Michelangelo's Ghost (Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery, #4)

by Gigi Pandian

[MurderByDeath]

I'm always reluctant to start these and then love them once I do.  Jaya Jones is an historian specialising in Indian history (India Indian) and I admit, that's not my historical catnip.  But Pandian always ties the plot to other cultures too, and then there's the female Indiana Jones vibe with a touch of art thief, and each book pretty much ends up as a fun adventure.   This time, Jaya gets information about an unknown renaissance artist rumoured to have worked with Michelangelo; this artist spent many years working and learning from artists in India and could be a long missing link between Indian and renaissance art.  This information sends her to Italy, where it's said the artist hid his artwork in the Parco dei Mostri - The Park of Monsters.   Pandian manages to weave Jaya's brother into the story line - although I have to say, I think I was meant to like him, but he just came across as a stick-up-the-backside prat.  More romantic progress is made and many startling revelations revealed, but this doesn't take up much story space.     While there are a few elements I disliked, for the most part it was a fun story: art, adventure, thieves, ghosts, and big gothic statuary.  It would be hard not to like it.   As always, Pandian includes an author's note at the end explaining what in the story is historically accurate, and what is fiction/creative license. Parco dei Mostri is a real place, as is the fact that Michelangelo spent time in the vicinity around the time of the Park's creation.