Portrait of a Lady (Leonardo da Vinci Mystery Series #2) by Diane A. S. Stuckart

From the Publisher

The legendary Renaissance man and amateur sleuth is back in this exciting follow-up to The Queen's Gambit. As court engineer to the Duke of Milan, Leonardo da Vinci turns his superior mind to a variety of pursuits-from painting to solving the occasional murder. After the deaths of two female servants, Leonardo asks his apprentice, Dino, to go undercover disguised as a woman in the service of the Duke's ward, Contessa Caterina. This should be easy enough, given that "Dino" is in reality Delfina, a young woman masquerading as a boy to serve as Leonardo's apprentice. Delfina is soon torn between her loyalty to Leonardo and her growing feelings for Gregorio, the handsome captain of the Duke's guard. But if what the Contessa's tarot cards foretold is correct, Delfina might be destined to lose her heart...and perhaps her life.

Publishers Weekly

Fans of Stuckart's impressive debut, The Queen's Gambit(2008), may wish Leonardo da Vinci, the ultimate Renaissance man, was on stage more often in this sequel. As readers of the previous book know, the artist's apprentice, Dino, who serves as narrator, is secretly a woman, Delfina. When Bellanca, a servant to the duke of Milan's ward, Contessa Caterina, falls to her death from a tower, Leonardo's investigation into what proves to be a murder case requires that Delfina pose as a female servant herself. Bellanca's death is soon followed by that of another member of Contessa Caterina's retinue. Already hard-pressed to maintain the deception, Delfina finds her undercover role complicated by a somewhat predictable romantic entanglement with a handsome soldier. Da Vinci emerges at the end to solve the crimes in an action-packed sequence more reminiscent of Magnum than Columbo. As in The Queen's Gambit, Stuckart convincingly captures the flavor of 15th-century Italy. (Jan.)

Jo Ann Vicarel - Library Journal

The suspicious deaths of two female servants of Contessa Caterina, the ward of the Duke of Milan, give artist and sleuth Leonardo da Vinci (The Queen's Gambit) the idea to place his apprentice, Dino, in service to the Contessa's household. Dino, who is really a woman posing as a man so she can learn from the great Master, loses her heart to a soldier and sees da Vinci viciously attacked and almost killed. Milan in 1483 is a hot bed of intrigue, and Stuckart's delightful second series historical plays it for all it's worth. Highly recommended.

Kirkus Reviews

Leonardo da Vinci and a girl masquerading as his apprentice team up for the second time (The Queen's Gambit, 2008) to solve murders in Castle Sforza. Da Vinci, the ultimate Renaissance man, has found time between inventing the submarine and painting the Mona Lisa to solve mysteries for the Duke of Milan. When a pretty young servant of the contessa falls to her death, Leonardo the Florentine realizes instantly that her death was no accident. But despite his genius, Leonardo, that master of the human form, has failed to recognize that his faithful apprentice and crack investigator Dino is really Delfina, a girl pulling a Yentl, despite the fact that Dino is supposedly intimate enough with the Master to know his sleeping habits and the contents of his notebooks. To seek out the truth among the serving women, Leonardo disguises Dino as a girl (Delfina becomes Dino becomes Delfina), where she suspects, yet is magnetically drawn to, the dashing, dastardly captain of the guard. When another death thickens the mystery, Delfina must confront her divided loyalties and uncover the truth. This wildly implausible tale unfolds in a style both florid and repetitive, with adverbs on pointless parade and ham-fisted reminders of events related just pages before. By the halfway point, the plot quickens enough to provide a welcome distraction from the stylistic infelicities, but those blunders never let up. Amateur and utterly unbelievable.

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