Louise Bagshawe, Sparkles

Sparkles

Louise Bagshawe

Plume, Apr 2007, $14.00

ISBN: 0452288142

In Paris, jewelry tycoon Pierre Massot vanishes. His British wife Sophie remains in the city raising their son Tom in hopes that Pierre will return. However, she is very unhappy without closure as the millions spent on investigations proved fruitless. She also has to put up with the bullying tactics of Pierre's mother Katherine. Finally after seven years have passed since her husband disappeared; a fearful Sophie, over the objection of her martinet mother-in-law, has Pierre legally declared dead.

Sophie begins to look into the House Massot business. Company CEO Gregoire Lazard offers her lessons in the boardooom and bedroom. Pierre's former lover, American expatriate head of public relations, Judy Dean "befriends" the widow to insure Sophie does not interfere with her get rich schemes. As Sophie learns the business, some of Pierre's darkest secrets, including the Russian connection, she meets fellow Brit Hugh Montfort, who offers her real comfort though he himself has suffered from personal tragedy.

When this thriller looks deep into the machinations of the missing Pierre, it is intoxicating as the audience wants more; when the storyline focuses on the lifestyle, especially the wardrobes of the rich and famous, the plot suffers inertia as momentum is slowed. Still, the cast is fully developed beyond the central lead character as the three females in Pierre's life and the four males (to include Pierre) in Sophie's life bring the plot alive. With a final plausible twist that will stun the audience, this book entertainingly SPARKLES with delight.

Harriet Klausner