Featuring on Friday: Janet Pywell

I was introduced to Janet Pywell by another author I like, Virginia King. She thought I may like Janet's Culture Crime series. Although I have only read one of the books so far I really liked it and am ready to move into the next book in the series. I think the settings and topics are different and if they are like the first book, pretty thrilling.



About Janet:

"My background is in travel and tourism and I use my experiences of living and travelling abroad and knowledge of locations as an integral part of scenes in my novels. I use my writing as an excuse to travel, meet new people and enjoy exotic food and drink from around the world. I have a passion for history and cultural heritage and I love to see people maintain deep-rooted traditions. Writing is a personal challenge for me. I love the entertainment and pleasure of plotting events and creating fictional characters and I hope that you, my reader, will find excitement and enjoyment from my work."



The Golden Icon is the prequel to the Culture Crime series. I finished this book recently and decided I would combine my thoughts and feature Janet in the same post.

About: "Josephine Lavelle, a once-famous opera singer who became an international outcast, has one last opportunity to resurrect her career. She was born to sing Puccini’s Tosca and is determined to earn the right to perform again on the world’s most prestigious and celebrated stages.

But her fight for the future she craves is derailed when her ex-husband embroils her in a cynical blackmail plot. She is forced to take possession of a solid gold icon, part of a secret hoard of art treasures stolen by the Nazis - that dangerous men are prepared to kill for.

As well as determining the fate of the Golden Icon, Josephine must come to terms with her past, and fight for her own life.
If only her choices were simple..."

I found this book to be a very suspenseful story with lots of twists, turns and surprises. There is also  interesting information about Italy, Ireland, art, and the art that the Nazi's stole during WWII. I really felt for Josephine. She worked so hard to be La Tosca, only to be thwarted by cads and thieves! Everyone is after the Golden Icon; Italy, Ireland, Josephine's ex-husband, her lover...and they will kill to get it. I wanted to jump right into Masterpiece, the first book, but I am behind in my reading. :(


Masterpiece is book one in the Culture Crime series.

About: "Mikky is planning the heist of her life.
But when opera diva Josephine Lavelle appears on the scene her plans start to unravel.
An investigative journalist is intent on uncovering Josephine’s secret but Mikky faces a far greater threat from an unexpected source.
She stands to lose everything, including her life…
How far will she go to pursue her dream?
A gripping crime thriller. An exciting, fast-paced novel involving an exciting heist, an unusual robbery, and an innovative thief. Her secrets will have you hooked in the first book of this debut trilogy."

Josephine from the prequel is in this book and her secret, (which we know about from the prequel) is catching up with her. Mikky Dos Santos is introduced.  



Book of Hours is book two in the series.

About: "Mikky dos Santos, artist and photographer, is lured back to Malaga with the hope of rebuilding her past. When an old friend asks her to determine the authenticity of a rare manuscript she is drawn into a web of lies and deceit. Travelling to Bruges and Canterbury she must use all her experience and resources to face the trauma of her past and to find justice.

After a shocking discovery, a Janus figure in the art world forces her to make an exchange and she comes face to face with her friend’s murderer.

Will the price be too high for the retribution she seek." 



Stolen Script is book three.

About: "A Gripping International Crime Thriller from author Janet Pywell's Culture Crime Series. Artist and photographer, Mikky dos Santos is brilliant but rebellious. After a personal catastrophe in New York she insists on going to Greece to authenticate a valuable parchment where she makes a promise to return it to the Jewish museum in Rhodes. But time is running out and Nikos Pavlides isn't giving up the Torah easily. He's also hiding a deeper, darker secret and, as he plays a deadly game, the stakes are raised. Faced with drug dealers and human traffickers with no regard for life, Mikky's survival instincts kick in as she uncovers the sordid reality of the truth and its savage consequences. Fighting for her life, how will Mikky fulfil her promise? This enthralling, fast-paced thriller is an emotional roller coaster of shocking twists and turns... Set in New York (America), Izmir (Turkey) and Rhodes (Greece) this exciting novel will keep you turning the pages. 
It's A Deadly Game.."

As you can see, the books are all set in different countries. I love the covers of all of the books. The books all feature a piece of old/antique art, some of which are based on real items. 

 I have always been fascinated by archaeology, relics that are found and the history behind them. When I was a kid, I kind of thought I would like to go into archaeology, but then realized it took hours of sifting through dirt and not always finding anything. I don't have the patience for that. 
I also find the story of how the Nazis' stole so much art and that some has still not been found interesting and incredible. That story is in the prequel of course. Masterpiece is based on the painting The Concert by Vermeer that was stolen in 1990 and is still missing. The Book of Hours is about an illuminated manuscript. Illuminated manuscripts were made through the middle ages. The Stolen Script is about a Torah that turns up in a Jewish museum in Rhodes. 

As above, Janet's background is in travel and tourism, but she has also lived in many different places so has a good feel for some of the places her books are set in.

Janet has also written two books of short stories and a stand alone love story.



Red Shoes and Other Short Stories is "an eclectic mix of entertaining and interesting tales, some based on fact and others entirely on imagination."



Bedtime Reads: "Bedtime Reads consists of seventeen short stories based on relationships. Each individual tale spotlights a variety of compelling characters revealing their tangled emotions and complicated dreams. These bite-sized page-turners show the lengths to which some people will go in pursuit of happiness or revenge."

Note the writing on the cover: "Short stories leaving you stirred not shaken." Cute. :)



Ellie Bravo: "When Ellie Bravo loses her prestigious job and walks out on her partner, she decides to escape London for a new life as the marketing manager of a struggling IT firm.
But that’s when things start to really go wrong." 

All of Janet's books can be found on Amazon. You can download The Golden Icon for free at this time.

Janet has a great website. If you click on About Me (not the drop down list just the heading), there is a really good interview with her. Only about 11 minutes, but will give you a synopsis of the books, more about Janet and her writing process. I love how she and many authors seem to let the characters write the books. That is so interesting to me and mysterious.

Here is the link to Janet's website. If you like thrillers about different countries, history, and art, I think you will like The Cultural Crime series.

http://janetpywell.com/