Portrait of a Lady: A Leonardo Da Vinci Mystery

Portrait of a Lady (2009) is the second book in Diane A. S. Stuckart’s Leonardo Da Vinci Mystery series. In addition to his duties as court engineer to the Duke of Milan, Leonardo da Vinci occasionally dabbles in crime solving. When two female servants are murdered, Leonardo sends his assistant Dino undercover as a female attendant to the Duke’s ward, the tarot-playing Contessa Catarina to help him solve the murders and prevent more from happening. Considering that “Dino” is a girl named Delfina, this is initially an easy task—until Delfina finds herself caught between loyalties and losing her heart to the captain of the Duke’s guard. Each of the novel’s chapter titles is a tarot card from the Major Arcana. Blending mystery with historical fiction and romance, the novel won the 2009 Florida Book Award for Popular Fiction—Silver.

Delfina, or “Dino,” is a young woman who ran away from home and an arranged marriage. She disguised herself as a boy and used her painting talent to win an apprenticeship with Leonardo da Vinci. This novel starts a few months into her tenure. She and another apprentice, Vittorio, are out of the workshop to test a new contraption when they find the body of a woman near the tower. Delfina initially supposes that the woman accidentally fell to her death. After lights-out, Leonardo asks Delfina to meet him in his workshop, where he reveals the identity of the dead woman as Bellanca, one of Contessa Catarina’s lady’s maids. Unlike the surgeon, Leonardo thinks that the death was murder instead of suicide. Leonardo finds expensive and artistic tarot cards in the tower room and on the body: Three of Swords, Knight of Coins, The Devil, and The Tower.

The next day, Catarina comes to the workshop, looking for her missing tarot cards. Leonardo lies and says he does not have them. When the disappointed Contessa leaves, Leonardo instructs Delfina to attend the funeral and report any suspicious behavior back to him. A day or so later, a second woman, Lidia, is found murdered. Her son, the ruthless new captain of the guard, Gregorio, tells Leonardo that he and his men will handle the murder. Deciding to send “Dino” undercover as a lady’s maid to the Contessa, Leonardo brings her to the tailor Luigi to be outfitted. Luigi, the only other person who knows Delfina’s secret, is highly amused.



While out walking the Contessa’s dog, Delfina is attacked by a cur and rescued by the enigmatic Gregorio. The grateful Contessa attends to Delfina personally and does a fortune reading for entertainment. Delfina accidentally chooses the exact four cards that were found on the first victim. Nevertheless, Delfina becomes the favorite and is trusted to carry a message from the Contessa to Gregorio, with whom she is having an affair. The dead maidservant Delfina replaced used to carry messages for the Contessa as well, serving as the go-between. Gregorio arranges to meet Delfina at a cathedral, hinting that he has information for her. Unfortunately, the arrangement is merely a ruse to get Delfina alone so he can seduce her. He knows the arrangement with the Contessa is only temporary because they come from different classes; he knows that he is out of his league, so he is not as attached to her as she is to him.

Unbeknownst to the Contessa, her cousin the Duke is arranging a politically advantageous marriage for her and plans to reveal it to everyone at a masquerade ball. Catarina goes as the Queen of Swords, and Delfina is costumed as The Knave. The Contessa is distraught at being married off; she wants Gregorio and confides her misery to Delfina. Delfina is wracked with guilt and sympathy for her part in the charade, and for being a rival for Gregorio’s affections. She takes a despairing message from her mistress to the captain. He hints that he plans to blackmail the Contessa with their relationship. He plans to make himself rich with this plan—and Delfina, too, if she consents to be his woman. He wants Delfina to bring the Contessa to the tower and then be a witness. She agrees to his plan, and he leaves to collect the Contessa’s new bridegroom. She wonders what would have happened to her if she had not agreed to his plan. She goes to Leonardo and recounts the entire conversation. He tells her to keep watch over the Contessa and to meet him at the masquerade ball. At the ball, Leonardo gives her a false message to give to the Contessa, calling off the meeting between her and Gregorio that night. Delfina and Leonardo will confront the man in her place.

Delfina goes to the tower and Gregorio still thinks the plan is on. Leonardo arrives to the meeting. Gregorio finally recognizes Delfina as Leonardo’s page. They reveal their two-week long undercover deception, encouraging Gregorio to monologue his villainous plans and how the murders happened. Bellanca had tried to blackmail him. She told Lidia what was happening, and Lidia protected the Contessa. She meant to frighten the girl, but accidentally pushed her off the tower. Lidia tried to kill Gregorio with poisoned wine, which she also intended to drink. He gave the wine to his dogs. One died, the other went mad and attacked Delfina. With all confessed, Gregorio offers to allow them to leave alive on the condition of not interfering with his plans. They disagree and the situation is about to turn violent when Catarina reveals herself. She has heard everything. The plot thickens when Leonardo reveals the fruits of his own investigation: Catarina is Gregorio’s sister. The real Contessa died as a baby, and the panicked wet-nurse (Lidia) switched the dead noble child with her own babe with no one the wiser. Worse, yet, Gregorio was aware the entire time that she was his sister.



Gregorio and Leonardo engage in a duel. Leonardo is losing when a barrel of oil is spilled onto the reeds of the floor. Catarina attacks Gregorio and is thrust away. She knocks over a lamp and is quickly engulfed in flame. Gregorio reaches for his sister and leaps out of a window of the burning tower with her. Leonardo and Delfina escape the inferno through the secret passageway. Delfina is traumatized by witnessing her friend’s grisly death, but her secret is still safe.