The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Kristin Harmel, the New York Times bestselling author who "is the best there is at sweeping historical drama" (Kelly Harms, author of The Seven Day Switch), returns with an electrifying new novel about two jewel thieves, a priceless bracelet that disappears in 1940s Paris, and a quest for answers in a decades-old murder.

The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau follows Colette, who has been stealing jewels for nearly as long as she can remember, guided by the centuries-old code of honour instilled in her by her mother, Annabel: take only from the cruel and unkind, and give to those in need. This family tradition was never more crucial than during the Second World War, when Annabel and Colette worked side by side in Paris to fund the French Resistance.

But one fateful night in 1942, everything went wrong. Annabel was arrested by the Germans, and Colette's four-year-old sister, Liliane, disappeared during the chaos of the raid, along with an exquisite diamond bracelet sewn into the hem of her nightgown for safekeeping. Shortly after, Annabel was executed, and Liliane's body was found floating in the Seine—without the bracelet.

Seventy years later, Colette—who has "redistributed" $30 million in jewels over the decades to fund various worthy organisations—strives to forget her tragic past. However, her life begins to unravel when the long-missing bracelet suddenly appears in a museum exhibit in Boston. If Colette can uncover where it has been all this time and who owns it now, she might finally learn the truth about her sister's fate. Yet, she isn't the only one seeking answers from the bracelet, and when someone from her childhood lays claim to the diamonds, Colette is compelled to confront the ghosts of her past as never before.

Against all odds, there may still be a chance to bring a murderer to justice—but first, Colette must find the courage to open her own battered heart.