Estelle Ryan
Author of The Gauguin Connection
About the Author
Image credit: Estelle Ryan
Series
Works by Estelle Ryan
The Anquetin Connection 6 copies
The Winge Connection 4 copies
The Csontváry Connection 4 copies
The Bonheur Connection 4 copies
The Redon Connection 4 copies
The Bellotto Connection 4 copies
Maecenas 1 copy
The Belloto Connection 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Gender
- female
- Short biography
- Estelle Ryan was born in South Africa and spent her childhood being surrounded by African beauty, nature and diversity of cultures. Her first trip to Europe at the tender age of 16 transformed her world into a much larger place, endless in its possibilities and places to explore. For most of her adulthood she’s travelled all over the world, lived on a few continents, explored numerous cultures and is insatiable in the quest to still the hunger for more life experiences.
She’s written for numerous international magazines, was the editor of a European lifestyle magazine and has seven romance novels published under a pseudonym. With her interest in international politics, arts, crime, behavioural psychology, criminal psychology and music, she decided to combine all these elements in her writing. And so Genevieve and the team came into being.
She is an unabashed coffeeshopaholic. Good coffee, ambience and music in the perfect combination is all that is required to turn a mundane coffee shop into her 'office'. The appropriate coffee shop is chosen depending on the mood, the weather, the type and amount of work that needs to be done and, of course, the craving of the day. All of her books have been written in numerous coffee shops all over the world. - Nationality
- South Africa
- Birthplace
- South Africa
- Associated Place (for map)
- South Africa
Members
Reviews
Rating: 3.5* of five
The Publisher Says: Murdered artists. Masterful forgeries.
Art crime at its worst.
A straightforward murder investigation quickly turns into a quagmire of stolen Eurocorps weapons, a money-laundering charity, forged art and high-ranking EU officials abusing their power.
As an insurance investigator and world renowned expert in nonverbal communication, Dr Genevieve Lenard faces the daily challenge of living a successful, independent life. Particularly because she has to deal show more with her high functioning Autism. Nothing - not her studies, her high IQ or her astounding analytical skills - prepared her for the changes about to take place in her life.
It started as a favour to help her boss' acerbic friend look into the murder of a young artist, but soon it proves to be far more complex. Forced out of her predictable routines, safe environment and limited social interaction, Genevieve is thrown into exploring the meaning of friendship, expanding her social definitions, and for the first time in her life be part of a team in a race to stop more artists from being murdered.
My Review: The Doubleday UK meme, a book a day for July 2014, is the goad I'm using to get through my snit-based unwritten reviews. Today's prompt is to discuss a beach read, a novel perfect for an afternoon under a beach umbrella sipping drinks with silly names brought by hotties clad in as few clothes as local law allows.
Ahem. Well. Isn't that how everyone spends a day at the beach?
The Gauguin Connection has many sterling qualities, like a wonderful main character, and a completely beguiling cast of supporting characters. (I convinced my Gentleman Caller to read this by saying he reminded me of Vinnie. To my relief, he found that touching and endearing, "worth reading a stupid mystery novel for.")
What makes this such a good beach read is simply that: The interplay of the characters. Dr Lenard isn't consistently drawn, the art-crime plot seems very slapdash to me, and so on and so on. All those quibbles aside, I loved these characters and wanted to sit quietly in the room while they did what they do. Which is mostly sit around computers in different rooms and bicker amusingly.
I mean to tell you, though, if savoring the interplay of high-level snark with pomposity, the collision of wit with literal-mindedness, doesn't sound compelling to you, horseman, pass on. I found it deeply funny at times, and snortingly amusing all the time. So download it onto your Kindle for free, put the Kindle in a quart-sized Ziploc, seal it, and head for the sand. Tip the hottie well, and in advance, for the best drinks service. Relax into bliss with the wacky crew of Strasbourg (!)-based art crime solvers.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. show less
The Publisher Says: Murdered artists. Masterful forgeries.
Art crime at its worst.
A straightforward murder investigation quickly turns into a quagmire of stolen Eurocorps weapons, a money-laundering charity, forged art and high-ranking EU officials abusing their power.
As an insurance investigator and world renowned expert in nonverbal communication, Dr Genevieve Lenard faces the daily challenge of living a successful, independent life. Particularly because she has to deal show more with her high functioning Autism. Nothing - not her studies, her high IQ or her astounding analytical skills - prepared her for the changes about to take place in her life.
It started as a favour to help her boss' acerbic friend look into the murder of a young artist, but soon it proves to be far more complex. Forced out of her predictable routines, safe environment and limited social interaction, Genevieve is thrown into exploring the meaning of friendship, expanding her social definitions, and for the first time in her life be part of a team in a race to stop more artists from being murdered.
My Review: The Doubleday UK meme, a book a day for July 2014, is the goad I'm using to get through my snit-based unwritten reviews. Today's prompt is to discuss a beach read, a novel perfect for an afternoon under a beach umbrella sipping drinks with silly names brought by hotties clad in as few clothes as local law allows.
Ahem. Well. Isn't that how everyone spends a day at the beach?
The Gauguin Connection has many sterling qualities, like a wonderful main character, and a completely beguiling cast of supporting characters. (I convinced my Gentleman Caller to read this by saying he reminded me of Vinnie. To my relief, he found that touching and endearing, "worth reading a stupid mystery novel for.")
What makes this such a good beach read is simply that: The interplay of the characters. Dr Lenard isn't consistently drawn, the art-crime plot seems very slapdash to me, and so on and so on. All those quibbles aside, I loved these characters and wanted to sit quietly in the room while they did what they do. Which is mostly sit around computers in different rooms and bicker amusingly.
I mean to tell you, though, if savoring the interplay of high-level snark with pomposity, the collision of wit with literal-mindedness, doesn't sound compelling to you, horseman, pass on. I found it deeply funny at times, and snortingly amusing all the time. So download it onto your Kindle for free, put the Kindle in a quart-sized Ziploc, seal it, and head for the sand. Tip the hottie well, and in advance, for the best drinks service. Relax into bliss with the wacky crew of Strasbourg (!)-based art crime solvers.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. show less
I picked this book up because the heroine, a PhD with a specialty in the study of body language and nonverbal communication who is on the Autism spectrum sounded intriguing, and Bette had recommended the series highly on these threads. Thanks, Bette! I loved this book. Although she is very uncomfortable with social interactions, Genevieve Lenard manages to attract a motley crew of unlikely people as she gets drawn into what begins as a search for weapons thief and ends up as a search for a show more murder of artists and head of a terrorist supply network. Genevieve is an intriguing and likeable character, and all the supporting characters are appealing as well. The mystery was good and the suspense was excellent. I will definitely be looking for more of this series. show less
Lots to love about this "new-to-me" series! Great characters, sharp dialogue, an intricate crime puzzle to solve and an approach to the investigation that had this data geek happily enthralled. Genevieve Lenard makes for a unique investigator as she likes to work behind the scenes (preferably from the comfort of her technology-filled soundproof office) crunching details and searching for data connections. Her reaction, when her structured life is turned completely upside-down and inside out, show more is understandable. In Genevieve, Ryan captures a lot of the thought processes, emotion and behaviour of a person with high functioning autism. Ryan also builds into the story some light-hearted levity with the inclusion of art thief Colin and his side-kick Vinnie and Genevieve's habit of speaking without a filter. Yes, some parts of the story require the reader to just accept what is happening. for me, the story is more about Genevieve's character evolution as she slowly grows to understand and appreciate the individuals she has had to let inside her "safety bubble".
Overall, a wonderful crime mystery thriller with a protagonist twist that has me looking forward to following more of Genevieve's unplanned investigative adventures. show less
Overall, a wonderful crime mystery thriller with a protagonist twist that has me looking forward to following more of Genevieve's unplanned investigative adventures. show less
Estelle Ryan is a delightful new author for me. I really enjoyed her writing in the first Genevieve Lenard series of a conspiracy for forged art, corruption in international policing with good-guys versus the baddies. The protagonist, Genevieve, is a highly intelligent young woman coping with some level of autism. I know very little about the autism spectrum, so cannot evaluate whether it was accurately portrayed. However, the story seemed totally feasible from that point of view and Ryan show more made the situation sympathetic and 'Jenny' a very engaging character.
The supporting cast were well drawn, fully 3-dimensional people. The crisp writing allowed the plot to proceed smoothly and not overwhelm the story with too much superfluous detail. That detail did threaten on occasion, but the action led to enough suspense to make it work out.
Lost a star because the dénouement was wrapped up all too quickly and lost sensible momentum with Genevieve foolishly following the main criminals and leaving her protective companions with no idea where she had gone. It was entirely unrealistic that she wasn't killed outright. . Despite this criticism, the second book in this rather unique series is on my list of "next immediate reading". show less
The supporting cast were well drawn, fully 3-dimensional people. The crisp writing allowed the plot to proceed smoothly and not overwhelm the story with too much superfluous detail. That detail did threaten on occasion, but the action led to enough suspense to make it work out.
Lost a star because the dénouement was wrapped up all too quickly and lost sensible momentum with Genevieve
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Statistics
- Works
- 36
- Members
- 1,727
- Popularity
- #14,886
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 112
- ISBNs
- 51
- Favorited
- 4
