"Braving Colombian drug lords and the mean streets of Medellin, the intrepid art investigator in A Discerning Eye takes readers on a wild ride in search of the dramatic 1990 art heist of 13 masterpieces from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, spinning the brazen theft into a fascinating well-researched thriller in the growing art crime genre.”

—Anne-Marie O’Connor, author of The Lady in Gold, the Extraordinary Tale

of Gustav Klimt’s Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Block-Bauer

“Art and theft. It’s always an intoxicating combination and Carol Orange captures the high stakes in her beguiling, beautifully written debut novel A Discerning Eye.”

—Marcy Dermansky, author of Very Nice

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"Carol Orange's A Discerning Eye is an intricate tale of art theft, bolstering a sensational plot with finely crafted characters and evocative settings—an enthralling novel not only for suspense seekers and art connoisseurs but everyone who enjoys a fabulous romp."

—Alev Lytle Croutier, author of Seven Houses, Harem and The World Behind the Veil

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"Take a museum heist of thirteen classic works of art, throw in an outraged and clever art dealer who takes it upon herself to create a profile of the thieves, and mix in an FBI sting, and you get an intelligent, fascinating mystery that leaves the reader on a high-stakes, international chase to solve the question of whodunnit and why. Carol Orange, with her vast knowledge of the art world has created a fascinating mystery that will keep you on the edge of wherever you happen to be reading A Discerning Eye."

—Charles Salzberg, Two-time Shamus nominated author of Swann's Last Song and Second Story Man

"Carol Orange’s debut is a whirl of a read. An art heist from a Boston museum motivates a clever art dealer to help the FBI recover the stolen masterpieces. With marital tensions, a tempting flirtation, and dangerous encounters with a Colombian drug lord, A Discerning Eye keeps the reader guessing. You’ll be swept up in this fast-paced adventure, while learning about great art along the way."

—Nicole Bokat, author of What Matters Most and The Happiness Thief (2021)

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"A beautiful read. An outstanding plot. An amazing female sleuth. I loved this eventful and absorbing journey through the gilded streets of Boston’s Back Bay to the dangerous Colombian byways of the Medellín drug cartel. The reader follows the art historian and gallery owner Portia Malatesta as she decodes trails left after a tragic art heist leaves a prominent museum denuded of more than a dozen masterworks. Carol Orange tells us when the choice of a Vermeer means more than the cash value of a painting. The human heart is compromised as well."

—Miriam Brody, author of Mary Wollstonecraft: Mother of Women’s Rights

"A Discerning Eye is a masterclass in art history as Portia parlays her eye for technique and form into forensic psychology. Guiding us through these portraits of art, crime, and the streets of Medellin is Ms. Orange, our own docent, who in past lives has worked as a research editor of art books and a gallerist, much like her protagonist."

—Andy Shi, Bloom