DeWitt Agency Files

He's always been good at being bad. When he decides to match wits with the mob on their turf, will he push his luck a shade past survival? Matt Friedrich figures there's no way out. Half a million in debt after doing time for fraud, the former art dealer would do anything to ditch his post-prison barista job for something that pays actual money. So when a shady contact from his past offers him a trial gig at her semi-legal, highly profitable agency, he can't say no… even if it risks his parole and his life. Handcuffed to a brusque new partner who doesn't appreciate his people skills, Matt finds himself in Milan on the trail of a man he tried to put away with his plea deal. But when the paintings they're pursuing catch them in a crossfire with the Italian mafia, the experienced swindler may find his second chance comes at a fatal price. Will the payoff for Matt's long con be delivered in cash or corpses? The Collection is the wickedly fun first book in The DeWitt Agency Files crime caper series. If you like morally colorful heroes, thick layers of intrigue, and underpinnings of grit, then you'll love Lance Charnes's thrilling tale.

Dorotea DeVillardi is ninety-one years old, gorgeous, and worth a fortune. Matt Friedrich's going to steal her. The Nazis seized Dorotea's portrait from her Viennese family, then the Soviets stole it from the Nazis. Now it's in the hands of a Russian oligarch. Dorotea's corporate-CEO grandson played by the legal rules to get her portrait back, but he struck out. He's hired the DeWitt Agency to get it for him – and he doesn't care how they do it. Now Matt and his ex-cop partner Carson have to steal Dorotea's portrait from a museum in a way that nobody knows it's gone, and somehow launder its history so the client doesn't have to hide it forever. The client's saddled them with a babysitter: Dorotea's granddaughter Julie, who may have designs on Matt as well as the painting. As if this wasn't hard enough, it looks like someone else is gunning for the same museum – and he may know more about Matt and Carson's plans than he should. Matt went to prison for the bad things he did at his L.A. art gallery. Now he has a chance to right an old wrong by doing a bad thing for the best of reasons. All he has to do is stay out of jail long enough to pull it off.