Mickey Friedman (1) (1944–)

Georgia Lee Maxwell had some "issues" with her job as a journalist in Florida, so she decides to move to Paris and write fluff articles about daily life in France. Something like that. She gets a hint that a famous British art appraiser, Clive Overton, will be going to a private gallery, Musée Bellefroide, to check some things out. So she figures to get a two-fer, an interview with the famous appraiser and a gander at the workings of private art galleries.

But, when they visit the site of the most famous painting in the gallery, a gunman shows up. Overton and Georgia Lee are tied up and the museum guard, Pierre Legrand, is shot dead. Once they are released from their bonds, they discover that the only thing missing from the collection is something rather obscure, the mirror of Nostradamus. It has virtually no value.

Allegedly, Nostradamus would look into the interior of this mirror, something shiny and black, and he would see ghostly images appear, images forecasting the future. Is there reality to these ancient myths, or are they just speculation? Is the stolen object actually the real object that belonged to Nostradamus, or just something similar? The provenance is sketchy, so no one knows.

Along the way, we learn of a shadowy group known as the Speculatori. They are true believers in the magic of the mirror and appear to be desperate to obtain it.

Well, that's enough. I believe another body or two show up, and, of course, Georgia Lee's life is in danger a time or two. It's a decent yarn and worth one's time if one has a few idle hours to spare.
… (mais)