Synopsis
When the legendary Cosmic Widow vanishes from the galaxy’s premiere art museum, Agent Lilline Renault delves into a shadowy underworld to hunt down the missing masterpiece.
Her only clue: the thief’s enigmatic calling card. Following a scant trail of evidence, Lilline crosses paths with shady art dealers, eccentric university professors, and elusive forgers in a tangled search for the stolen work of art. But the robber’s end game is more sinister than mere theft. Sleeping secrets stir inside the Cosmic Widow… If they wake, an arcane mystery locked away for ages could spell disaster across the stars.
Review
Although the books can be read as standalones, I would highly recommend that readers check out all the books in the Agent Renault Adventures. GAM-OPs agent, Lilline Renault, is a fantastic character who practices her poetry in between missions to save the galaxy. Cosmic Widow is the latest addition to the series and takes readers for a thrilling ride.
This book sees Agent Renault investigating the theft of the famous portrait, the Cosmic Widow. Nevair has truly found his stride writing mysteries. I so appreciated the world building that was done to provide depth to the history/mythology of the art in this galaxy and the care that was given to allow the mystery to play out. While reading, I was eager to discover clues and see how each point would connect and was left pleasantly surprised by the way that the author incorporated the history of art into the galaxy/story on a wider scale.
As usual, I loved Lilline and her grandmother, Kissy, as characters. Nevair allows his characters to be multifaceted and flawed, which is so refreshing. I found it incredibly heartwarming and relatable to read about Lilline and Kissy’s interests, failures, and conflicts with each other, whether professional or personal. The detail and care given to Lilline and Kissy is really stellar.
While the book is fast-paced thriller, the author doesn’t shy away from bringing humor to his story and characters. Beloved characters like Pin and Grandma Kissy bring a lot of classic humor and funny, awkward moments to the table, but I think that Lilline’s trademark sarcasm is not to be overlooked and adds a lot to the novel. Nevair has a talent for writing humor into his characters’ dialogue as well as pointing out the humor in their daily lives.
From travel, to technology, to the mannerisms of characters, the author has done a fantastic job giving detail to the world he created and made the story much fuller in doing so. Callbacks to previous books in the series were funny and well-timed, and the imagery throughout the novel was excellent. This attention to detail also helped with the pacing of the story and I felt that the chapters themselves were rich but had me anxious to keep reading. So anxious in fact, that I would love to dive deeper and learn more about the different species present in the galaxy.
Cosmic Widow is an art mystery/thriller, but at its core the novel is about time. I was blown away by the way that Nevair so deftly tackled the construct of time and how we allow it to shape our lives. Past, present, and future are things that Nevair connects, and he addresses the fear and resistance that exists when we are asked to access our own memories or reflect on experiences throughout time. This reflection on time was so poetic and truly the highlight of the book for me.
Nevair continues to impress me with the Agent Renault Adventures. Cosmic Widow is a spectacular book that I feel would appeal to a variety of readers and I am thrilled to see where the series goes next!
Thank you to Jonathan Nevair for allowing me to beta read Cosmic Widow! All thoughts in this review are my own.
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