summer with some family drama on the side to the main character's current legal career... with some family drama on the side. I had a really hard time connecting with the main character, so I just felt so emotionally detached from her personal struggles. Her choices also did not seem to make any sense and she ran away from just about any emotional depth. The side characters were honestly more compelling to me.

The beginning was really tough to get me going, and writing style and information dumping didn't help. The author either assumes we have background knowledge in Roman, Etruscan, and other contemporary history; French; Italian; archeology; and the like or they thought that we would just pick it up on the fly (I didn't). There were some abrupt transitions that felt a little illogical and that made me retrace my steps to figure out the context. I was intrigued by the murder mystery element and I understood that the author was meaning for me to feel high emotional stakes, but I just felt impatient to get to the reveal. In the last third, I was very eager to find out what in the world was going on, and the ending just fell soooo flat for me, losing the momentum.

I was most interested and engaged in the discussions of cultural ownership and provenance of artifacts. A character makes a comment early on about how looters are often victims of colonialism themselves, and there are philosophical and legal discussions of who really ought to "own" or be responsible for historical artifacts. I wanted more of this and less of the mafia stuff that didn't add much depth to the story, in my opinion. Also, the main character seemed like a very incompetent and honestly unethical lawyer, and I really kept expecting consequence for this, but alas.

There is discussion of loss of a parent and murder, but it's overall a pretty tame book. If you like a paper trail kind of mystery that plods along at a verrrry slow pace with a subplot of sibling and parental drama, this is the book for you! It just wasn't for me, and I don't think I would read more from this author.

Thank you, Simon & Schuster, for the arc!

[Carole Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new case stirs up events from a woman's past

Lena is a New York attorney who specializes in trusts and estates but is asked by a colleague to look into a matter involving a rare and valuable glass cup. It is currently in the possession of a museum but the Italian government claims that it was looted from their country and they demand it be repatriated. In fact, it may have been taken from an overseas archaeological dig on which Lena (as a college student) spent a summer. It is a period in her life that she has done her best to put behind her; she had hoped for a career in archaeology, but events during that summer....a mentor who vanished and a boyfriend who ghosted her...changed her career trajectory. Now she must deal with those long ago events, as well as with people she knew during that time. There are also museum politics, black market dealing in antiquities and the intersection of the two...and the possibility that Lena herself may have been complicit in the looting.
Artifacts is a novel of literary suspense which weaves together archaeology, crime in the art world, ethical questions about the ownership of historical items and more. Lena is the conduit through whom the reader sees the unfolding stories in two timelines, the summer of her study abroad and the present day. In the past she develops her passion for archaeology, makes connections with the local culture (including acquiring an Italian boyfriend), and discovers the possible looting of objects by shady characters with connections to organized crime. Then her mentor disappears and things go badly pretty quickly. In the present she must excavate the memories she has kept buried for so long and make decisions about the proper ownership of items of cultural and historical value, even as she navigates the tricky waters of museum politics and the problematic connections between museums and shady groups of people through which art objects flow. It was an interesting look at the museum world and the laws governing art discovery and ownership, and while the pace lagged in places and there were elements to the story that could have been more fully developed I found it an enjoyable read, 3.5 ⭐️ rounded up to 4. Readers of B. A. Shapiro, Fiona Davis and Katy Hays might find this debut novel of interest. My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me access to the book in exchange for my honest review.

[Dots · Rating 3 out of 5]

Artifacts is less of an art heist and more of a murder mystery and law drama and crime show with mafia ties. Oh and of course, archeology! Also there is a cup. The cup is rarely mentioned.

I was confused for a good amount of it. There was a lot of info-dumping and I had trouble keeping together the people, their jobs, the artifacts, the history, and the politics. At a certain point, I lost the plot.

I also was not a fan of the writing: the word choice, the writing style, and the grammar. Some of the writing felt very elementary and then there would be some out-of-place word that felt unnatural like, "I felt compunction" (which I don't feel was used correctly in that context). There were also several sentences that were so repetitive, for example within just a few pages there was:

"I recalled a set of slides Cyrille had shown us..
I thought about the slides Cyrille had shown us..
My mind turned to Cyrille's story..
In class, Cyrille had talked about..
..Cyrille had read to us in his seminar."

I get it- we need more background school knowledge, but wasn't there a better way to do that?

Besides the writing, I was never really engaged with the mystery or the plot. I also did not like the ending. I felt it was sudden and left a lot of gaps and unanswered questions. There was always this underlying feeling of danger and 'get out' but Lena takes actions that undermine the seriousness of the situation.

I do think the side characters and the locations were well described though- even if the main character herself wasn't really. I really wish we knew more about Giamma in the end. I think if you are able to get past the writing and you have some background knowledge in archeology and art history and you enjoy mysteries, you might really enjoy this book! Maybe you like collecting evidence and forming your own theories!

This book is definitely for someone but today that someone is not me, unfortunately.

Oh also I think this would make a better movie. 🤔🎥

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with the ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

after seeing the incredibly mixed reviews about this book, i was a bit concerned going into this book, considering i am not at all the target audience (i.e. i don't particularly enjoy ancient history or artifacts).

however, i was pleasantly surprised!

while reading (or listening, in my case) to natalie lemle's Artifacts, you can tell the deep care and reverence she holds for her subject matter, as well as the amount of research she put into this novel. she studied classics and art history at tufts, so this subject is probably dear to lemle's heart. fiction about artifacts is rare, and lemle may have thought this as a love letter to a community she cherishes! for that, i respect her writing about a topic that doesn't necessarily hold mainstream popularity/a big selling point.

the only thing is (and probably my biggest complaint about this book) you have to have a working understanding of Italian to understand some parts of the book, since there are parts where full-blown Italian conversations occur. i understand that it was (probably?) assumed the readers could pull out their phone and translate... but on audiobook, that's not exactly possible. (can we normalize writing the sentence in English and saying, [character] said in [language]? i swear this used to be the norm)

this novel is also very... convoluted? it started out fine, but as the book went on, i began to lose track of events. part of it was the point of view switching to the past and back to the present at cliffhanger times, which (i guess?) is to build suspense, but the thing is, this isn't meant to be a suspenseful novel. i'm still not sure what exactly made Lena estranged from her parents, and i wish this topic was delved into more instead of "this is the way it is." i found the book to be ended quite abruptly, and the ending left me with questions that i wish were answered.

i would recommend this novel to a very specific subset of people- those who are interested in ancient history and artifacts (specifically the Mediterranean/Italy). if that's not your vibe (like me!), you may still enjoy the story. overall not at all a bad debut and i would be willing to read future works of lemle's!

[Lori L (She Treads Softly) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Artifacts by Natalie Lemle is maybe a recommended debut suspense novel, for the right reader, which explores the world of stolen artifacts. 2.5

Trusts and estates attorney Lena Connolly is asked by a colleague, based on her ability to speak Italian, to assist in a repatriation case after the Italian government claims an artifact was looted and donated to a museum illegally. The main artifact in question is a cup made of dichroic glass. Eighteen years ago, Lena spent a summer on an archaeological dig in the Italian Alps and this case forces her to remember events from that summer when she fell in love with both archaeology and Giamma.

The rather scattered, but very detailed, slow-paced story alternates between the present and past. In the present, Lena is ostensibly investigating the cup’s provenance and any connections to individuals at the archaeological dig site of the Roman Villa were she helped, along with family drama. In the past, the plot follows 19-year-old Lena in Italy falling in love with local Giamma, on the archaeological dig, the professor Cyrille's disappearance, the hidden networks that link museums to organized crime, and, also, family drama. Ultimately, as a character, Lena is not fully realized, hard to connect with, and not very likeable.

Honestly, the plot failed to fully grabbed my full attention and felt as if it moved at a glacially slow pace even when covering the subjects that interested me. I was here for the present day investigation, clues for the current lawsuit, the artifacts, art history, and tie-ins with mythology. Let's follow the cup made of dichroic glass, which is, in fact, rarely mentioned. Instead I was disappointed. There are a lot of details, but many of them focus on past events, Lena falling in love, organized crime, discussions on cultural heritage and ownership, and family drama. All in all, the novel was not well executed and there is no final resolution.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster for providing me with an advance reader's copy via . My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2026/0...

[Madelon · Rating 2 out of 5]

When the tease is dual timeline, historical fiction, and archaeology, my first thought is the excellent book The Source by James A. Michener. For me, this is the book by which all subsequent novels of its ilk should be judged. Where Michener brings clarity to the subject, Lemle does not.

I had high hopes for Artifacts, and I am glad to be reading it on a Kindle. I found myself having to “look up” too many words, which interrupts the flow of the story. The author uses so many Italian words and phrases that it becomes impossible to look them all up. Some can be inferred by similarity to English; others, not so much. Part of each chapter title is a date—2004 or 2022—but the distinction sometimes blurs. It’s possible that the eighteen‑year gap between timelines doesn’t permit sharp delineation.

Artifacts is a confusing slog to finish. The fact that reading it puts me to sleep doesn’t help. Built around the current cultural movement to restore artifacts to their countries of origin, the black‑market aspect of the earlier timeline could have been better articulated. The introduction of organized crime seems to exist mainly to suggest that the deaths that occurred might be murder. The character Lakshmi, friend to the protagonist, is the most memorable—not for what she does, but for her name.

Maddalena “Lena” Connolly, a lawyer specializing in trusts and estates, spent a summer on a dig in Italy. She lacks experience and spends much of her time not knowing or understanding what is going on around her. This naïveté follows her into the person she is eighteen years later. She is anything but the strong female character so popular today.

I would have a hard time recommending this book to anyone.

[BethFishReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mystery of sorts involving ancient artifacts.

In 2004, Lena, a college student, is lucky enough to snag a summer position on an archaeological dig in Italy led by her professor. That summer was an eye-opener, but also fun, for the somewhat naive girl, until the dig's leader goes missing and no one but Lena seems to be concerned.

Almost 20 years later, Lena is an estate lawyer, known for helping wealthy clients with their art collections. Because she speaks a little Italian and has experience with art regulations, she's tapped to be on a team helping a U.S. museum deal with Italian officials who are trying to repatriate ancient pieces, especially a glass cup.

As Lena begins to work the case, she's surprised to discover that several people she hasn't seen since that summer of fieldwork are also connected to the glass piece. She soon begins to see the past through new eyes and reassesses her opinions on who owns and what should happen to archaeological and other ancient artifacts.

Although the novel offers some food for thought, overall it was slow moving. Sections dealing with Lena's past, her family, and some friendships seemed to deflect from the main plot line. In the end, the book was only okay for me.

The audiobook was performed by Amanda Dolan, who did a decent job with differentiating the characters. I can't really judge the authenticity of her Italian and Latin, but it seemed believable to my untrained ear. This is my first time listening to Dolan, and I wouldn't hesitate to pick up another audiobook narrated by her.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster Audio for the review copy.