A Trace of Deceit
A Novel
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4.5 • 49 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
From the author of A Dangerous Duet comes the next book in her Victorian mystery series, this time following a daring female painter and the Scotland Yard detective who is investigating her brother’s suspicious death.
A young painter digs beneath the veneer of Victorian London’s art world to learn the truth behind her brother’s murder...
Edwin is dead. That’s what Inspector Matthew Hallam of Scotland Yard tells Annabel Rowe when she discovers him searching her brother’s flat for clues. While the news is shocking, Annabel can’t say it’s wholly unexpected, given Edwin’s past as a dissolute risk-taker and art forger, although he swore he’d reformed. After years spent blaming his reckless behavior for their parents’ deaths, Annabel is now faced with the question of who murdered him—because Edwin’s death was both violent and deliberate. A valuable French painting he’d been restoring for an auction house is missing from his studio: find the painting, find the murderer. But the owner of the artwork claims it was destroyed in a warehouse fire years ago.
As a painter at the prestigious Slade School of Art and as Edwin’s closest relative, Annabel makes the case that she is crucial to Matthew’s investigation. But in their search for the painting, Matthew and Annabel trace a path of deceit and viciousness that reaches far beyond the elegant rooms of the auction house, into an underworld of politics, corruption, and secrets someone will kill to keep.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Annabel Rowe, the narrator of Odden's satisfyingly complex and richly detailed sequel to 2018's Dangerous Duet, is a painting student at London's Slade School of Fine Arts. Annabel's troubled brother, Edwin, a gifted painter in his own right, has recently been released from prison after being convicted for forgery. On a visit to his apartment, Annabel finds Insp. Matthew Hallam of Scotland Yard going through Edwin's meager possessions. She's shocked to learn that her brother has been murdered, and teams with Hallam to bring the killer to justice. As they investigate, Annabel comes to realize that her brother had some devastating secrets, which lead her to reevaluate their shared past. Readers get a fascinating look at the development of the fine arts auction scene and the attendant corruption that the exchange of vast sums of money inspires. Odden keenly evokes the physical as well as cultural milieu of Victorian England, and peoples her setting with fully realized and intriguing characters. This book will delight readers who like their mysteries cloaked in well-researched history.
