The Crown Conspiracy - Book Review

If you took the TV show Leverage and combined it with The Italian Job, you would get a pretty good picture of The Crown Conspiracy by Connie Mann. Full of suspense with a light romance thread, this story takes the best from those films and combines it with a faith element that creates an engrossing story. If you enjoy Robin Hood-like tales, you will love The Crown Conspiracy.

Plot Summary

Sophie isn't an art thief in the traditional sense. She recovers artwork stolen from their original owners, leaves a forgery in its place, and gives the original back to the true owners. After a painting that disappeared when the royal family was murdered is sent to Sophie’s friend Lise, art thieves descend on them. Sophie creates a forgery of the painting and not long afterwards Lise disappears along with the forgery.

Sophie takes the original painting and follows the clues to the other paintings, but persistent and handsome Interpol Agent Mac dogs her steps. A secret network of women called Speranza come to assist Sophie and try to find Lise. But the window of time is small and their findings could have national consequences.

Personal Thoughts

I have a weakness for stories with secret groups extracting justice, which is what drew me to The Crown Conspiracy. Sophie is smart, savvy, and sassy, with multiple skill sets that are handy for her job. Though Mac was technically one of her antagonists, I couldn’t help but like him. I only wish the side plot with Sophie and Mac was tied up more neatly; I'm hoping for an update in the next book!

The members of the Speranza Team were diverse and diverting. I loved Mercy and Camille from the first. The feats they accomplished were amazing and I loved the way they worked together. The suspense and intrigue were high and I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. All the pieces the author laid out at the beginning came together in the end. It takes a little bit for the story to build up, but that's because the author is setting everything up. After that, it took off and never slowed down.

Notes

Steam Level: 💋

This is Book #1 in the Speranza Team series.

For those of you who have read The Crown Conspiracy, what did you think of it? For those of you who have not read it, would you? Tell me in the comments below!