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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...

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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! 

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!