Octavo

A Novel

By: Marty Neumeier

Narrated by: Ellie Gossage, Scott Brick, Mark Sanderlin, Annette Amelia Oliveira, Tania Rodrigues

Scarlett is a university graduate with a master’s in biophysics. Artie is a retired professor of art history. They’ve been hired by a wealthy collector to authenticate a cache of paintings discovered under the floorboards of an Italian townhouse. The two women take an instant dislike to each other.

The calculus shifts when they stumble on something unexpected—a manuscript written by Leonardo da Vinci’s last pupil. It’s an astonishing firsthand account of the great master as he grapples with a murder at the prestigious Aldine Press. Unless he can solve the mystery, his notebooks may never get published.

Scarlett and Artie fear a similar fate might await the manuscript. If their client gets his acquisitive hands on it, he’ll bury it deep in his vault and the world will once again be deprived of Leonardo’s genius.

They put aside their differences and make a pact: they decide to steal it. They land a publisher, change their names, disguise their looks, and set off across northern Italy in a frantic race to publish the manuscript and disappear for good.

But have they underestimated the resolve of their powerful client?

©2025 Marty Neumeier (P)2025 Marty Neumeier

Critic reviews

“A marvelously erudite novel…Neumeier has created a genuinely captivating story, a drama that is utterly mesmerizing and thrums with suspense.” — Kirkus Reviews

“...gripping…an enthralling novel…In the engaging thriller Octavo, artists and thieves collide for a greater good.” — Foreword Clarion Reviews

Octavo has it all!

Murder mystery, thriller, historic novel, adventure story, Octavo has it all. This complex and intriguing read swirls between Leonardo DaVinci’s 1500’s world and the adventurous tale of two 21st century women of opposite backgrounds working together to bring history to life, while combating the evil Mr. Dickson with almost movie script dialogue. The Audible version of the book is fabulous. You wonder if this tale could be true. I’ll be recommending Octavo to my book group for our next read.

Loved the blend of history and drama!

What a fun romp of a book! A scientist and an art historian discover a manuscript they know will be significant to art historians (and the world) and steal it to ensure it becomes public. I'm going to try to summarize this book a little, but really, you should just stop reading this and download this book! It's a lot of fun.

When asked to authenticate some artwork for a rich businessman, Artie (an art historian) and Scarlett, (biophysicist), the two are thrilled by a painting which seems to date to the early 16th century and may be the only extant portrait of Leonardo da Vinci. In addition to the painting, they discover a manuscript that they believe was written by Francesco de Melzi, the last known pupil of da Vinci, and the painter of the portrait. The manuscript recounts a gruesome murder committed at the Aldine Press (famous in the history of typography). The Aldine Press was just about to print da Vinci's notebooks, a project dear to da Vinci's heart, but the murder closed down the press. In order to get the publication back on track, de Vinci turns into a sleuth. And this is the story the manuscript tells.

Artie and Scarlett steal the manuscript and convince a publisher to publish it. They translate it, sending segments of it to the publisher via voice messages, while travelling around Italy seeking to verify its authenticity and trying to stay one step ahead of the businessman, who is using his vast resources to hunt them down.

This is a book within a book that will captivate and entertain, while also providing an engaging history lesson that I think everybody will enjoy, especially book lovers. I agree with this strong Kirkus review, which puts it better than I can:

"...The research process necessary to compose this marvelously erudite novel must have been daunting—the narrative is as stunningly meticulous as it is expansively wide, and the novel is worth reading just for the scholarship and the gripping depiction of da Vinci. This is much more, though, than an academic exercise in art history. Neumeier has created a genuinely captivating story, a drama that is utterly mesmerizing and thrums with suspense...

A thoroughly enjoyable blend of history and drama."

I loved the audio edition! The multicast is great. I particularly liked Mark Sanderlin's Meltzi and Ellie Gossage's Scarlett, but the entire cast was great. The production values were solid, and I loved the music!