I, too, am just about finished with The Dante Connection. I am tempted mightily to go on with all of the others, which I have standing in proper order on a bookshelf in my bathroom, of all places! But I make myself switch around amongst all I have on hand, and since Margaret Maron's last Deborah Knott arrived this week, I shall indulge in that next.
I think the thing you cannot help but adore about Ryan is that the action goes so fast and the people are so clever and talented. I love all of the references, and I look up every one of them, art and music. I looked up Strasbourg, France, as well, of course, with the last book, and read up on it. Google Imaging it brought on a huge desire to go there. When the first painting came up, the "Beata Beatrix" by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, in this book, I Google Imaged it and printed it out (I have a very large all color printer) and folded it twice and have been using it for my bookmark ever since. I did NOT print out the Sargent, because in looking that one up I found I hated it. When I pass The Dante Connection on to my granddaughter Paige this week, I will leave that picture in the book. She has a doctorate in Art History, so she loves the books, as well and all, and cannot wait for me to send them on.