“What to do? I could either put it in the safe and forget about it, or I could open it up. Was I really going to do that?” (Quotation pos. 399)

Content:
Nathan Sutherland is the British Honorary Consul in Venice, but as the title “honorary” says, the position is only honorary and he earns his money as translator, mostly of technical manuals. Usually, as honorary consul he has to deal with British tourists in emergency, such as lost passports, but also just asking for advices about sightseeing and restaurants. But one day a man, Mr. Montgomery, comes to his office, hands him over an envelope and asks him to keep locked into the safe for a few days, until he will be back to get it. Although he is offered ten thousand euros and told, that such services had never been a problem with his predecessor, Nathan refuses to take the package. Nevertheless, the next day the package is left at the Accademia, labelled Nathan Sutherland, British Consulate. So begins a deadly game about an antique book, an invaluable masterpiece or a brilliant forgery.

Theme and genre
This thriller, situated in Venice, is the first book of the Nathan Sutherland Series. Themes are art and art forgery, tourism, everyday life in Venice and Italy, friendship.

Characters
All characters are different, very well developed. They are interesting and their behavior is believable and plausible.

Plot and writing
Nathan Sutherland as first person narrator tells the story. A tight timeline and unforeseeable events make it exciting and the wider art theme makes it interesting too. The intense and vivid descriptions of Venice with all its almost unknown, to tourists hidden places, and Italian Lifestyle makes the story a gem for everybody who loves this famous city with all its different shades.

Conclusion
The first book of a series about Nathan Sutherland, the British honorary consul in Venice. A thrilling, enjoyable read, showing the famous architecture, the well-known churches, bridges, palazzi and places, as well as the hidden beauty and shades of the gorgeous, dazzling town Venice. Perfect, not only for Venice-aficionados. ( )

Nathan Sutherland is the United Kingdom’s Honorary Consul in Venice. This is not normally an onerous position, which is fair enough as it is not one for which he receives any payment. His role is to be on hand to act as intermediary between the Italian authorities and any British citizens (usually tourists) who might have run into trouble, or dispense simple advice about the locality. In the event that a major issue arises, he would refer the matter to colleagues higher up the diplomatic food chain.

Nathan earns his living by translating documents between English and Italian. Since the documents in question tend to be rather mundane, such as operating manuals for washing machines, he is eminently distractable. However, more distraction than he might have wished for ensues after a caller during his ‘surgery’ hours offers him a large sum of money to store a mystery package in the consulate safe for a short period. Nathan flatly refuses but soon finds himself drawn into the intrigues when his refusal is deftly sidestepped, and the package comes into his possession anyway. As a consequence, Nathan finds himself pitched into the criminal fringes of the art world.

The plot is well constructed and entertaining, but I found the principal appeal of this book lay in its descriptions of Venice, and in the immensely likeable characters. It reminded me of the series of novels set in the world of art crime by Iain Pears – all very light-hearted and entertaining/. I look forward to reading the following books in the series. ( )

Read it in almost one sitting. Quite a clever story, fast paced, and humorous at times, but the parts I loved most were the city narratives. We stayed in Venice for a couple of winter weeks years back and I was fascinated to observe daily city life unfold there. So I loved following his treks through the city that brought back images and memories, As one reviewer wrote, 'escapism with tons of atmorsphere'. ( )

Competitive game with twin brothers commissioning theft of art in Venice.
Not really a mystery and certainly not a thriller. ( )