Deceptions: A Helena Marsh Novel

(Paperback)

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A savvy art world thriller with a strong, independent heroine and the follow-up to The Appraisal, finalist for the 2018 Staunch Prize

Former Budapest cop Attila Feher would really like to see art expert Helena Marsh again, so he arranges a contract for her to determine whether a painting is a copy of a famous Artemisia Gentileschi canvas or the real thing. A simple appraisal becomes a dangerous assignment when usual eastern European gangsters show up and people start dying and the seething corruption that underlies the lost promise of post-Soviet Hungary swirls to the surface. In a race to get to the truth and to outwit her adversaries, Helena and Attila must solve the mystery of the painting's origins.

Richly atmospheric, set in Strasbourg, Budapest, and Paris, this witty, sophisticated novel will satisfy readers of political thrillers by Alan Furst and Philip Kerr. Deceptions is a thinking person's thriller, a romp to the last satisfying page.

Reviews

"Intricate and atmospheric ... Porter's plots are a deft and entertaining blend of caper, crime, and thriller elements, but it's this context as well as their setting -- primarily Hungary, a place where, as one observer remarks, 'the present was so deeply rooted in the past, it was not even the past' -- that gives them their rich texture and unexpected depth." -- Canadian Notes & Queries
"Porter takes readers on an exhilarating ride." -- Publishers Weekly
"The plot proceeds in the usual Anna Porter fashion, offering sleuthing that is sophisticated, nervy and hardly ever on an even keel." -- Toronto Star

Author Bio

Anna Porter is the award-winning author of ten books. Her recent work includes the non-fiction In Other Words, How I Fell in Love with Canada One Book at a Time, and Buying a Better World, George Soros and Billionaire Philanthropy, and the mystery novel The Appraisal, the first Helena Marsh book. She co-founded Key Porter Books, an influential publishing house she ran for more than twenty years. In addition, she writes book reviews, opinion pieces, and stuff about Central Europe. She is an Officer of the Order of Canada and has received the Order of Ontario.