Customer Reviews

Perfect (Kick Keswick Mysteries #3)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After retiring as the highly publicized Shamrock Burglar, Kick Keswick, with her husband former Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Thomas Curtis, who moonlighted as the Samaritan Burglar, retired to their farmhouse in Provence. With the money and jewels they saved from their various heists, they have enough money to live in the most luxurious lifestyle imaginable if they so choose. Thomas gets called up from Scotland Yard occasionally to work on a tough case and Kick helps him in her own manner and style.

Now the Queen Elizabeth has asked personally for Thomas's help because some of the crown jewels were stolen by her trusted footman Bradford who helped her pack them for the royal tour she is going on. Thomas learns that Bradford changed his name to Sebastian Tremaine and is the business manager and companion for opera singer Constantin. Thomas has a plan to get Kick in position to get close to Sebastion and Constantin but she has her own methods of doing things and escapes his scrutiny the first change she gets. She tries and succeeds in meeting one of the world's richest men George Naxos and his beautiful wheelchair bound wife Alma. Kick maneuvers them into letting her visit his large isolated estate (more like at a small hamlet) in Switzerland where the rich and famous stay including Constantin and Sebastion. She concocts a daring plan to steal the jewels back from Sebastion but in this garden of Eden there lies a serpent waiting to strike at her and stop her plan from succeeding even if it means killing her.

Kick Keswick is very different than the usual heroine. She is self confident, comfortable in her own skin (even if she is twenty-five pounds overweight) and believes there isn't a jewel she can't rob given enough time. The way she maneuvers people to get them to do what she wants is a talent few people possess and the way she does it seems so reasonable at the time that readers find themselves believing she is an average person . This enjoyable crime caper is delightful and charming.

Harriet Klausner

I am a huge fan of Marne Davis Kellogg. My friends and I have read all of her books and were counting the days until Perfect. I was a little disappointed. Kick is still a wonderful character, but there was no real suspense here and Thomas is too minor a part of Perfect-again. The clothes descriptions that were so much fun before seem a tad overdone, and the Mont-St-Agnes crowd left me cold. We need some personal development amd fun characters along the lines of Lilly Bennett and Richard Jerome which brings me to a good point. When is another book in that series coming out?

This book is a treasure. A lovely escapist adventure that gives the reader a glimpse into the lives of the super rich, with sumptuous gourmet meals, elaborate jewels, the secrets of the world's best jewel thief, luxe travel locations and hidden enclaves in Provence, Paris and the Swiss Alps, and dreamy designer clothes and accessories. All of this luxury is wrapped up in a mystery centering on the clever, endearing Kick Keswick, who rose from poverty to world class success as a jewel thief. Here, she has to steal back the Queen of England's jewels, which have been purloined by a thief who is among an interesting international cast of characters. I did not want this book to end and have to leave Kick and her magical world. More!

Marne Davis Kellogg continues to delight with her divine character Kick Keswick. If you love the good life, this book is a romp! Kick will take you to georgeous locals, introduce you to fine wines and fabulous recipes, bake you up a REALLY yummy chocolate cake, dress you in jewels and a world class wardrobe, and let you imagine yourself rescuing the Crown Jewels! It's a great escape, written with a wonderful sense of humor and an understanding of how a fully formed woman views herself and life.

Marne Davis Kellogg's mysteries continue to evolve, with characters who stay with the reader long after the last page is turned. Such is Marne's newest modern-day investigator-cum-retired-jewel-thief, Kick Keswick. Who doesn't love reading about jewels, fabulous food, shady sharacters, luxurious international locations, with a trace of danger and mystery? I love Kick: She's one classy lady who's smart without being smug; witty without being broad. Can't wait to read the next installment.

Let me start off by saying I absolutely adored "Brilliant". It is one of my favorite books, and Kick Keswick rates up there as one of my all time favorite characters. She is smart, tough, able to take care of herself, and looks out for those less fortunate. Or at least she used to. I therefore cannot understand what has happened to this series. The second book was slightly less interesting, since too much time was spent explaining how Kick became a jewel thief - we went through that in the first book and didn't need such a lengthy recap.
This book, however, disappointed me beyond belief. There is no suspense, no build up to a big caper, nothing. We again get the recap as to how Kick reached this point in her life. And then, until one feels sick to their stomach from reading so much about it, we hear page after page, detail after detail, about the food she is eating and the drinks she is drinking. I can tell you, if she ate all of the fattening food she does, she wouldn't carry an extra 25 pounds as she claims. Try more like 250 pounds. We also get to hear about her luscious body, and how beautiful she thinks she is. Finally, this book seems like an advertisement for the fur industry - again, page after page, every character is draped in fur. It's enough to make one run out and join an animal rights group. It's also quite unbelievable that Kick is out to hold a fellow jewel thief accountable. It's not like her character is repenting and giving all the fruits of her thefts to charity or something. For anyone who ever wished they were a billionaire, read this book. It will make you very grateful you don't know people like these. Let's hope if there is a fourth book in this series, it brings things back around to the brilliance of "Brilliant."

I don't usually write reviews but I was really disappointed by this book. I was entirely prepared for light entertainment and wasn't looking for a whole lot of meaning, was even able to wade through all of the cooking descriptions and several descriptions of cashmere exercise outfits, but really was disappointed in the end by how the plot fell apart upon even slight examination.

I am not going to write any spoilers but suffice to say that it just doesn't add up when all is said and done - none of the character's motivations make any sense and that added on top of the aforementioned trivia makes me rate this poorly.

if you are going to do alot of research, you need to make that actually seem like a story -- otherwise, write for gourmet or airline magazines about food and glamourous places.

my .02

Kick Keswick is a retired, ultra-rich jewel thief with more than a dash of panache. When she was at the height of her career as the Shamrock Burglar, she amassed a fortune in stolen gems. Kick now has enough money stashed away in her home to last several lifetimes.

Shortly after this novel begins, the reader finds Kick ensconced her home in Provence, sipping cider by the hearth. Her husband, Thomas, a retired Scotland Yard Inspector, tells her that the Queen has requested his personal assistance with solving a crime committed right under her nose. It seems that her trusted assistant, an employee with over 30 years of dedicated assistance, decided to steal the Queen's priceless Cambridge and Delhi parure. Since gem thievery is his wife's ex-specialty, Thomas asks her to assist him in recovering the jewels.

Kick agrees to assist her husband, but she has a few tricks up her sleeve that perhaps it is best that a Scotland Yard Inspector didn't know (even if he is retired and even if he is her husband)! Soon Kick is donning and doffing disguises. Eventually, she masquerades as a Princesse and works her way into the exclusive snowy sanctuary of Mont St. Anges where the thief is hiding out with people who pay through their frozen noses to keep such riff-raff away.

Ms. Kellogg's novel is as crisp and cool as flawlessly cool and crisp as an F1 diamond in a dry martini. The book is witty, charming, clever and engaging. Perfect is the third book starring Kick Keswick. I will definitely go back and read the others.

Retired Shamrock Burglar Kick Keswick is at it again. She and her husband, former Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Thomas Curtis, who was once the Samaritan Burglar, now live in their farmhouse in Provence.

Eventhough retired, Thomas gets called up to help Scotland Yard on a case. Queen Elizabeth asked for him personally because some of the crown jewels were stolen by Bradford, her trusted footman. He helped her pack them for the royal tour she is on.

Thomas discovers that Bradford has changed his name to Sebastian Tremaine and is now posing as the business manager and companion to opera singer Constantin.

Thomas asks Kick to help out by getting close to Sebastian and Constantin. Once Kick agrees and sets off, she changes the plan to her own, severing ties with Thomas to have more freedom to operate.

Kick sets out to meet one of the world's richest men, George Naxos, and his beautiful wife, Alma, who is wheelchair bound. She gets close to them and then gets them to allow her to visit their large isolated estate in Switzerland. It is actually a place where the rich and famous stay. Constantin and Sebastian have a place there.

As Kick plays out her plan to steal the jewels back from Sebastian, she puts herself in danger without Thomas to back her up. Can she succeed? Will Thomas find her in time?

I love this series. It is always a book that is hard to put down! I devour them. Wish she could write them faster!

Kick is such a fabulous character! Having the protagonist be a retired burglar married to a retired Scotland Yard Chief Inspector who is also a retired thief is such a great premise. It's never been done before, and Marne does such a wonderful job of it. I can't wait to read the next adventures of Kick!

The location in this book is intriguing, as well as the plan to steal back the crowned jewels is exhilarating! I highly recommend this book and suggest you read the whole series!

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I love strong older women heroines and Kick is one of the best! Her world is very different from mine and that is what makes for a fun escapist read...and also I enjoy funny thrillers that have great relationships between older couples. This book has it all.It is a perfect summer beach read.