Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Mystery in Marseille: A Bite-Sized Art Heist Mystery (Sophie’s Adventures) by Nupur Tustin. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!

Mystery in Marseille: A Bite-Sized Art Heist Mystery (Sophie’s Adventures) by Nupur Tustin

Mystery in Marseille: A Bite-Sized Art Heist Mystery (Sophie’s Adventures)
Travel Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting – Marseille, France
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Foiled Plots Press (October 18, 2024)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 168 pages

A holiday in France; an art thief on the run! Art sleuth Sophie must stay a step ahead of a brash criminal . . .

A rare Matisse in Marseille provides a convenient cover for undercover art sleuth Sophie Poisson’s covert romantic plans in the city.

But when the painting is unexpectedly stolen, Sophie finds herself chasing an art thief instead of romance.

With a wily thief one step ahead of her and her undercover partner, Uncle Arthur, out of town, can Sophie devise a strategy to recover the Matisse before it sails out of Marseille, never to be seen again?

Author Guest Post: Sophie’s Unplanned Adventure

I wasn’t planning on setting a story in Marseille. In fact, I was about to send Sophie to Rome to investigate the theft of an ancient relic. And I wasn’t planning on having a Matisse stolen in my story, either. 

But then again, Sophie wasn’t intending to embark on an undercover adventure. She was headed to Marseille for a romantic tryst with her FBI boyfriend, Joe Wright. 

So, how did Mystery in Marseille come about?

To answer that question, I’ll have to go back to a different series. I was researching Bearer of Secrets, the latest in the Celine Skye Psychic Art Sleuth Series. The book focuses on the Degas and Manet stolen from the Gardner Museum. So, of course, I was researching Degas.

That’s when I came across the most intriguing story. A Degas on loan to the Cantini Museum in Marseille had been stolen and police had given it up as lost when it was unexpectedly found. 

Not because of a tip or any fancy investigative work. But quite by chance, because of a random search conducted on a tour bus. 

None of the passengers on the tour bus admitted to having brought the work on board so no one could be charged with theft or possession of stolen property. But the work, once stolen, had now been found.

 As a story, it was supremely unsatisfying. Why had the bus been searched? Who could have brought it on board? Why? I wanted to use the details in Bearer of Secrets, but there simply wasn’t enough information to concoct a believable story around the scant details available.

So I relegated it to the backburner where it percolated until I began working on the third Sophie’s Adventure story. I was plotting her adventure in Rome when suddenly it hit me—an entire story to fit the facts of the news report I’d read. 

To say I was exhilarated is putting it mildly. The story had to be set in Marseille. After all, that’s where the Cantini Museum is.

But I discovered I couldn’t write about Degas. I’d already written about it in Theft in Sleepy Hollow, Sophie’s second adventure. So I reluctantly settled for Matisse. I did enjoy his colorful, bright style, but I worried that no one would want to steal a Matisse. His early Fauve period works haven’t fetched very high prices. The Nice period works are more popular, but few tend to come up for sale. 

Then, as I was writing the story, I serendipitously came across an article about Matisse prices in 2024. It turns out this is a good year to start collecting Matisse pieces. They’re confidently expected to appreciate in value. So, of course, it’s also an excellent year to start stealing them!

Sophie didn’t plan for her adventure, but then what sleuth does when they’re on holiday? Still, she has a blast of a time in Marseille. It’s an ancient port city, abundant in natural beauty and historic interest. 

I enjoyed touring the city with her as she chased after a cunning art thief. I hope you enjoy sightseeing with her as well.

About Nupur Tustin

A former journalist with a Ph.D. in Communication, Nupur Tustin orchestrates murder in the historical Joseph Haydn Mystery series and paints intrigue in her contemporary Celine Skye Psychic Mystery series, based on the true  story of the unsolved Gardner Museum theft. Travel, disguises, and stolen art form the basis of undercover art sleuth Sophie’s adventures in the Sophie’s Adventure series.

• Author Links
  Website: https://ntustin.com
  Blog: https://ntustin.com/blog
  Shop: https://ntustin.com/shop
  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ntustinauthor/
  Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/nupurtustin
  Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/nupur-tustin
• Purchase Links: Amazon – Barnes & Noble Kobo Apple iBooks

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Mystery in Marseille Tour PARTICIPANTS

December 2 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT

December 2 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW

December 3 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

December 3 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR GUEST POST

December 3 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT

December 4 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST

December 4 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT  

December 5 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT

December 5 – Reading Is My SuperPower – SPOTLIGHT

December 5 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW

December 6 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT

December 6 – StoreyBook Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST

December 6 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT

December 7 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – REVIEW

December 7 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

December 8 – Cassidy’s Bookshelves – REVIEW

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