An Interview With Lane Stone

by Grace Topping

 

Crimes and Sin

 

The Medici are back. In the Renaissance, the Medici family used art for political and social power. Their modern descendants have taken this legacy further by adding murder, art theft, and terrorism. Their ultimate goal is nothing short of reclaiming the papacy and seizing complete control over the art world.

At the center of this high-stakes conflict stands Emma Kelly, the art world’s leading recovery agent. As she struggles to stop a series of drone attacks piercing museum skylights from The Met to the Louvre, the personal cost becomes nearly unbearable. Will she live long enough to thwart the Medici’s plot?  www.amazon.com

Often, crimes that appear in a mystery series are mirrored by what’s in the news. Lane Stone joins us to discuss crimes involving art, antiques, and antiquities and the latest book in her Big Picture Trilogy, Crimes and Sin. 

 

Welcome to Writers Who Kill, Lane.

 

When you obtained your post-graduate certificate in Antiquities Thefts and Art Crime, did you ever think you would write thrillers about art thefts?  

 

Yes, it was very calculated on my part. When I applied to the program, I had to explain why they should let me in, and I wrote that I would use fiction to talk about art crime to a general audience. 

In Crimes and Sin, you write about drone attacks piercing museum skylights and retrieving pieces of art. To your knowledge, has this ever been done? By drones? 

 

So far, no. Thieves have entered through skylights. That’s what happened in 1972 at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Getting in was easier than getting out because they couldn’t set up the pulley they brought in for the purpose. Then when they tried to steal the museum’s van, they triggered an alarm. They left on foot, leaving behind much of the art they had taken off the walls. The thieves have never been caught, and 17 paintings are still missing.  

 

You’ve written about art vandalism, art forgery, and now art theft. Is there an area of art crimes that you have yet to cover or would like to? 

 

The illicit trade in antiquities interests me. That can be as straightforward as a subsistence looter selling something (illegally) to a tourist. Or these transactions can involve corporate layering. We’ll see.   

 

You’ve written that there are different types of art thieves. Please tell us about them.

 

Some law enforcement professionals classify art thieves as either: professional, insiders, or outside opportunists. The last is someone who comes into a museum or gallery and sees a vulnerability – maybe a missing screw from a case. Something comes over him/her and they take it.  (I’ve also written about whether or not an object can make you commit a crime.)  Or we can list them by motive. The 2025 theft at the Louvre was what I call a commodities crime.  It was all about profit. Then there are art-motivated thieves. They believe they love the work more than everyday people like us and appreciate it in a way we mere mortals cannot. Art-motivated crimes rarely involve violence. Then there are politically motivated art crimes. Honestly, I was a little worried we would see a resurgence in these after the Louvre robbery because of all the social media posts saying the Louvre got what they deserved because of their colonial-era acquisitions.  Thankfully that didn’t happen.  

 

Stolen pieces are frequently not recovered because they become part of someone’s secret hoard. What do you feel drives an individual to obtain stolen art they have to keep to themselves? 

 

I know this sounds unscientific, too woo-woo, but I believe great art has an aura. If you don’t believe me, look at a photo of a truly great painting and then go see it in person. It will make a believer out of you.  Here in the Washington, DC area, you might try this experiment at the National Museum for Women in the Arts with Frida Kahlo’s Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky. Or go to the National Gallery of Art and view Leonardo da Vinci’s Ginevra de’Benci –– the only Leonardo in the US. (It’s small. Even smaller than the Mona Lisa.) So, getting back to your question. There are some horrible zillionaires who don’t care that the public can no longer enjoy or study a masterpiece. They want to bask in the painting’s glow.  #SpecialPlaceInHell.  Of course, several possible points when a thief might be caught and the art might be recovered are cut off: no fence, no exposure to the art market, no ransom negotiation. 

You made the leap from writing several cozy mystery series, both as Lane Stone and under other names, to writing thrillers. What motivated you to change your writing path? 

 

I was ready for a new challenge, and I wanted a bigger playground. I love writing international settings. Plus, I loved having a Moriarty figure in my Big Picture Trilogy. 

 

You’ve set your books in various places in the world. Travel is obviously very important to you. What came first—writing motivated you to travel, or the travel motivated you to write? 

 

I love that question. Neither spurred the other – let’s say they are in parallel. I do use what I see and experience when I’m traveling for research. Once my husband Larry and I were on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Cologne Cathedral. We were so high up! I thought, gosh, if someone fell from there it would kill them. And that’s what happened to a character in my book The Canvas. (Well, actually she was thrown.) My protagonist has a secret double life. Emma’s other life is in Bath, England, because I’ve been there as often as I’ve gone to London. (And because I’m a Janeite.) 

 

Is there a place that you would particularly like to set one of your books?  

 

I can only speak English. Memorization is hard for me, so trying to learn a foreign language never ends well. That limits me. I’m working on something new, and my protagonist lives in Washington, DC. 

You blog and make appearances with some other authors who write about crimes related to art. Please tell us about that.

 

I’m one of the Curators of Crime, along with Connie Berry, Nina Wachsman and M.A. Monnin.  We recently ended our library tour titled, “BURGLARY AT THE LOUVRE: HOW CAN WRITERS EVER TOP THAT? We have a good time talking about crime related to antiques, antiquities, and art.  

 

What is the most valuable lesson you’ve learned since you started writing fiction? 

 

I heard a talk by Jeffrey Deaver many years ago on the difference between “a guy who wrote a book” and an author. I do think that how you spend your time tells your brain who you are.  BICFOK (bottom in chair, fingers on keys). IYKYK. 

 

What’s next for Emma Kelly and the Big Picture Mysteries? Can we anticipate another book in the series? 

 

That was a trilogy. I felt that three books were just right for someone living a double life today.  With AI, facial recognition, and lots of surveillance cameras, it was just too much of a stretch to keep it going. It was so much fun to write a protagonist living such an outrageous life, and I will miss her.  

 

Thank you, Lane. I look forward to discovering what your next series is about.

 

Thank you for having me,

Lane

For more information about Lane Stone and her books, visit https://lanestonebooks.com