What Evil Lurks in Monet's Pond

Maisie Carr carts her paints and easel all over the world, building her reputation as an international artist. But her real work is as an unusual CIA spy -- she gathers information on some pretty dangerous people while watching the action with an artist's eye. On a visit to hr sister's "faux" castle in CT, the Carr clan gets out of hand, speculating on Maisie's personal life, even as she delves into a strange local art heist at the Tattinger Museum. Founded by the oddly eccentric Hermione Wells Tattinger, a woman married five times, the museum suffers from a lack of visitors and some very unusual rules. The masterpieces are only displayed four times a year, and the rest of the time, only the minor paintings are hung in its galleries. Modeled after the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Tattinger is at a disadvantage -- it's off the beaten path. When the thief picks those minor paintings to steal in his brazen heist, questions abound. Is there a connection to what happened in Boston in 1990? Or does it have something to do with the Hungarian heirs of Hermione's last husband, the fake count, Viktor Szabo? The CIA is worried it's a cover for a Hungarian gang of organized criminals, but sorting this out isn't all that easy. Things get dicey when Maisie is outed on WikiLeaks as a spy. When a stranger is murdered and left in the snow up by Monet's Pond, there's a killer loose. Is that corpse connected to the museum robbery or to Maisie's work as a spy? It's up to her to figure it out, even as the love of her life seems to be cutting her loose. Is this any way to start the New Year? (intro novella)