Renoir, art, and murder in Belle Époque Paris.
Revenge Among the Renoirs by Jennifer King (2024) is a historical art history whodunit mystery with time travel. It is set in Paris in the 1880s – Belle Époque Paris.
It is the first book in Jennifer King’s Art History Mysteries series, introducing Jade Beckham, an art restorer whose life is changed when she enters a time portal and lands in the world of Pierre-Auguste Renoir and his circle of family and friends: Edmond Renoir, his wife Aline Charigot, Edgar Degas, Emile Zola, and the Impressionists. Here she becomes tangled in a series of murders targeting female Parisian artist models in Montmartre.
French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) is most noted for his works Two Sisters, Portrait of Irene Cahen d’Anvers, Portrait of Claude Monet, Boating on the Seine, and Portrait of Jeanne Samary. The most famous of all his paintings is Luncheon of the Boating Party.
All clues point toward someone witha knowledge of Renoir’s artwork. Jade becomes both investigator and confidante, navigating Belle Époque Paris while trying to identify the killer before another woman dies. The stakes rise when she discovers the murderer may be driven by a personal vendetta against Renoir, using props directly from his sketchbooks and paintings, such as an umbrella, hat, and striped dress to stage the victims. The narrative culminates in a riotous confrontation with the suspect.
The novel follows a classic cozy mystery structure: prologue (Aline’s diary), Jane’s life, immersion in 1880 Paris, investigation, confrontation, and return to the present time. The book is overflowing with authentic detail about Renoir’s techniques, palette, stylistic changes, relationships and rivalries, and everyday life of the times – the costumes, cafés, domestic spaces, and street life. Jade’s break-in at Baize’s home is tense and cinematic, pushing the genre to its edge.
This is a charming, atmospheric, and suspenseful historical novel The art-history detail is the standout feature, and readers who love Paris, museums, and Impressionist art will be particularly delighted.
