The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau by Kristen Harmel 
Robin Hood vibes, except instead of stealing from the rich, the rich had to be bad people.


G👀dreads

Colette Marceau has been stealing jewels for nearly as long as she can remember, following the centuries-old code of honor instilled in her by her mother, take only from the cruel and unkind, and give to those in need. Never was their family tradition more important than seven decades earlier, during the Second World War, when Annabel and Colette worked side by side in Paris to fund the French Resistance.

But one night in 1942, it all went wrong. Annabel was arrested by the Germans, and Colette’s four-year-old sister, Liliane, disappeared in the chaos of the raid, along with an exquisite diamond bracelet sewn into the hem of her nightgown for safekeeping. Soon after, Annabel was executed, and Liliane’s body was found floating in the Seine—but the bracelet was nowhere to be found.

Seventy years later, Colette—who has “redistributed” $30 million in jewels over the decades to fund many worthy organizations—has done her best to put her tragic past behind her, but her life begins to unravel when the long-missing bracelet suddenly turns up in a museum exhibit in Boston. If Colette can discover where it has been all this time—and who owns it now—she may finally learn the truth about what happened to her sister. But she isn’t the only one for whom the bracelet holds answers, and when someone from her childhood lays claim to the diamonds, she’s forced 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 will have to summon the courage to open her own battered heart.

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery, WWII. 
Dual Timeline: Paris 1944, Boston 2018
Tidbit: Kindle Edition is called All the Diamonds in Paris, as well as that being the title as published in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand.  A rose by any other name...🤷 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is my first Kristen Harmel and it 🎣me in right away. 

Half ✰deduction for it being too long and another half ✰ for too many coincidences and a cheesy 🧀ending. 

Overall Enjoyment 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎊

Did it grab and keep my attention? 🎣🎣🎣🎣🎏

Would I recommend it to anyone? Yes, no restrictions ➕

Would I want a sequel 🕮 This is a yes and no answer.
No to Colette. I mean she's 90 by the end of the book and we already went back to her childhood.
But Aviva maybe could be a good sequel, even though there isn't a mention of a sequel nor cliff hanger. Aviva is like a God Daughter to her. She took her in at 18 when her Mom died and she had nowhere to go. They don't mention her age but I'd guess maybe 40. She's a lawyer and a volunteer at the Holocaust Center and I could imagine a good story about her with maybe another jewel thief she's representing as a client. 

Would I want to read more books by this author 📚  Probably although she said this one was outside the box for her. Not sure what's inside her box. 

Trigger Warnings 💣💥Two.
💥Her Mother's Murder.
💣Colette was a jewel thief from 10 years old to 90. Yes, still stealing at 90 "for the good of the cause". Not being an ethical profession I can see how some people wouldn't appreciate how easily she robbed Peter to fund Paul.  

Spice 🌶 None

Plot twist 🌪🌪🌪

🎧Madeleine Maby, Kristin Harmel

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