Dani O’Rourke, chief fundraiser at San Francisco’s prestigious Devor Museum of Art and Antiquities, knows a thing or two about both treasures and bad luck. In her position at the museum, Dani has the good fortune to be surrounded by some of the greatest paintings, sculptures and relics from the world of art, past and present.
She is also, however, apparently a magnet for bad luck, as evidenced by her misadventures in Murder in the Abstract, the first entry in the series. The follow-up, The King’s Jar, once again finds Dani juggling more than just socialite dinner seating charts and the egos of the über rich.
The newest exhibit at the Devor is mere weeks from opening when its centerpiece, the recently acquired King’s Jar, a legendary African artifact, goes missing. Complicating matters tremendously, the archeological expert who discovered and authenticated the piece is murdered, and there subsequently arises some ambiguity as to who exactly legally owns the piece: the museum, which hadn’t technically taken receipt of the piece yet; the socialite couple who were donating it to the museum; or the government of the country in which it was discovered, which now alleges the piece was removed from their borders illegally.
The police are justifiably more interested in solving the murder than they are locating the missing artifact, but Dani believes the quickest way to find the killer is to find the King’s Jar. And given the massive influx of money the museum stands to lose if the exhibit doesn’t open on time, both from patrons’ donations and revenue from visitors to the exhibit, Dani’s interest in locating the King’s Jar is more than academic…the museum’s very future may depend on it. So, it’s once more unto the breach for Dani and dear friends.