The Vladimir Curse

Fletch is back, and trouble is not far away!

The Vladimir Madonna, the Virgin of Vladimir, a 12th-century Byzantine icon depicting Madonna and Child, Russia’s most venerated artwork and the supposed Savior of Russia, while on loan to the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg has been stolen.

Fletch has a new job, after being dismissed from his teaching position at the University in Canterbury, he is now working for a Master Curator at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam – well sort of. The curator is Interpol Special Agent Dina Morozova’s Uncle Petrov, and Petrov has a sideline, recovering stolen art for insurance companies and private, rich, owners. Fletch is his consultant. Dina recommended him as just the man for the job, and the money is good.
But this time it’s complicated.

The Madonna was being restored for a special occasion, for a very important man, a very dangerous man, and the art restorer working on the Madonna has also disappeared, so has Dina. To make matters worse, the restorer had been recommended to the Hermitage by Petrov, and fingers are being pointed at him. He turns to Fletch for his help. But this a job Fletch would do well to steer clear of.

Fletch stumbles across Russians in Amsterdam, and they are not friendly. As he uncovers the links to the missing icon he finds himself following Dina’s steps, which take him to the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, at a very bad time to be in Russia. As events unfold, Fletch finds himself the target of the Russian FSB and the St. Petersburg Mafia, and things are far from what they appear to be.

Is this a badly miscalculated heist by thieves who did not realize what they were stealing, or is someone playing a dangerous game against the most deadly man in the world?