The Metropolitan Affair

January 30, 2023
In this gripping entry, Green (Drawn by the Current) follows a pair of reunited friends as they try to get to the bottom of a spate of artifact forgeries in 1925 Manhattan. Egyptologist Lauren Westlake and detective Joe Caravello met at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as adolescents and formed a deep connection. As adults, they’ve drifted apart, but when Joe suspects a link between a recent speakeasy shooting and the rash of forged Egyptian antiquities plaguing the city’s art collectors, he turns to Lauren, now assistant curator of Egyptian art at the Met, for help. Meanwhile Lauren, aching for the father she’s never been close to, works to improve their distant relationship, though she’s beginning to wonder if he might be connected to Joe’s case. As the two work through layers of the mystery, Lauren draws on her faith to navigate the case, her complicated past with her father, and her growing feelings for Joe. With a convincing backdrop of Prohibition-era New York, Green carefully weaves historical detail and complex relationships into a tense narrative that doesn’t let up till the close. The author’s fans won’t be disappointed.

February 1, 2023

It's 1925 in New York City, and flappers are out dancing, speakeasies are getting raided, and interest in Egyptian art is at an all-time high, thanks to recent breathtaking excavations. Dr. Lauren Westlake is the assistant curator of Egyptian art at the Metropolitan Museum. NYPD detective Joe Caravello, who has loved Lauren for some time, needs her help to stop a forgery ring. She is more than suited to the task, and as a side benefit, it helps her connect once more to her neglectful father, an Egyptologist of some renown. As Joe and Lauren work the case, they begin to rekindle their relationship even as they become caught in a web of deceit and danger. In this new series starter, Christy Award winner Green (Drawn by the Current) offers details of Egyptian art, a rich cast made vivid by small details, plenty of historical references, and a plot full of red herrings. VERDICT Classified as Christian fiction, this involving blend of historical crime story, family saga, and romance will please a range of readers. Suggest it beyond its BISAC category and put it on reading lists of cozy mysteries and gentle romances too.--Neal Wyatt

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Starred review from March 15, 2023
New York City in the Roaring Twenties provides the glittering backdrop to Green's (Veiled in Smoke, 2020) captivating tale about art forgery and Egyptology. Dr. Lauren Westlake has made a name for herself as the assistant curator of Egyptian art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art at a time when few women have the means or education for such a career. As children, Lauren and Joe Caravello met at the Met and now, as a police detective, Joe seeks her out for assistance in connecting art forgery to a shooting at a speakeasy that landed his partner in jail. Meanwhile, Lauren's father is working on acquiring items for the new Egyptology museum he plans to open in Newport, Rhode Island. Lauren's relationship with her father has always been difficult, and she struggles with conflicting emotions when he offers her the opportunity that she longed for as a child, to go on an expedition with him in Egypt. Green presents the perfect combination of well-developed characters, sweet romance, a glimpse into history, and a fascinating, well-researched mystery. Fans of Elizabeth Camden and Elizabeth Peters will be delighted by the start of this new series.

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