In her 2008 debut novel, THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT, Diane A.S. Stuckart added Leonardo da Vinci to the list of historical whodunit fiction featuring actual historical figures — one that includes such notables as Jane Austen and Edgar Allan Poe. The idea is not as tacky as it might first seem. When you remember that da Vinci explored the mysteries of human anatomy as well as the speculative design for many of today’s modern weapons, it’s not outlandish to think he might also explore the darkness of the human psyche. And Stuckart gave the situation a clever twist with the creation of Dino, a trusted apprentice, who is actually a young girl posing as a boy in order to serve under the master.
Now, almost a year to the day later, Stuckart again calls upon the ultimate Renaissance man to solve murders in Milan, Italy, circa 1483, in PORTRAIT OF A LADY. Sadly, however, this follow-up novel loses its focus when Stuckart heightens Dino’s identity dilemma, and then allows the progression to slow to a crawl.
While pursuing a variety of projects as court engineer to the Duke of Milan, da Vinci’s attention is suddenly diverted when Dino discovers the body of a young woman near the base of one of the castle towers. But almost immediately after the woman is identified, another young woman is found dead in the palace courtyard. Both women, it is revealed, were servants to the Contessa Caterina, the Duke’s ward. And both deaths appear to be suicides.
Still, the Duke is concerned. He is arranging a marriage for the Contessa to the Duke of a rival area, and these deaths are both an embarrassment and potential hindrance to his plans. So he enlists da Vinci to investigate the deaths, who devises a plan to place a spy in the Contessa’s service and calls upon Dino to act as his inside agent.
So Dino dons the clothing and mannerisms of his true gender and even uses his real name, Delfina, for the role. But as Delfina deals with the now double-identity crisis, things are further complicated when she finds herself attracted to Gregorio, the handsome captain of the duke’s guard. For not only is Gregorio the Contessa’s secret lover, but he is also the prime suspect in the possible murder of the two servants.
Stuckart has lots of fun with the idea of a girl posing as a boy who must now pose as a girl. But as a consequence, the story shifts entirely to Dino/Delfina, and da Vinci takes a secondary role. While da Vinci is the one who provides the situations and eventually reveals the identity of the murderer, it is Dino/Delfina we see carrying out all the investigative action.
Adding to this is the problem of the story’s pacing, which immediately slows once the murders are discovered and never regains its opening energy. Part of the problem is the temptation to explain the procedure involved in creating frescos, portraits and other works credited to da Vinci during this period. And Stukart also discovered and incorporated tarocchi cards, an elaborate game that is also a forerunner to tarot cards. But all this weighs against the details of the mystery plot itself. And Stuckart does not achieve an even balance between these elements, so things plod along to a rather humdrum ending at a masquerade ball.
PORTRAIT is recommended primarily for the hardcore historical mystery lover, because a novel promoted as “A Leonardo da Vinci Mystery” had better deliver on this promise and be anything but dull. As is, PORTRAIT OF A LADY tells us more about the gender confusion of poor Dino and related art and period minutiae, while da Vinci himself is left waiting in the wings. —Alan Cranis
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