The scintillating second Venetian thriller from David Hewson, author of the acclaimed adaptation of the Danish The Killing series A noble family, a legendary painting, a cursed palazzo. When Arnold Clover is recruited by Lizzie Hawker to help her look into her family inheritance, he cannot begin to guess the journey he is about to embark on. Lizzie's mother, an Italian countess, disappeared thirty years ago, presumed dead. Her father has just died and now the family home, a leaning palazzo in Dorsoduro that is full of secrets, has fallen to her. When her mother vanished so too did a priceless painting - but it quickly becomes apparent that Lizzie and Arnold are not the only ones interested in finding it. The search for the lost Lucrezia quickly becomes a race through the secret history of Venice, one with potentially deadly consequences.