The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby

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Think The Secret History meets Saltburn Holly Watt, author of The Dead Line

'Intoxicating, enthralling, compelling' Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange

Bold and ambitious and consuming from start to finish Louise Candlish, author of The Swimming Pool

'A stunning, intricately plotted and clever mystery Claire Douglas, author of The Wrong Sister

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Some women cant be erased from history . . .

A story of love and madness, of obsession and revenge.

Paris, 1938: Runaway heiress Juliette Willoughby perishes, with her married lover, in an accidental studio fire alongside her Surrealist masterpiece, Self-Portrait as Sphinx.

Cambridge, 1991: Two art history students stumble across proof something sinister was at play in Juliette's death, threatening to expose the long-buried secrets of the artist's aristocratic family.

Dubai, now: An art dealer is accused of the brutal murder of his oldest friend the last surviving member of the Willoughby dynasty.

Three suspicious deaths over the course of a century.

Is the key to unlocking them all hidden in Juliette Willoughbys lost painting

From the author of The Club, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick, The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby is Ellery Lloyd's compulsive multiple-timeline mystery a story of love and madness, of obsession and revenge.

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A clever, richly imagined, first-class mystery. A story both thrilling and deeply layered, touching and fun. I loved it. Chris Whitaker, author of All the Colours of the Dark

A whip smart page turner with twists and turns that'll keep a hold on you right up until the final, gripping denouement. A terrific, hands down, five star read. John Marrs, author of The Family Experiment

A big complex thriller about art, family secrets and dark academia and is hugely entertaining and fun. Fans of The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair will love it. Mark Edwards, author of The House Guest

Reviews

Intoxicating, enthralling, compelling . . . the reclaiming of an artist's story wrapped up in a mystery with a great love story to boot. I loved it! -- Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange
A richly ingenious puzzle novel, adroitly juggling disparate timelines and addressing such issues as the underrepresentation of women in fine art. * Financial Times *
Read this in about two sittings - absolutely loved it. Dazzlingly clever and beautifully twisty. Don't miss it! -- Emilia Hart, author of Weyward
An original, compulsive and brilliantly told mystery set within a world of secrets and privilege spanning decades and continents. Like a reversal of the painting at its centre, the layers of the story are carefully peeled back until the picture is revealed. From the first page to the last, I loved it. -- Charlotte Philby, author of A Double Life
Indiana Jones meets The Thomas Crown Affair an art-world thriller that blends Bullingdon Club hijinks with an academic adventure so richly drawn you'll be googling to see whether it really happened. Egyptology, Surrealism and country house mystery Juliette Willoughby is the new Da Vinci Code. -- Harriet Walker, author of The Wedding Night
A whip smart page turner with twists and turns that'll keep a hold on you right up until the final, gripping denouement. It paints such a vivid picture of the international art world that you'll be Googling whether Juliette Willoughby actually existed or if she really is just a figment of the authors frighteningly vivid imagination. A terrific, hands down, five star read. -- John Marrs, author of The Marriage Act
A clever, richly imagined, first-class mystery. A story both thrilling and deeply layered, touching and fun. I loved it. -- Chris Whitaker, author of We Begin at the End
I LOVED it a beguiling, twisting, endlessly surprising tale, and a delicious romp through the art world to boot. A compulsive read. -- Freya Berry, author of The Birdcage Library
A page turner filled with plot twists and secrets. Fans of Ellery Lloyd will not be disappointed. -- BA Shapiro, author of The Collector's Apprentice
A vivid, whirlwind adventure in art and academia that spins you through decades, from Cambridge quads to a crumbling country house via the glitz and glamour of Dubai. Think The Secret History meets Saltburn I adored it. -- Holly Watt, author of To The Lions
A haunting, twisted tale about love, mystery and romance that will have you holding your breath by the end. Everyone will be talking about this book. -- Celia Walden, author of The Square
A deliciously dark mystery set in the art world that reaches into the heart of a privileged aristocratic family to expose the tragic secrets they have tried so desperately to hide. Clever and sophisticated, I loved it. -- Nikki Smith, author of The Guests
A stunningly, intricately plotted and clever mystery that spans decades and has everything I love in a thriller: a rambling old mansion, a family secret, a missing person, a painting with hidden clues to a murder, and a love story at its heart. I loved it. -- Claire Douglas, author of The Wrong Sister
A big complex thriller about art, family secrets and dark academia and is hugely entertaining and fun, fans of The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair will love it. -- Mark Edwards, author of The Darkest Water
The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby is smart, stylish, and sly. This page-turner sets us up in rapid motion with a murder, aristocratic intrigue, and the mesmerizing story of a Surrealist painter and her masterpiece through time, keeping us happily in orbit until the very last page. -- Dominic Smith, author of The Electric Hotel
What a fascinating, intricately stitched literary treat from Ellery Lloyd. Bold and ambitious and consuming from start to finish I absolutely loved it. -- Louise Candlish, author of The Swimming Pool
A terrific, transportive read that had everything I could wish for in a mystery, all twisted up with a darkly satisfying plot that was worthy of Edgar Allen Poe. Wonderful! -- Gytha Lodge, author of Watching From the Dark
Expertly paced and extraordinarily plotted, Ellery Lloyd's new novel mixes academic ambition and family secrets with explosive results. The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby is a deliciously erudite thriller that makes even a trip to the archives seem fun, if deadly. Truly, the perfect thing to read after you've finished watching Saltburn. -- Katy Hays, author of The Cloisters
Totally compelling. Such an intricately plotted mystery that takes us through the art world, in to stately homes in the 90s, 30s Paris and Dubai now. It's a hold your breath ride that also asks why so many women have been written out of art history. -- Araminta Hall, author of One of the Good Guys
A rollicking thriller, an epic love story, and a brilliant examination of the many ways women are pointed out of history. The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby has an Indiana Jones sense of fun and a heart of fury that brought to mind Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Ellery Lloyd just keeps getting better. -- Abigail Dean, author of Girl A
I was completely absorbed by this rich and immersive read. Mysteries heaped upon mysteries with a fascinating and glamorous cast. It made me stay up late into the night to discover the truth. What a brilliant story. -- Cesca Major, author of Maybe Next Time

Author Bio

Ellery Lloyd is the pseudonym for London-based husband-and-wife writing team Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos. They have previously published People Like Her and The Club.

Collette is a journalist and editor, former content director of ELLE UK and editorial director at Soho House. She has written for The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Times.

Paul is the author of Welcome to the Working Week and Every Day Is Like Sunday. He is the programme director for English literature with creative writing at the University of Surrey.