The Art of Deception

There are so many forms of deception in Elizabeth Ironside's complex thriller "The Art of Deception" that it's often difficult to tell who is lying all of the time, some of the time, or none of the time. In fact, almost everyone in this novel has something to hide, from others, or more dangerously, from themselves. Art Historian Nicolas Octterlonie views the world through his own upper class rose colored glasses, so he is unprepared for the shock of his wife leaving him and taking their children with her. Cast out on his own, he is easy prey for an enticingly mysterious woman named Julian who turns to Nicolas for help and comfort after she survives a vicious mugging. Independent and sensuous as a cat, Julian lures the naive Nicolas into her world of high stakes international money laundering. Is it her association with the Russain Mafia that is setting off a string of serious, brutal attacks on Julian, or is it her failed love affair with a handsome Russian partner in crime named Anatoli who cold heartedly deserted her? Is Julian an innocent victim or an icy manipulator, eager for money, power, and revenge? The answers are complex, and even the surprise ending is inconclusive. The first person narration puts the reader right in the center of the vortex of crime, passion, and betrayal. Along the way, as a kind of bonus, we learn quite a bit about the arcane world of authenticating famous paintings. "The art of Deception" is a fast and exciting book, well worth reading.

The Art of Deception goes beyond genre. It's a thriller, a psychological novel, a love story and a literary tour de force all in one. The subject is boldly philosophical: what is real? There are two parallel struggles with reality. Nicholas Ochterlonie, professor of art history, is questioning the authenticity of a Vermeer, an investigation that could destroy careers. Then there's Nick's struggle to comprehend his lover, Julian Bennet, a classic femme fatale, breathtakingly beautiful, maddeningly mysterious. This quest will also destroy lives. The seventeenth-century portrait of a lovely woman in fur contrasts eerily with the cool carnivorous Julian in her Russian fur coat. The irony is that Nick's scholarly obsession with how artists deceive the eye does nothing to prepare him for the intricate deceptions of his mistress. Or his own self-deceptions. Nick has just lost his wife and children to a surprise divorce suit. Preoccupied with his paper on art and deception he somehow failed to notice his wife's discontent. He moves into the London flat he inherited from his mother - and meets his future mistress in front of the flat, where she is being mugged. Nick's attempts to learn about Julian's past lead him into scary encounters with cops and cutthroats. And he still doesn't know who Julian is or what she's thinking. Her past is like a pentimento in a portrait, a rejected image under the surface of a painting that the artist has painted out. I despair of conveying the aesthetic feast this novel offers - the quirky characters, contradictory behaviors, shadowy motives, unforeseen developments and unexpected bursts of violence. The author has a positive genius for describing sensational happenings in the voice of reason. Truly a remarkable book.