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Art investigator Adam Barrow returns to New York when billionaire Phillip Dansby hires him once again to authenticate a set of Picasso drawings. The search becomes secondary when Dansby uncovers a story about a scandalous painting by Diego Velazquez that was supposedly destroyed by the Catholic Church 400 years ago.
Or was it?
Considered by many as the greatest artist who ever lived, Velazquez's lost painting may be a fairytale or an incalculable treasure-if it survived the Church's wraith.
The enigma draws them to Madrid where Adam's plea for help is rebuffed by Elena Echevarria, an enchanting curator at The Prado who distrusts his motives. Accompanied by Tomas Navarro, a cartel hit man hired by Dansby as a bodyguard, Adam forms a partnership with a renegade Catholic priest who draws him into Madrid's gypsy community. An unscrupulous Spanish shipping magnate with an insatiable thirst for Velazquez's work threatens Adam, who finds himself also tracked by a pair of killers with an old score to settle with Dansby.
With no clues about the painting's whereabouts or its forbidden subject, Adam faces increasing doubts and the knowledge that someone wants him dead.
About the author
Will Ottinger's previous Adam Barrow novels, The Last Van Gogh and Shadows of Leonardo were released in 2019 by Black Rose Writing and won awards for Best Mystery-Detective Novel. His first novel, A Season for Ravens, was named by Reader Views as a top-three Historical Fiction work for 2014-2015. He also previously published a non-fiction work on historical miniatures, an art form in which he gained international recognition as a Grand Master painter. He authored a magazine column for seven years, trained and lectured extensively in the financial field. He is a current member of The Atlanta Writers Club and formerly served as president of Scribbler's Ink, a Houston writers group. He and his wife Sandra currently live in Atlanta, Georgia.
