Bestselling writer Ellery Lloyd has turn into deliciously adept at drawing readers into the world of the rich: redolent of privilege and glamour, and tainted by darkness and deceit.
Of their third thriller, The Last Act of Juliette Willoughby, Lloyd (a pseudonym for married British authors Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos) builds upon the modern social commentary that marked their earlier books, Folks Like Her and The Membership, by homing in on the previous.
In Thirties Paris, Juliette Willoughby is an up-and-coming British surrealist painter who’s fled her moneyed and horrible household, and is now dwelling along with her lover, fellow surrealist Oskar Erlich. Tragically, the 2 died in a fireplace shortly after their participation alongside Dali, Picasso, Man Ray, et al. within the 1938 Worldwide Surrealist Exhibition (an actual occasion which Lloyd describes in fascinating historic element). Juliette’s mesmerizing portray Self-Portrait as Sphinx was destroyed by the flames, too.
Or was it? In 1991 Cambridge, artwork historical past college students Caroline Cooper and Patrick Lambert are inspired by their advisor to incorporate Self-Portrait as Sphinx of their dissertation analysis. In any case, Juliette’s Egyptologist father curated a set of artwork and artifacts which may show helpful, and Patrick’s household has robust ties to the Willoughbys. Because the duo develop nearer—and extra fascinated by the Willoughby household’s unusual historical past, together with rumors of a curse—they make some wonderful discoveries. Chief amongst them is Juliette’s journal, the contents of which counsel that the hearth that killed her was no accident.
Within the current day, Caroline is now the foremost Juliette Willoughby knowledgeable and has traveled to Dubai to authenticate Self-Portrait as Sphinx, which appears to have resurfaced in spite of everything these years and is about to go on public sale. Alas, Patrick—her ex-husband, now a gallery proprietor—is arrested for homicide as decades-old mysteries bubble as much as the floor. Is he responsible? Is the previously misplaced portray genuine? Was the Willoughby curse actual, or simply an excuse for horrendous misdeeds? Is there extra to Juliette’s story?
Readers will get pleasure from unraveling the threads of historical past and thriller alongside Caroline and Patrick as they absorb art-world environment and intrigue throughout the a long time. The Last Act of Juliette Willoughby is a twisty and compelling exploration of energy and obsession, secrecy and surrealism, artifice and artwork.
