Lost and Found (Hardcover)

by Jayne Ann Krentz (Author) "It is never wise to become emotionally involved with a client," Vesta Briggs said..." (more)
Key Phrases: marina gate, engagement thing, old armor, Jonathan Arden, Phantom Point, Stanford Felgrove (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Cady Briggs was happy to get out of the family business. Aunt Vesta's antiques gallery may be a prestigious and successful business, but the stress and responsibilities weren't much fun for her, nor were the frequent comparisons to Aunt Vesta's quirky personality. Cady much prefers her art-consulting business, especially when it leads to meeting enigmas like Mack Easton. Mack's request for help tracking down a stolen Renaissance helm seems like an easy job, and a good way to get to know the mysterious man.

When Aunt Vesta dies under suspicious circumstances, Cady finds she needs to call on Mack's unique talents. Posing as Cady's "almost fiancé," Mack helps investigate the complex workings of the antique world. Sparks begin to fly, however, as everyone becomes confused about the true nature of their relationship, including Cady and Mack.

Jayne Ann Krentz's latest is sure to sell like hotcakes. Though the initial connection between hunk and heroine feels a bit awkward, their developing relationship evens out and, combined with the complex maneuverings of a corrupt antique world and the long list of murder suspects, keeps the reader hastily turning the pages toward a breathtaking conclusion.--Nancy R.E. O'Brien

From Library Journal
Art consultant Cady Briggs has a bit of a crush on occasional employer Mack Easton, owner of "Lost and Found," a company specializing in the recovery of lost or stolen artifacts. She has only talked with him over the telephone and exchanged e-mails, but it's enough to make her think of him as her Fantasy Man. Naturally, she leaps at the chance to meet him in person, even if he needs her expertise in a case involving a questionable antique helmet missing from a tacky Las Vegas "museum." Mack turns out to be every bit as exciting as Cady imagined, and he is as interested in her as she is in him. Complications abound Cady's aunt recently left her niece with a business she doesn't want but can't turn down, Mack's teenage daughter isn't thrilled to discover that her widowed father has a sex life, and Cady is beginning to have doubts about her aunt's "accidental" drowning. This is romantic suspense at its most enjoyable, enhanced by Krentz's (Flash, Soft Focus) trademark humor and quirky characters. Fans will be very happy with this entertaining and delightful read. Recommended for all popular fiction collections.
- Elizabeth Mellett, Brookline P.L., MA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; Fifth Printing edition (January 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399146695
• ISBN-13: 978-0399146695
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,473,629 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Finally pulls it all together, July 4, 2001

By A Customer

I thought this book pulled together a lot of recent trends I've noticed in her recent work (edgier, more focus on mystery, slightly more 'ordinary' h&h) and made it all work. I like the lack of major drama in the past lives of the main characters. He is a widower but she wasn't murdered by the bad guy ('Sharp Edges') or die in a dramatic plane crash ('Family Man') - and his first marriage was a good one. His daughter is a normal teenager. The heroine is successful and good at her job without being nauseatingly so. All in all nice people one might like to meet, and yet they still manage to solve the crime, hold their own in fights, and set the sheets on fire!

The recent 'Shady Lady' also has regular people characters, but somehow they're a little too ordinary. Mack and Cady manage to be normal but still transcend the ordinary enough to be belivable as hero and heroine.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Leaves a lot to be desired!, January 28, 2001

By	"paula_k_98" (Muskogee, OK USA) - See all my reviews

I know I'm going to get bashed by every JAK fan out there, but hang on before you start. Let me start off by saying I'm a die-hard fan of JAK. The woman has never really written a bad book. However, let's face it, Lost and Found isn't all that great. After reading Eclipse Bay by Ms. Krentz this summer, I just knew she was back on track with her trade mark sassy dialogue, strong female character, and that bad boy hero she does so well. That isn't what I got when I read Lost and Found.

Cady Briggs is an expert at what she does. She identifies art and antiques. She is part of well known and respect family that owns one of the leading art galleries in the world. Doing a little independent work, she hooks up with Mark Easton who runs a low profile investigating company on the web. This sets up the beginning of the book with a little flirtation involving email and phone calls.

Then Cady's aunt dies and leaves her controlling interest in the family's business, Chatelaine's. Cady and Mark pretend to be engaged to determine why Cady's aunt backed out of a merger the entire family was in support of just before her death.

There are several different plots in this story that all lead back to the aunt's death. I don't know why the first three-fourths of the book didn't work. In fact, it took me two weeks to finish this book. However, I am glad I finished the book, because the last one-fourth of the book is pure Krentz. The characters came alive, the dialogue picked up, and I never picked up on who the real murder was even after skimming the ending before I finished the book.

I would love to give a glowing review of this book just because I love JAK's writing, but it isn't going to happen. If you have read Krentz throughout her career, don't expect the same caliber as her earlier writings.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Sadly, another JAK disappointment, February 22, 2001

By	bookstealth "bookstealth" (Northern Illinois) - See all my reviews

For the record, I'm a longtime JAK fan. She was one of my favorite authors for a long time, but the qualities that made her books special have been declining steadily, at least in her mystery/romance variations.

The plotting in Lost and Found is good; there are plenty of lively, well-realized secondary characters who "coulda dunnit". They move the narrative along swiftly and I was stumped right up to the end as to the real villain. The secondary characters are inter-connected logically and emotionally. JAK handled that part of the narrative flow very smoothly, with none of the jarring inconsistencies or too-obvious plot lurches that have marred some of her books. So full marks there.

The trouble is the weirdly flat emotional tone between the "lover" main characters. The most affecting character is unhappy, lonely Aunt Vesta. There's potential emotional fodder a-plenty: Cady fears becoming like her Aunt Vesta, yearns for children, is plagued by old fears; Mark--in a wonderful departure for JAK--is a widower w/ a teenage daughter, a great dad, mourns his dead wife but needs to move on to being a lover/mate/companion again. The resolutions Cady and Mark--and his confused, conflicted daughter--reach are more outlined than illuminated. The scenes are there, the build-up is done, the trademark sparkling Krentzian dialogue is there, but they barely touch the emotional underpinnings before skimming on.

I loved Eclipse Bay; it's vital, vintage JAK. When her focus is firmly on romance, details seem to pretty much take care of themselves. And even if they don't the vividness of her romantic imagination more than compensate. When she's doin' that voodoo she do so well, few can match her. (Sorry, lousy grammar but that's the riff...) She's a storyteller of romances. Her strength is the sting, song and chemical burn of romance. When she gets too far away from those roots she falters.

Unfortunately, Lost and Found falters. If marketed to pure mystery fans, it'd be a solid, workmanlike product. Romance fans, seeing her name on the cover, will probably feel very shortchanged and overcharged.