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REVIEWS...
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More Reviews for A BOLT from the BLUE...
Story Circle Book Reviews (excerpt)
The books are carefully researched and Stuckart does a fine job of working in the details fifteenth century Milan and the intricacies of both da Vinci's art and of his mechanical inventions. The war machine is terrifying, and I hope that if I run across a war machine such as that, there will be flying machine on my castle's battlements, so I will be able to hop on and pedal away safely into blue air.
This easy reading book will have a wide appeal. Clearly, lovers of historical fiction will want to make an Italian meal, and then dig right into the book and dinner. Travelers, too, will enjoy the story. I've visited modern Milan, and it was a treat for me to visualize, through Stuckart's excellent descriptions, the city's ancient buildings thriving in their glory days.
While the book is described as adult fiction, it will certainly have appeal to adventuresome young readers, especially those who love history and art. Any girl reading it will appreciate that, in her life, she doesn't have to pretend to be Dino to have her talents and intelligence appreciated and to have adventures of her own.
Reviewed by Patricia Nordyke Pando
Read the full review HERE.
THE MYSTERY READER (4 stars)
Delfina della Fazia is a talented painter, but as a girl in fifteenth century Italy, that career is closed to her. She runs away from home, disguises herself as a boy, and buys a position as the apprentice “Dino” in the workshop of Leonardo da Vinci. Here she lives in a dormitory with the other apprentices and blissfully studies at the feet of the Master.
Leonardo is working for the Duke of Milan in 1484, partly as a painter, but primarily as an engineer, designing machines of war. He has devised an incredible weapon: a wood and canvas flying machine. It’s time to build a prototype, a full-scale, working flying machine, powered and steered by a man.
Leonardo makes Dino his assistant on this project, as they have worked together before (this is the third book in the series). Much to Dino’s surprise, his own father, a highly skilled woodworker, is hired as well, and brought in from out of town, to their mutual delight. Just as the secret project is getting underway, though, the head apprentice, Constantin, is shot and killed by a bolt from a crossbow. Concealed on his person are pages cut from Leonardo’s secret notebooks, bearing sketches and plans for the flying machine. Did Constantin break faith and steal them? Or did he catch someone else in the act and get shot for his efforts?
Leonardo, wishing to keep Constantin’s involvement confidential, smuggles his body out of the castle, then pretends the young man was shot by bandits on the road - not an uncommon occurrence in those days. Tito, another apprentice, tells Dino that he heard Constantin cry out when he was shot. Tito sees Constantin’s body and knows this was no bandit attack. Because Leonardo wishes to keep the secret safe, he brings Tito into his confidence, and Tito is put to work helping with the project.
The plot gets ever more complex, and when Leonardo, the flying machine, and Dino’s father all disappear, Dino, who is after all still very young, must find a way to bring them to safety. This she does with the help of an unlikely ally, despite treachery and many complications, as the book winds ever more craftily to its exciting conclusion.
A Bolt from the Blue is an engaging story, well told. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The real Leonardo da Vinci did invent a flying machine, and the drama in this tale could plausibly have happened. Though Leonardo is vital to the story, his appearances are fairly brief. The writer is wise to use such a famous character sparingly. Granted, it is hard to believe that a young woman could live in a dormitory, even one with sleeping alcoves, with many young men and still maintain the secret of her gender month after month. Aside from that, and one over-written, bright-lights-and-benevolence near-death scene, I have no quarrels with the book. No, I take that back: I wish my favorite character, a charming dog named Pio, had played a larger part in the story. I look forward to reading other books by this writer; perhaps Pio will figure more prominently in them.
--Nancy McIntyre
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MYSTERIES AND MY MUSINGS
Imagine having a dream ingrained in your very being so deeply that you can’t live without pursuing it. Imagine that you are a young girl in ancient times who has art in your very blood and you live to paint and draw, but your predetermined future will be to live in a small town and raise children without any hope of ever pursuing your dream.
When young Delfina’s family arranges a marriage for her so she can stop dreaming and start raising children, Delfina cuts her hair, binds herself up and disguised as a boy runs away to Milan and manages an apprenticeship under the renowned Leonardo daVinci himself. She is smart and brave and quickly the ultimate Renaissance man sees “Dino’s” quick mind and she is embroiled in court politics and intrigue by his side.
This was the third in the series and without having read the prior books I understood this book fine. The brief mentions of events from the prior books only made me want to read them as well. The main idea is that Leonardo is making a secret weapon for the Duke of Milan. Leonardo recruits “Dino’s” father since he is a master wood worker and cabinetmaker.
Another apprentice, Constantin, is shot down by an arrow (bolt) from a cross bow while clutching the stolen pages from Leonardo’s sketchbook for the weapon. Apparently there is a spy for the opposing forces in their midst. What is this weapon that must not fall into enemy hands? A flying machine for strategic aerial advantage in battle!
But before the assassin of Constantin can be discovered, the nearly completed flying machine is stolen out from under their noses…and “Dino’s” father is kidnapped along with it. It appears a rival Duke has the upper hand. How far will Delfina go to rescue her father and keep a viciously cruel Duke from using the weapon?
I have to say that this was a fantastic read. I thought the characters were well developed and wonderfully drawn, the plot kept me on the edge of my seat and the period detail is rich and envelops the reader. Delfina is a memorable character and Leonardo steps from mythic legend to fully realized person in this work. I truly cannot think of a down side. Which made me wonder why this book and the series isn’t all the rage? Why isn’t there more buzz about this series and author just everywhere? I am at a loss, unless it is due to the label “historical mystery” which downplays the more dramatic intrigue and rich layering of historical details. The author brings the time period, court politics and precarious political alliances and even the realistic daily existence vividly to life without it being dark, graphic or overly “gritty”. This series deserves to have a spotlight on it in my opinion – it is just that good. Can you tell I enjoyed it? If you have ever been fascinated by Leonardo daVinci or want political intrigue without a lot of violence, swearing and bed scenes this will probably delight you!
Reviews for PORTRAIT of a LADY...
Library Journal, 1/15/2009 (Starred Review)
The suspicious deaths of two female servants of Contessa Caterina, the ward of the Duke of Milan, give artist and sleuth Leonardo da Vinci (The Queen's Gambit) the idea to place his apprentice, Dino, in service to the Contessa's household. Dino, who is really a woman posing as a man so she can learn from the great Master, loses her heart to a soldier and sees da Vinci viciously attacked and almost killed. Milan in 1483 is a hot bed of intrigue, and Stuckart's delightful second series historical plays it for all it's worth. Highly recommended.
-- By Jo Ann Vicarel
ROMANTIC TIMES MAGAZINE
(4 Stars)
A girl pretending to be a boy pretending to be a girl works to perfection thanks to Stuckart's excellent writing. Her description of life in 1483 Milan leaps off the pages, and the mystery is as engaging as the characters.
—Barb Anderson
New Mystery Reader
In a tale of love and much deception, court painter Leonardo da Vinci must decipher the meaning of four golden fortune telling cards depicting disturbing imagery in the murders of servant women deemed inconsequential and easily replaceable by the Duke of Milan.
Second in Stuckart’s Leonardo da Vinci Mystery Series, Portrait of a Lady reveals the secrets of the unappreciated but indispensable women in the picturesque court while Duke Ludovico Sforza, happily unaware of anyone’s needs but his, confidently plans his strategy to increase his power and wealth. Exotic Caterina, pampered cousin and ward of the Duke, lives in a stronghold surrounded by servants and obedient townspeople but she fights crippling loneliness with the attention of her servants and devotion of her beloved hound Pio. Using tarocchi cards, Caterina foretells the horrific fate of one of her maidservants with her ornate cards and another tragedy forces da Vinci to uncover the source of these deaths using his secret weapon found in his own workshop.
Young apprentice Dino, da Vinci’s confidant, ably assisted the inquisitive artist in uncovering the truth in Stuckart’s previous mystery, The Queen’s Gambit. While obeying his master, Dino has the chance to revisit his life-altering choices in pretending to be a young woman in order to discover why the servant women were murdered. Unbeknownst to the normally observant da Vinci, Dino’s artifice is actually in pretending to be a young man since his real identity is Delfina, a teen-age girl who fled an arranged marriage and wishes to hone her skills as an artist. Pretending to be Dino playacting as Delfina, the painter’s apprentice befriends the lonely young woman and works her way into being a part of Caterina’s desperate plans for a brief chance at happiness. Delfina must also take care with the captivating and seemingly ever-present Captain of the Guard, Gregorio, until she decides if she can trust him with her greatest secrets.
The title of this mystery is inspired by the name of an authentic da Vinci painting and Stuckart ably weaves this into the story. Readers should be sure to revisit da Vinci’s “Portrait of a Lady” after finishing the book. The Leonardo da Vinci Mystery Series also offers descriptions of the necessary political machinations that the artist had to make in order to find the time and funding necessary to create the magnificent work that has been lauded through the ages.
Eminently readable and enjoyable, Portrait of a Lady does have some predictable elements but teems with twists, good humor, and a flowing style. Devotees of historical mysteries, art history and women’s studies should happily spend a few hours in the charming company of wise da Vinci and young Dino.
~Reviewed by Bonnye Busbice Good, New Mystery Reader
Reviewed by Kathy Perschmann, ARMCHAIR INTERVIEWS
Stuckart’s second in the Leonardo da Vinci mysteries is fascinating (Queen’s Gambit, 2008). It is 1483 and Leonardo is working for the Duke of Milan at Castle Sforza, painting, designing huge bronze sculptures, and creating all sorts of wonderful and amazing inventions that the Duke hopes to use in warfare (like an unfolding bridge!).
Dino, one of the many apprentices in Leonardo’s workshop, narrates this book and is one of the most fascinating characters in literature I have come across. Dino is actually Delfina, a young woman passing herself off as a boy to be able to work with Leonardo. One day Dino and a fellow apprentice come across the body of young woman, Bellanca, at the foot of one of the Castle towers. Was she pushed? Did she commit suicide? Leonardo surreptitiously takes on solving this crime, as he sees bruises on her body, and knows she had struggled.
Bellanca was a serving woman to the young Contessa Caterina, a ward of the Duke. Next Caterina’s servant Lidia is found poisoned! Dino again helps Leonardo with his investigation, but finds she is attracted to the new Captain of the Guard, Gregorio. He has ties to Caterina–a possible lover, and he is Lidia’s son. He does seem to be a strong suspect, but Dino cannot be objective.
Leonardo has compounded the situation by asking Dino to dress as a woman, and become a new servant to Caterina. Dino’s confidant, the tailor Luigi, takes perverse pleasure in creating beautiful gowns for Dino to wear in his new “role.” Dino admires Leonardo–but who will she choose? Will Gregorio win her over with his sensual and charming ways? Caterina has taken to foretelling the future with her tarocchi cards, and the same four cards keep coming up, cards that predict betrayal and dark secrets.
Armchair Interviews says: You will get a great sense of life in a painter’s workshop and an Italian castle with this enjoyable series.
Reviews for A BOLT from the BLUE...
GUMSHOE REVIEW
Dino has been going through the motions of daily life, living with nightmares, listlessness, and depression since the events of Portrait of a Lady. But that ennui doesn't last long once the master gets his apprentices to prep the chapel for a new mural and calls Dino to work with him on a new invention, a flying machine, for the Duke of Milan. The first order of business is to go to the palace gates and await the arrival of the master carpenter who will be assisting Leonardo with his new project.
The master carpenter turns out to be Dino's father, Angello Della Fazia. The reunion helps to heal the grief Dino has been feeling. Dino's father is careful not to give away the secret that Dino is in reality his daughter, Delfina, not his son. However, on the first day of working with the scale model one of the apprentices is murdered while trying to warn Leonardo of some treachery. Unfortunately, he dies before he can transmit the message and only a handful of Leonardo's sketches clasped in his hand lets them know that a traitor may be among them.
In 1484, the Duchy of Milan is a force to be reckoned with even without Da Vinci's flying machine. However, the rumor of the machine has spread and many of the leaders of other city states would do more than kill an apprentice in order to have the machine, as it would give them a tremendous edge in any war.
Once again, Dino finds herself investigating a mystery. Who killed the apprentice? Who can she trust other than her father and her master? And could it be that one of the apprentices is a traitor? Clues abound as does suspicious behavior. Stuckart manages to keep moving the story along with first one and then another character looking like the likely traitor.
As usual, Stuckart blends historical detail, political intrigue, and a deadly serious mystery into a story that keeps the reader turning pages and trying to pit their wits against the main characters as the plot threads twist and turn.
Having read Portrait of a Lady, I was excited to get the opportunity to review A Bolt From the Blue. I was not disappointed and I doubt any reader would be. The history of the time, and Leonardo Da Vinci as a character, would make the story well worth checking out but adding a devious and clever mystery makes it a must read if you enjoy historical mysteries.
~Gayle Surrette
Richmond Times-Dispatch
That Leonardo da Vinci was a genius cannot be doubted, and one of the artist/scientist’s major interests was the flight of man. In Diane A.S. Stuckart’s third entry featuring the Renaissance man, “A Bolt From the Blue” (324 pages, Berkley Prime Crime, $14), the plot centers on his attempt to create a flying machine.
It’s 1484, and Leonardo continues as the court artist for the Duke of Milan. Still among his apprentices is Delfina della Fazia, who has left home and disguised herself as a boy named Dino so that she can study under the master. But Delfina has a surprise in store: Leonardo has hired her father, a talented craftsman, to help with the machine.
Plans go awry when another apprentice is murdered, the flying machine is stolen and Delfina’s father, Angelo, is abducted by men who mistakenly believe he is Leonardo. At stake is peace in northern Italy, as the Duke of Pontalba wants the machine to wage war against Milan.
As always, Stuckart creates a fine story filled with historical detail and fully developed characters. “A Bolt From the Blue” continues her mastery of her subject and, perhaps, hints at a new direction.
~Jay Strafford
Las Vegas Review-Journal
I review a lot of “cozy mystery” novels, suspenseful stories with unusual characters and settings. There are amateur sleuths who are florists, bakers, gardeners and so on. But Diane Stuckart’s series, which features the legendary artist/inventor/all around genius Leonardo da Vinci as a crime-solver, has to be one of the most unique story lines I have run across. Surprisingly, it works!
In her latest novel, “A Bolt from the Blue,” Stuckart once again explores life in 15th-century Milan, Italy, with its political intrigue, warring factions and electric atmosphere for great changes. As court artist/engineer to the mysterious Il Moro, Duke of Milan, Leonardo da Vinci is called upon to use his superior mind in many pursuits, from inventing outlandish contraptions to solving the odd murder. With his troupe of apprentices, da Vinci is supposedly working on painting the Duke’s chapel, but he also is working on a secret project.
With war always looming ever closer, the Duke has called upon Master da Vinci to invent what he considers to be the deadliest weapon ever: a flying machine that can be used to surprise the enemy. Clothing the project in secrecy, da Vinci only allows his favorite apprentice, Dino, to work with him, but then calls in a special craftsman — one who happens to be Dino’s father.
However, Signor da Vinci does not know that Dino is actually the craftsman's daughter, Delfina, who keeps her gender a secret in order to serve as apprentice to the great master. But while Delfina worries that her father will spill her secret, someone else, trying to get the plans for da Vinci’s flying machine, murders one of the other apprentices. Now, as her master works his brilliance, Delfina only can pray that they can find the culprit before another apprentice becomes a victim of a bolt from a crossbow.
“A Bolt from the Blue” is a fascinating look into the life of Leonardo da Vinci in a way he has never been portrayed. Although this is the third book of the series, the story is written in a way that first-time readers can easily catch up with the complicated life of Dino/Delfina and her time working with da Vinci. Stuckart has done a wonderful job of capturing the era with lively characters and intriguing facts, making “A Bolt from the Blue” a great history lesson as well as a thrilling mystery.
~Sharon Galligar Chance
MORE REVIEWS FOR PORTRAIT OF A LADY...
Teen readers enjoy the Leonardo series just as much as adults do! The Flamingnet young adult review site just gave PORTRAIT OF A LADY its Top Choice award. Here's a lovely excerpt from the teenage reviewer's write-up:
"This is one of the best books that I have ever read! Portrait of a Lady contains romance, lies and deceit, hate, treachery, love, truth, many tears of sadness and joy, well just about every emotion out there, and ones that I never knew existed!"
Thank you, my dear, for a wonderful review. To read the full review and to visit this exciting youth blog, click on the dragon:
Story Circle Book Reviews (excerpt)...
Diane A. S. Stuckart's novel Portrait of a Lady is an enjoyable, light mystery with lively characters and just enough history to keep it interesting. While a bit predictable, the plot was intriguing...If you are in the mood for a medieval castle, aristocratic court, a murder mystery, and an independent female heroine, this is the book for you.
--Reviewed by Jennifer Melville
read the rest at: http://www.storycirclebookreviews.org
From Publishers Weekly Fans of Stuckart's impressive debut, The Queen's Gambit (2008), may wish Leonardo da Vinci, the ultimate Renaissance man, was on stage more often in this sequel. As readers of the previous book know, the artist's apprentice, Dino, who serves as narrator, is secretly a woman, Delfina. When Bellanca, a servant to the duke of Milan's ward, Contessa Caterina, falls to her death from a tower, Leonardo's investigation into what proves to be a murder case requires that Delfina pose as a female servant herself. Bellanca's death is soon followed by that of another member of Contessa Caterina's retinue. Already hard-pressed to maintain the deception, Delfina finds her undercover role complicated by a somewhat predictable romantic entanglement with a handsome soldier. Da Vinci emerges at the end to solve the crimes in an action-packed sequence more reminiscent of Magnum than Columbo. As in The Queen's Gambit, Stuckart convincingly captures the flavor of 15th-century Italy.
(Jan.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved
An excerpt from the GUMSHOE REVIEW...
I found the historical setting [of PORTRAIT OF A LADY] fascinating. Dino is a woman ahead of her time...The mystery itself was satisfying but, for me, secondary to the setting and characters. I enjoyed the story and would seek out another book in the series.
~Review by Gayle Surrette
Read the rest at Gumshoe Review!
And a late review for THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT...
Here's an excerpt from a new blog I just discovered, with a wonderful write-up of THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT, now out in paperback:
Visit Jen's Book Thoughts and scroll down to her 2/28 entry to read the rest of this review!
