Friends in High Places

My whole family read this book, waiting impatiently for their turns because we all so enjoyed the prior books. Everyone loved it. I read it twice, beginning again as soon as I finished it the first time. It is a delightful, funny, well-plotted mystery that transports you into the lifestyles of the rich and famous. The jewels! The clothes! The gourmet food! The super-luxury hotels and fabulous homes! I would love a book of recipes from the Kick Keswick books. I would love to live her life. This is a such a fun romp! The only problem is having to wait for the next book in the series.

I thoroughly enjoyed this latest in the Kick Keswick series. These stories are always entertaining - great fun to see the methods Kick uses to be in the right place at the right time for her own purposes. I very much hope this series will continue!

Kick Keswick has retired from her vocation at Ballentine's (and from her avocation as the Shamrock Burglar) although she finds she is a bit bored with living the quiet life that she planned for herself. Overhearing at a party that her former employer is in trouble (and hoping that trouble does not lead back to her) Kick decides to return to Ballentines to find out the truth. When her husband Thomas gets called back to Scotland Yard to help with a case, Kick travels back to London, and soon finds things as complicated as she had suspected, with her old nemesis behind the potential collapse of the auction house. Through a twist of fate, Kick finds herself running the organization and is approached by a young nun with an intriguing jeweled statue to sell, and an even more incredible story of the history of the statue and the others that are missing. Kick hatches a meticulous plan to not only restore the jeweled statues to their rightful owner, but to replace an intricate piece of jewelry that she herself had stolen years before (because, after all, self-preservation has been Kick's goal since she was a child). This is the fourth book in this series, but Ms. Kellogg does such a wonderful job in drawing out and explaining the intracacies of each character that it is not necessary to have read the others to understand the background (although all of the rest are also fabulous fun). This one is my favorite, because we finally understand the details in Kick's past that led to her life of larceny. She also develops friends for the first time in her life; one who may turn out to be her daughter. Kick is so likeable that you tend to overlook the fact that she lies, steals, and changes identities so well that she can fool just about everyone (except the lovable Thomas, of course). But she has such a wonderful heart, and justifies her behavior by only stealing from the people who deserve it! Kick takes the art of revenge to a whole new level! Friends in High Places is an entertaining read, and it is obvious that Ms. Kellogg enjoys writing about Kick. Let's hope there will be many more books in the future about Kick's mis-adventures!

Former jewel thief Kick Keswick retired to Provence with her husband former Inspector Thomas Curtis. However when Thomas is called back by Scotland Yard to work a high profile case and Kick learns her former place of employment is in financial trouble, they both return to work. At Ballantine & Company Auctioneers, an appraiser made a mistake that led to a loss of millions and a firing. Also a person returning jewels substituted false stones causing the current fiscal crisis. Kick knows that her former fiancé owner Owen Brace is the on who returned the phony gems, but she has no proof. Sister Immaculata wants to sell a jeweled Madonna so that the proceeds can be used to restore her order to health. She knows where the purloined jeweled Madonnas are but cannot get to them because the possessor of them is extremely powerful. When Constance Flynn comes in to sell all her jewels including one of which a fake which resides in Kick's safety deposit box, she is forced to attend the wedding of the woman's son in order to substitute the fake jewels for the real ones. Constance's beau turns out to be Owen while another woman who Kick likes is married to the killer who possesses the jeweled Madonna's. Kick wants to steal them and get them to Sister Immaculata whom she thinks might be her daughter. Marne Davis Kellogg has a hit series because of her heroine, a jewel thief with a heart of gold streaked with larceny. There is plenty of action as the support cast turns the storyline into a special cozy as they play major roles along side the kick butt heroine in the jeweled purloining "Olympics". Friends in High Places is a charming superb suspense thriller. Harriet Klausner

Kick Keswick, retired jewel thief, is enjoying her life with her husband, former Inspector Thomas Curtis. Thomas still gets called in by Scotland Yard, leaving Kick alone. When Kick finds out the Ballantine and Company Auctioneers, where she used to work, is having serious problems, she decides to jump in and help. Especially when she figures out that her old enemy is behind some of it and that lots of the fake jewels she'd carefully substituted over years of secret theft are possibly going to be exposed. When she arrives at Ballantine, she ends up with a more time consuming position than she preferred. And she finds out that things at Ballantine are much worse than she imagined. As her enemy gets closer, Kick finds she has to work hard to keep a step ahead. A young nun comes to Kick with a great jeweled figurine and a story of murder. Kick soon realizes she must sneak into a high-society wedding in the Italian Alps, break into a castle owned by a murderer, and do it with style and finesse so she doesn't get caught. Can she locate the missing items and replace the needed jewels all without raising any suspicions or putting herself in danger? I love this series. Kick is such a great character. She's high society with an undercurrent of intrigue and secrecy. Even though she's now retired, she always gets called out to help by using her skills as a jewel thief. I enjoy these books because I get to see a slice of life that I wouldn't experience any other way. The locations and food are always exotic. I can't wait for the next installment. I highly recommend this book and series.