A Masterpiece of Revenge: A Mystery - Softcover

"Calculated and graceful." The New York Times "A stimulating thriller." Washington Post "Calculated and graceful." The New York Times "A stimulating thriller." Washington Post

A wickedly ingenious thriller involving a lost masterpiece and a plot to use it for revenge. Charles Vermeille is the world's expert on seventeenth-century French master Claude Lorrain, one of the most copied painters in history. Handsome, self-assured arrogant, some might even say and a model of probity, Vermeille has the last word on Lorrain's works; he determines which are authentic, which are fake. Upon his pronouncements rests not only his own reputation but also those of museums, collectors, and auction houses around the world. Millions of dollars can be at stake. When Vermeille begins receiving photographs of his adored son in the mail no demands, no threats, only photos he begins to suspect a connection between them and his bankable appraisal of Lorrain's paintings, one of which, believed lost, has just miraculously turned up. Is someone forcing him to choose between his reputation and the life of his son? Everyone has his enemies. Art appraisers have more than their fair share. Set in a world where inflated egos, high art, and big money intersect, A Masterpiece of Revenge is a classic psychological mystery. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction novels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.