Settings for Marked for Revenge
By Jennifer S. Alderson
My latest novel, Marked for Revenge, is an art heist
thriller about the theft of forty paintings from modern art museums spread
across the Netherlands. It is also the third novel in this series featuring art
history student and reluctant amateur sleuth, Zelda Richardson.
At the beginning of the
novel, one of the museum’s Zelda Richardson is working for is robbed and our
heroine soon finds herself entangled with the robbers, mob, and police. To save
herself and those she loves most, Zelda teams up with Vincent de Graaf, a
private investigator specializing in the recovery of stolen artwork. Together
they follow a trail of clues across Europe to a final showdown in Turkey that may
cost them their lives. You will have to read the novel to find out if they both
survive!
As you will soon see,
the settings in this novel were chosen partially due to the fact that I had
visited that destination while writing it. Luckily my adventures coincided
nicely with the major plot twists.
The story begins with a
robbery at Vianden Castle in Luxembourg. I visited this imposing monument a
year ago and knew immediately it had to feature in one of my novels. Its
location is spectacular and the building itself fits any description of a fairy
tale castle.
Vianden Castle also has
ancestral ties to the current Dutch monarchy – the House of Orange-Nassau.
These kinds of connections to Dutch culture and history often appear in the
novels in the Zelda Richardson Mystery Series. This has everything to do with
my decision to stay in the Netherlands, instead of returning to America after
studying art history at the University of Amsterdam.
In Marked for Revenge, an exhibition of watercolors owned by the Dutch
royal family are stolen from Vianden Castle by audacious thieves in a brazen
robbery that garners international headlines. The exhibition and robbery are
figments of my imagination.
Marmaris, Turkey is an
important location in this novel. One of the main characters, Kadir Tekin,
lives here and an important meeting takes place in this beach side resort at
the end of my novel.
Turkey is an intergral
part of the Balkan Route, a route used to transport drugs into Europe. It’s
also an incredibly fascinating and beautiful land, one my family and I enjoy
visiting!
Last summer my family
and I spent a wonderful two weeks exploring the Marmaris region and neighboring
Dalyan. Marmaris is not only a popular vacation spot for Europeans, it is also
popular among wealthy Turks and the many bars, clubs, and restaurants all cater
to these jetsetters. The town’s position in a valley surrounded by mountains
and blue-green water is stunning, the food is wonderful, and the locals are
extremely friendly.
However, it was the
boats that made me use it as a location in this novel. I have never in my life
seen so many boats, yachts, schooners, trawlers, you name, as I have in
Marmaris. The entire city is one enormous, gorgeous marina, with piers placed
feet apart.
In Marked for Revenge, Zelda Richardson is working at the Amstel
Modern, a fictitious art museum in Amstelveen, one known for its collection of
Dutch modernists. In my novel, the exhibition Conversations with American Modernists is about to start. Zelda is
researching works by several American Abstract Expressionists artists that are
going to be displayed in Amstelveen.
Too soon, her joy is
replaced with sorrow as the Amstel Modern is one of seventeen museums robbed by
a brazen gang of art thieves. Unfortunately for Zelda, she also falls under
suspicion…
Amstel Modern does NOT
exist, though the Dutch art collection described in my fictitious exhibition is
reminiscent of the collection held by the Cobra Museum in Amstelveen. If you
enjoy modern art, the Cobra Museum is well worth a visit!
Het Sieraad, a
monumental building in Amsterdam, is Zelda’s new home. She’s subletting an
apartment from an artist for a year. This imposing structure was originally
constructed as a trade school. It has been recently renovated and converted
into offices, a day care, restaurants, and apartments.
In order to clear her
name, Zelda teams up with art detective Vincent de Graaf. He is also searching
for the stolen art and believes Zelda has information he can use to find it.
They travel to Clervaux, Luxembourg to follow up on a lead. While they are
there, Zelda and Vincent visit the Battle of the Bulge War Museum and Family of Man photo exhibition.
A wonderful family trip
to this region in 2015 inspired me to use Clervaux Castle as a setting.
Dalyan, Turkey also
makes a brief appearance in this novel.
After visiting the
region last year, I couldn’t resist using this incredibly beautiful town and
river delta as one of the settings. It is known for its mineral mud baths, sea
turtles, and royal tombs carved high up into the cliff faces.
Zelda and Vincent’s
search also takes them to Venice, Italy. Zelda is in heaven, even though
Vincent doesn’t leave her much time to see many of the spectacular sights. They
do explore the Dorosoto neighborhood and have time for a quick visit to Peggy
Guggenheim’s museum.
The trail of clues
eventually leads Zelda and Vincent to Marmaris, Turkey. Several locations are
of importance to the final, captivating showdown – the Grand Bazaar, Marmaris
Castle, Nestle Marina and Marmaris Bay.
You will have to read
the book to find out how exactly they are important to the plot!
I hope you enjoyed
learning more about my art heist thriller, Marked
for Revenge.
The Lover's Portrait
Zelda Richardson Mystery Series Book 1
by Jennifer S. Alderson
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
A portrait holds the key to recovering a cache of looted artwork, secreted away during World War II, in this captivating historical art thriller set in the 1940s and present-day Amsterdam.
When a Dutch art dealer hides the stock from his gallery – rather than turn it over to his Nazi blackmailer – he pays with his life, leaving a treasure trove of modern masterpieces buried somewhere in Amsterdam, presumably lost forever. That is, until American art history student Zelda Richardson sticks her nose in.
After studying for a year in the Netherlands, Zelda scores an internship at the prestigious Amsterdam Museum, where she works on an exhibition of paintings and sculptures once stolen by the Nazis, lying unclaimed in Dutch museum depots almost seventy years later.
When two women claim the same portrait of a young girl entitled Irises, Zelda is tasked with investigating the painting’s history and soon finds evidence that one of the two women must be lying about her past. Before she can figure out which one and why, Zelda learns about the Dutch art dealer’s concealed collection. And that Irises is the key to finding it.
Her discoveries make her a target of someone willing to steal – and even kill – to find the missing paintings. As the list of suspects grows, Zelda realizes she has to track down the lost collection and unmask a killer if she wants to survive.
Awarded a B.R.A.G. Medallion by indieBRAG's readers in March 2019
Chosen as Chill with a Book’s January 2018 Book of the Month and winner of a Chill with a Book Readers’ Award
One of TripFiction's 10 Favorite Books set in Amsterdam
Silver Cup winner in Rosie's Book Review Team 2017 Awards, Mystery category
Readers’ Favorite 5 star medal
One of The Displaced Nation magazine’s Top 36 Expat Fiction Picks of 2016
One of Women Writers, Women’s Books magazine's Recommended Reads for April 2017.
Set in present day and wartime Amsterdam, this captivating thriller is not just about stolen paintings, but also the lives that were stolen. This art history mystery also describes the plight of homosexuals and Jewish artists in Europe during World War II, as well as the complexities inherent to the restitution of artwork stolen by the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s.
The Lover's Portrait is Book One in the Zelda Richardson Mystery Series. The amateur sleuth mysteries in this series can be read in any order.
Book Trailer
Rituals of the Dead
Zelda Richardson Mystery Series Book 2
A museum researcher must solve a decades-old murder before she becomes the killer’s next victim in this riveting dual timeline thriller set in Papua and the Netherlands.
Agats, Dutch New Guinea (Papua), 1961: While collecting Asmat artifacts for a New York museum, American anthropologist Nick Mayfield stumbles upon a smuggling ring organized by high-ranking members of the Dutch colonial government and the Catholic Church. Before he can alert the authorities, he vanishes in a mangrove swamp, never to be seen again.
Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 2018: While preparing for an exhibition of Asmat artifacts in a Dutch ethnographic museum, researcher Zelda Richardson finds Nick Mayfield’s journal in a long-forgotten crate. Before Zelda can finish reading the journal, her housemate is brutally murdered and ‘Give back what is not yours’ is scrawled on their living room wall.
Someone wants ancient history to stay that way—and believes murder is the surest way to keep the past buried.
Can she solve a sixty-year-old mystery before decades of deceit, greed, and retribution cost Zelda her life?
Awarded a B.R.A.G. Medallion by indieBRAG's readers in December 2018
One of Amy's Bookshelf Reviews' Top 20 Books of 2018
Winner of a Chill with a Book Readers’ Award, June 2018
A Women Writers, Women’s Books magazine’s Recommended Reads for March 2018
New Apple’s 2018 Summer Book Awards, Official Selection Mystery/Thriller category
BookLife Prize for Fiction 2018, Mystery/Thriller category, rating 8.50
Art, religion and history collide in this edge-of-your-seat museum thriller, Book Two of the Zelda Richardson Mystery Series. The novels in this series can be read in any order.
Marked For Revenge
Zelda Richardson Mystery Series Book 3
An exhilarating adventure set in the Netherlands, Croatia, Italy, Luxembourg, and Turkey about stolen art, the mafia, and a father’s vengeance.
When researcher Zelda Richardson begins working at a local museum, she doesn’t expect to get entangled with an art theft, knocked unconscious by a forger, threatened by the mob, or stalked by drug dealers.
To make matters worse, a Croatian gangster is convinced Zelda knows where a cache of recently pilfered paintings is. She must track down an international gang of art thieves and recover the stolen artwork in order to save those she loves most.
The trouble is, Zelda doesn’t know where to look. Teaming up with art detective Vincent de Graaf may be her only hope at salvation.
The trail of clues leads Zelda and Vincent on a pulse-pounding race across Europe to a dramatic showdown in Turkey that may cost them their lives.
Awarded a Chill with a Book Readers' Award in June 2019
A Women Writers, Women's Books magazine Recommended Reads in June 2019
One of Amy's Bookshelf Reviews Top 20 Reads of 2019
Placed at #30 in ReadFreely's Top 50 Indie Reads of 2019
Chosen as Chill with a Book's June 2019 Cover of the Month
Marked for Revenge is the third book in the Zelda Richardson Mystery Series. The novels in this series can be read in any order.
The Vermeer Deception
Zelda Richardson Mystery Series Book 4
An art historian finds – then loses – a portrait by Johannes Vermeer in this thrilling art mystery set in Munich, Heidelberg, and Amsterdam.
When Zelda Richardson investigates a new lead about a missing portrait by Johannes Vermeer, no one expects her to actually find the painting in a retired art dealer’s home in Munich, Germany. Not her parents visiting from America; her boss, private detective Vincent de Graaf; or the rightful owner of the Nazi-looted artwork.
However, Zelda’s jubilation turns to horror when she arrives to pick up the portrait and finds the art dealer dead and several frames smoldering in his fireplace.
Was the Vermeer a fake and its ‘discovery’ a cruel joke played on a Nazi victim? The Munich police, Zelda’s family, and Vincent certainly think so.
Yet the art dealer’s best friend believes he was murdered and the real Vermeer stolen by an underground network of art looters, one established during World War II and still active today. The problem is, no one believes him – except Zelda.
Zelda soon finds herself in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with immoral art collectors, corrupt dealers, and an all-to-real killer who wants her to stop searching.
Can Zelda uncover the truth about the Vermeer before she is painted out of the picture permanently?
The Vermeer Deception is Book 4 in the Zelda Richardson Mystery Series. The novels in this series can be read in any order.
**On Sale for only $2.99!**
Hi! I am an American expat currently living in Amsterdam. After traveling extensively around Asia, Oceania, and Central America, I moved to Darwin, Australia, before finally settling in the Netherlands. When not writing, you can find me in a museum, biking around Amsterdam, or enjoying a coffee along the canal while planning my next research trip.
My love of travel, art, and culture inspires my award-winning Zelda Richardson Mystery series, Travel Can Be Murder Cozy Mysteries, and standalone stories.
The Lover’s Portrait (Book One) is a suspenseful whodunit about Nazi-looted artwork that transports readers to WWII and present-day Amsterdam. Art, religion, and anthropology collide in Rituals of the Dead (Book Two), a thrilling artifact mystery set in Papua New Guinea and the Netherlands. My pulse-pounding adventure set in the Netherlands, Croatia, Italy, and Turkey— Marked for Revenge (Book Three)—is a story about stolen art, the mafia, and a father’s vengeance.
The Travel Can Be Murder Cozy Mysteries are a funny new series featuring tour guide and amateur sleuth, Lana Hansen. Join Lana as she leads tourists and readers to fascinating cities around the globe on intriguing adventures that, unfortunately for Lana, often turn deadly. Book One— Death on the Danube —takes Lana to Budapest for a New Year’s trip. Can Lana figure out who murdered her fellow tour guide before she too ends up floating in the Danube? Death by Baguette: A Valentine's Day Murder in Paris (Books Two) will be released in February 2020, and Book 3 in May 2020.
I am also the author of Down and Out in Kathmandu , Holiday Gone Wrong , and Notes of a Naive Traveler .
Connect with me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or my website.
I have also started a group for readers and writers of travel fiction and non-fiction - Travel By Book. We are a promotion and discussion group active on Facebook with a growing presence here on Goodreads.
Thanks for stopping by!
"Art-related, Dutch goodies" prize package, includes:
- Playmobil toy of Vermeer's The Milkmaid (from the Rijksmuseum)
- A notebook featuring Vermeer's The Milkmaid on the cover
- A tulip pen
- A fabric bag from a local Amsterdam cafe
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