Title: The Honeybee EmeraldsAuthor: Amy Tector
Published by: Turner Publishing on Mar. 29, 2022
Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller, Women's Fiction
Pages: 348
Format: ARC, Paperback
Source: Turner Publishing
Book Rating: 8/10
Alice Ahmadi has never been certain of where she belongs. When she discovers a famed emerald necklace while interning at a struggling Parisian magazine, she is plunged into a glittering world of diamonds and emeralds, courtesans and spies, and the long-buried secrets surrounding the necklace and its glamorous former owners.
When Alice realizes the mysterious Honeybee Emeralds could be her chance to save the magazine, she recruits her friends Lily and Daphne to form the “Fellowship of the Necklace.” Together, they set out to uncover the romantic history of the gems. Through diaries, letters, and investigations through the winding streets and iconic historic landmarks of Paris, the trio begins to unravel more than just the secrets of the necklace’s obsolete past. Along the way, Lily and Daphne’s relationships are challenged, tempered, and changed. Lily faces her long-standing attraction to a friend, who has achieved the writing success that eluded her. Daphne confronts her failing relationship with her husband, while also facing simmering problems in her friendship with Lily. And, at last, Alice finds her place in the world—although one mystery still remains: how did the Honeybee Emeralds go from the neck of American singer Josephine Baker during the Roaring Twenties to the basement of a Parisian magazine?
Review:
Mysterious, engaging, and absorbing!
The Honeybee Emeralds is an alluring tale that sweeps you away to Paris and into the offices of the failing ex-pat magazine, Bonjour Paris, as after finding a priceless emerald necklace in the basement of the building, a varied group of employees and personalities endeavour to discover the history and provenance of this beautiful piece, that may have ties to Napoleon III and famed singer Josephine Baker, in order to return it to its true owner and potentially save their careers.
The writing is smooth and descriptive. The characters are multilayered, inquisitive, and resourceful. And the plot is a compelling tale filled with familial drama, mystique, relationship dynamics, secrets, expectations, friendship, history, self-discovery, and a little romance.
Overall, The Honeybee Emeralds is a heartwarming, intriguing, romantic tale by Tector that was a pleasure to read and ultimately left me captivated, entertained, and highly satisfied.
This novel is available now.
Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.
Thank you to Turner Publishing for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
About Amy Tector
Amy Tector has spent more than 20 years plumbing the secrets squirrelled away in archives — whether it's uncovering a whale's ear (true story) in a box of old photographs, or working in The Hague for the United Nations' International Criminal Tribunal for War Crimes in the former Yugoslavia, she has been privy to hidden records and extraordinary secrets.
She now works at Canada’s national archives, Library and Archives Canada, and is adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa and a sessional instructor at Carleton University.
Amy’s debut novel, THE HONEYBEE EMERALDS was published in spring 2022. Her second novel, THE FOULEST THINGS, is the first in a loose trilogy centered on murders and mayhem in the archives. It will be published autumn 2022.
Amy has a PhD in English literature from the Université Libre de Bruxelles and lives in Ottawa, Canada with a daughter named Violet, a husband named Andrew and a dog named Daffodil. She is an enthusiastic, but incompetent, cross-country skier.
Photo by Rémi Thériault.
