Gwenda Bond's entertaining heist novel, The Frame-Up, combines grand larceny with a complicated mother-daughter bond, a talented crew with a fractured history, and--oh, yes--a bit of magic.
Art thief and expert forger Dani Poissant has been out of the game for a decade, after turning her mother, Maria, over to the FBI. But when Dani gets drawn back in for a job involving a sinister painting of her mother's old lover, she calls in the big guns, aka her old crew. Despite long-held resentments (and a still-simmering attraction between Dani and her first love, Elliott), they've got 10 days to pull off a heist while staying clear of the feds. Dani, posing as a security consultant, plans the heist, navigating obstacles physical and magical. But four days before go time, she discovers a journal written by one of her ancestors, with a secret that raises the stakes sky-high.
Bond (The Date from Hell; Louis Lane: Fallout) identifies her characters' gifts (manipulating software, casting illusions) but leaves the workings of their magic mostly opaque. The crackling frustration between Dani and her old crew is evident, though the challenges vary in size and believability. Still, the narrative zips along, leaving readers following Dani (and her dog, Sunflower) as the clock ticks down and the tensions--among the crew and in Dani's heart--rise ever higher.
Wry and witty with a few well-placed plot twists, The Frame-Up is good fun for fans of art, magic, and a satisfying revenge story. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams