The Fine Art of Lying - by Alexandra Andrews (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"Alexandra Andrews is monied Manhattan's very own Agatha Christie."--Ada Calhoun

From the critically acclaimed author of Who is Maud Dixon? comes a riveting new novel about a young wife and mother in a world of wealth and privilege, whose rash mistake sets off a domino effect of murder and betrayal.

In the beginning, there was art.

It was Clare Bast's love of art that saved her from a bleak, predictable life in upstate New York, and drew her to the cultured world of Manhattan's Upper East Side where she met Jed, her doting, affluent husband.

Despite her best efforts--including a half-finished PhD, abandoned when her daughter Sadie was born--Clare secretly can't help but feel like an imposter in Jed's one-percent, Park-Avenue life.

When the well-connected wife of Jed's new boss introduces her to influential friends, a curator here, a gallerist there, an aficionado abroad, Clare feels an essential part of herself coming alive again. And when she discovers that an important work painted by the subject of her unfinished dissertation is hanging in the brownstone of a seductively attractive dealer, she believes fate is leading her where she belongs . . . until she finds herself at the scene of a gruesome murder and a stolen masterpiece. Caught in the perfectly wrong place at the perfectly wrong time, every clue the investigation uncovers points back to her.

Suddenly, Clare is trapped inside a dark and treacherous art world filled with unscrupulous dealers and international criminals. What exactly, has she gotten herself into . . . and how is she going to get herself, and her family, out?

Review Quotes

"The Fine Art of Lying is propulsive from start to finish. Set against the backdrop of the New York art world, a love affair leads to a mysterious murder and a twist you won't see coming. Alexandra Andrews delivers with this riveting mystery." - Laura Dave, author of The Night We Lost Him
"Ruthless socialites, international intrigue, a torrid affair, a shocking murder, and a baffling art heist? Yes, please. With her playful, lightning-paced new mystery, Alexandra Andrews is monied Manhattan's very own Agatha Christie." - Ada Calhoun, author of Crush
"A wildly entertaining novel about art and ambition, money and greed, love and sex and betrayal and loyalty, plus for good measure theft and forgery and murder, with twists that you will not see coming." - Chris Pavone, author of The Doorman
"Stylish and sharp, with wicked hairpin turns, Who is Maud Dixon? is part Patricia Highsmith, part All About Eve and pure fun." - Maria Semple, on Who is Maud Dixon?
"Who is Maud Dixon? is clever, cunning, and diabolical in the best possible way. Anyone longing for a good old-fashioned thrill need look no further." - Ann Patchett, on Who is Maud Dixon?
"Who is Maud Dixon? channels the spirit of Patricia Highsmith at her finest: Alexandra Andrews' deliciously witty, surprising and sly novel will keep you riveted to the last page." - Claire Messud, on Who is Maud Dixon?
"A Highsmithian and Hitchcockian mashup about egos in every sense of the word, Who is Maud Dixon? Never sacrifices graceful prose and acute insights for its breakneck pace. "Unputdownable" has become overused praise, but it fully applies here; it is impossible to start Alexandra Andrews's novel and not feel compelled to speed through its switchback twists to its conclusion." - Teddy Wayne, on Who is Maud Dixon?
"Who Is Maud Dixon? That's but the first of countless questions to tease you--and then rivet you, and finally obsess you--as Alexandra Andrews' astonishing debut novel glides and glitters like a snake in Moroccan sunlight. Smoothly written, nimbly plotted (boldly, too: this novel takes chances, not prisoners)--yet also buzzing with an irresistible intensity and relish. Roaring round of applause here." - A. J. Finn, on Who is Maud Dixon?
"Captivating debut! Who is Maud Dixon? is a beautifully written literary thriller with a sumptuous Moroccan setting. What's not to love? Brava, Alexandra Andrews!" - Elin Hilderbrand, on Who is Maud Dixon?