Masterpiece of Deception: An Art Mystery

by Judy Lester

Jerry has just embarked on a career as an art restorer, working as a freelancer but eagerly applying for positions in the museums of Toronto and London. Among her clients is a prestigious dealer who has given her a seventeenth-century painting to restore and prepare for auction. As Jerry removes modern overpaint, working meticulously through the first layer, she wonders why the oil paint below is so sensitive to solvents. A genuine painting of this era wouldn't respond in quite such a way to her treatment. She takes a tiny sample of the painting to a conservation laboratory where microscopic and x-ray analysis suggest that below the surface paint, is another painting which may actually be the work of a Dutch master. Jerry slowly uncovers another painting underneath the first surface. Still, she has her doubts and wants to try one final procedure to confirm the painting's true age. But her client refuses, and takes it to auction where it is declared authentic.

Suddenly Jerry finds herself in danger; an attempt is made on her life. Someone is trying to silence her, but why? And what can she do about it? Determined to dig more deeply into the mystery, Jerry travels to Europe in a search for the truth about the painting's authenticity.

Written by a professional art restorer who specializes in historical oil painting materials and techniques, Masterpiece of Deception is a fast-paced mystery that takes the reader behind the fascinating scenes of art restoration and into the high-stakes world of art fraud.

181 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2001