Thanks to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for a review copy of this novel. Karen Swan is a go to author for me. Always consistent in weaving wonderful stories with richly drawn characters and a wonderful sense of place, she is one a handful of authors I look forward to reading and a rare author I will read again. This novel is definitely one to add to the collection of re-reads. It was an immersive compulsive and enjoyable read set in a wonderful location that comes alive under Swan’s deft handling.

Denmark is the setting in this story, with Darcy Cottrell on secondment from England to the premiere Danish national gallery for her PhD studies in art history. After an intriguing discovery of another painting glued to the back of a painting by one of Denmark\s revered 20th century painters, Darcy is tasked with finding out the identity and history of the subject of the portrait with only a shadowed outline from a scan to go on. To undertake the research she must go to a private foundation’s archives whose main mission is to collect all the paintings of this renowned painter. Coming off a failed relationship and with Christmas approaching Darcy is glad for the distraction of the project while resisting her roommate’s efforts to hook her up with someone through a dating app. Despite herself, she finds she’s swiped right on three potential candidates, only to find that one of them, Max is a trustee of the foundation where she’s researching. But despite the time and irresistible chemistry between them Darcy gradually finds that both Max and the foundation have plenty of secrets and manipulative strategies that eventually entangle her and are threatening both her workplace and her own principles.

With my own background in archives, researching art objects and that world, I found this novel’s premise irresistible from the start. I enjoyed so much following Darcy’s progress, but as always, I loved the manner in which Swan creates such wonderful atmosphere and a real sense of place as the reader gets a view of the Christmas St Lucia celebrations on a Danish canal, or the Danish seaside in winter along with the classic Scandinavian summer house, or the streets of Copenhagen preparing for Christmas. But those are bonus extras that go with a wonderful, warmhearted story with complicated characters and plenty of romance in the mix. Recommended.