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A work by Charles O'Brien
Lethal Beauty (Severn House, 2005) is the fourth in the Anne Cartier historical mystery series. The action begins in August 1787 and takes place chiefly in and around the Louvre at the time of the biennial Salon, an exhibition of the best of French painting and sculpture of the past two years. Home of the royal family for centuries, the Louvre now provided quarters for artists and their students, royal pensioners, the royal printing office, and various royal academies. Lust, greed, pride and the other deadly sins flourished there as elsewhere in Paris. The story opens with the accidental (?) death of a countess, followed by the defacing of her portrait, and the murder of a painter. Anne Cartier and her husband, Colonel Paul de Saint-Martin attempt to unravel an increasingly complex mystery, at some risk to themselves. |