Artifacts by Natalie Lemle
5/19/26; 352 pages
Simon & Schuster
Artifacts by Natalie Lemle is maybe a recommended debut suspense novel, for the right reader, which explores the world of stolen artifacts.
Trusts and estates attorney Lena Connolly is asked by a colleague, based on her ability to speak Italian, to assist in a repatriation case after the Italian government claims an artifact was looted and donated to a museum illegally. The main artifact in question is a cup made of dichroic glass. Eighteen years ago, Lena spent a summer on an archaeological dig in the Italian Alps and this case forces her to remember events from that summer when she fell in love with both archaeology and Giamma.
The rather scattered, but very detailed, slow-paced story alternates between the present and past. In the present, Lena is ostensibly investigating the cup’s provenance and any connections to individuals at the archaeological dig site of the Roman Villa were she helped, along with family drama. In the past, the plot follows 19-year-old Lena in Italy falling in love with local Giamma, on the archaeological dig, the professor Cyrille's disappearance, the hidden networks that link museums to organized crime, and, also, family drama. Ultimately, as a character, Lena is not fully realized, hard to connect with, and not very likeable.
Honestly, the plot failed to fully grabbed my full attention and felt as if it moved at a glacially slow pace even when covering the subjects that interested me. I was here for the present day investigation, clues for the current lawsuit, the artifacts, art history, and tie-ins with mythology. Let's follow the cup made of dichroic glass, which is, in fact, rarely mentioned. Instead I was disappointed. There are a lot of details, but many of them focus on past events, Lena falling in love, organized crime, discussions on cultural heritage and ownership, and family drama. All in all, the novel was not well executed and there is no final resolution. 2.5
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