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, Mystery Thriller, Romance, Italy, Contemporary

352 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication 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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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)

[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.

[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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[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?

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[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

[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!

[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.

[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.

[Therearenobadbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

It reads as literary fiction to me, no doubt. I kinda put the mystery and artifacts intrigue in second place and let the relationships and people take over. The author relates the themes of Ancient history, Italy, Roman, and Greek not just as archaeology, but also the usage of words. I’ve learned a lot of good ones, like Sisyphean (denoting or relating to a task that can never be completed, which sounds like my middle name). Dual time. Lena, in the present, focuses on her advocacy profession, trying to solve the mystery.
I also liked the author expressing the feeling of being in a new place with new people, and you have a second chance to be someone else (although, as the author said before, we end up wanting to just be the same ourselves).
I liked the past timeline a lot, felt relaxed, and as if we were with her in this journey, learning all from the first time. Plus lots of cool culture/history knowledge. Very distinct difference between Lena from before, in love, relaxed, hopeful, naive, romanticizing archaeology, thinking she's there for her sister, but she's not at all, with the overguarded, tense, and suspicious present, which the traumas in her life explain and justify. She is a very lonely character with heavy burdens on her shoulders, but she is also one who misunderstands and misjudges, most of the time feeling excluded. It’s interesting that she is always smelling something trigging, very sensorial.
P. S. Need to read The Golden Ass.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a good story that could have been great, but unfortunately i feel like it just putters to a not so satisfying conclusion.

the issues Lemle raises in this book are incredibly complex and intriguing: who owns history. who has the right to own history. where does history belong. i thought it was particularly interesting when one of the characters basically says we should completely dismantle museums. and through their lens, i could see the reasoning. and the argument can be made that so much of history that belongs to museums isn't even on display, and that most of it doesn't even truly BELONG to them. but on the other hand, the question of chain of custody, so to speak, is also fascinating.

Lemle doesn't get too deep into this, that could probably be an entirely separate book, but it is interesting.

Lena, as a character, is frustrating. her past self, while young, also seems frustratingly naive. she seems to want to be a mystery solver, both in the past and in the present, but never seems to be asking the right questions. its also a very tenuous thread that ties her to the supposed danger in the present and it just doesn't feel strong enough to ever actually feel dangerous. her assumptions that she is in danger, are actually a little laughable.


I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own, and I am writing a voluntary review.

[Sacha · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars

From the description, I expected a fast paced mystery thriller that would have me traveling the world with maybe a dash of action included. There's a mystery. There's also Italy! The rest? Not so much.

Lena is an attorney who is asked to work on a case centered on a lost artifact. This moves so slowly and is really mired in details. I can get really into this kind of setup in many cases, but this one just never took hold. Transparently, this was feeling more like compulsory cardio - moving through for the good of my commitment to arcs versus some kind of personal enjoyment - than a mystery I looked forward to solving. My challenges were compounded by Lena, whom I found frustrating. Her focus on her sister's life choices and her meh romance...no thanks. I just couldn't.

Folks who like a s-l-o-w and detailed burn and who can really arrive for the mystery versus an intriguing character or any kind of thrills will do better than I did here. I'd definitely give this author another shot, but I'll be mindful of incoming reviews about pacing and characterization for the next round (and I normally avoid as much info as possible on the way in).

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this arc, which I received in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

[Joy Matteson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lena Connelly has a rather dull career working as an attorney for trusts and estates. Her past comes back to haunt her footsteps when her boss asks her to assist on a case regarding a stolen artifact that the Italian government wants to repatriate. Lena’s summer in graduate school working on an archaeological dig in Italy decades earlier contains memories she’d rather forget, including her mentor and her Italian boyfriend who may have organized crime ties. Lena’s journey takes her deep into the New York city art world as she attempts to detect the source of the artifact, and also delves into the past to that fateful summer when her life changed. Narrated by Amanda Dolan, this historical mystery takes a deep dive into ancient Roman ruins and the contemporary art scene that connects with organized crime. Dolan captures the dark Italian accent of Lena’s enigmatic boyfriend Giamma that fateful summer and Lena’s American naivete with fateful pauses and theatrical intensity. While some of the archaeological preservation concepts are described in dauntingly complex detail, Dolan’s narration provides a steady metronome to uncover the darker side of the art world. Recommended for fans of Barbara Shapiro’s The Art Forger.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the subject of the book, which involved the sale of valuable historic objects. Museums and universities (in this case, Fordham University) craved valuable works of art to raise their prestige levels. The characters were interesting, and, while alternating chapters from past and present usually annoys me (it is so overused these days), it fit this storyline very well. The author is obviously very knowledgeable about her subject matter, and this is where I was less than involved in the plot -- there was way too much description about the ancient history, excavations and minutiae than was needed. I did enjoy the inclusion of Italian organized crime -- in this novel, the ’Ndragheta, a Calabrian crime syndicate -- which was in the business of stealing and selling objects d'art.

There is a lot going on, many characters to keep up with, lots of ancient history, and a number of eye-rolling plot points. The story did not capture my interest as much as The Keeper of Lost Art and The Monuments Men, but overall, I enjoyed most of the book. Rounded up to 3.5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Simon & Schuster for the eARC and the opportunity to read this book. All opinions are my own.

[Destiny Karrington · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author packed a lot of historic and academic information into this novel.

I love books where I can root for the main character- I want to celebrate their victories and feel their setbacks. Unfortunately, I found it difficult to connect to Lena. Her career as an attorney feels more like a plot device than an actual part of the story. She’s rarely at work and doesn’t ask questions like an attorney would. Her personality seems to be primarily defined by the fact that she doesn’t drink. I appreciated the inclusivity of a non-binary character, but Lena’s relationship with Si fell flat, and her relationship with Jinni was equally hollow and self-serving.

For a book marketed for fans of Counterfeit, the comparison didn’t quite land for me. Counterfeit was a fun, fast-paced read and Artifacts is a slower, more academic experience.

If you liked The Secret History by Donna Tartt, this is your book. This book would be great for someone interested in Roman mythology and history. It also helps to know Italian because the author uses a lot of Italian words that are difficult to parse even with context.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and to NetGalley for the advance copy.

[Autumn Danner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a little bit of Indiana Jones excursion but with some personal baggage! At the Italian dig site, you get a feel for the land, both past and present, and the culture of the people inhabiting the area through the ages. You are introduced to the past through the relics that were found, as well as learning from Lena's teachers as we follow her academic pursuits. It is a pretty intense study into the provenance of items because dig sites were rife with vandalism and theft. Lena's personal ties to the site both hinder and help her in her quest for answers. However, as she unearths information about the relics and the people working the site, she begins to doubt her recollection of what happened during her time there, and her long-standing friends from that time may not be who she remembers. Thank you to DP at Simon & Schuster for the DRC of this book which I found to be fast-paced, emotionally charged, and exciting as well as informative! I love a little true history with my adventure!

[Sammia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Themes include: art history; mafia; motherhood; and memory. Our protagonist experiences multiple traumas while on her first (and only) archeological dig in the Italian alps while in college. She is compelled to bury these experiences as if they never happened. 18 years later, she is in a position to confront what happened there and then, initially on the surface level of professional obligation, but ultimately faces the deeper and more terrifying truths of what happened that summer.

The characters and their relationships are layered, the ethics around collections of artifacts is intriguing, and the behind the scenes of how valuable pieces land in collections is fascinating. I love the nerdiness of learning about archaeology, art history, and locations, but I most love the process of Lena digging through her own past to be able to uncover what is valuable to her.

This book instigates conversations and leaves you with some questions; I would highly suggest it for book club reading.

[Sierra| HooksxBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Artifacts was an interesting read. This is the first suspense, thriller book that I've read surrounding stolen artifacts and the black market.

Lena, naive Lena.... I enjoyed learning Italian history and the mythology around the items that were found during the dig that was headed by Cyrille. The alternating timelines allowed for clear glimpses of the past and how it directly affected the case she was working in the present. There were moments that really made me question Lena's judgement, her taste in men and the decisions she was making. I can't say too much without giving the story away. Enjoy the bits of Italian, the translations and the mythology. I enjoy learning about the different belief systems and the legends behind it. I do wish there were drawings or images so that you can see the detail of the items being described.

I wish this book ended better, unless there will be a part two.

I received a copy of this ARC from NetGalley.

[Amanda Schlenker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book as part of a giveaway.

I’d probably round this up to 3.5 if I could.

I enjoyed this book. It flips between the summer when our main character Lena is on a dig in college and her adult life as a lawyer. I preferred the chapters when Lena is older - I know Lena was a young adult in the younger chapters but some of her decisions just baffle me.

I think the mystery was done well, though in certain areas I think it got a bit hard to follow but I was able to catch up in the end. I do think the ending is a satisfying payoff.

I cannot articulate what I feel like is missing right now, I’ll update if I figure it out, but something about her family dynamic which is pretty important for her overall character just feels like it’s lacking something or there is something I failed to pick up on.

[LuAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating and compelling dual-timeline story involving archaeology in the Alps west of Turin, estate law in NYC, and organized crime as the narrator sells to understand her involvement in birth. .
As others have pointed out, the narrator is naive in both timelines and her growth could be more deeply fleshed out. I do find the ending abrupt and leaves some questions unanswered. The depictions of the settings make the reader feel present to the action.
The unseen Italian characters are confusing as is the machinations about the site and the artifacts, but I didn’t need to have it all straight to enjoy the suspense and the behind the scenes look at antiquities scene.
Puts me in mind of Tracy Chevalier‘s books involving art.
Thanks to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for a free copy to review.