The Triarchs

Paperback 300 pages ISBN 9781904959298 Author: Derek Wilson Cover design: Zoë Farmer Price £12.00 (price includes delivery worldwide) Publication date 9 December 2005

Synopsis

Aspiring artist Venetia Cranville has just inherited a historic mansion in Wiltshire. Before long she has also acquired a brutally murdered corpse in the attic. Panic-stricken, she rushes for help to her erstwhile lover Tim Lacy, an ex-SAS officer who now runs his own successful international security firm.

The victim was a local art-dealer evaluating the house’s contents, and he had earlier removed one particular painting for closer inspection. From a photograph Tim recognises it as “The Triarchs”, a long-lost masterpiece by Raphael – now worth millions of pounds. But what was it doing in the dusty attics of Farrans Court? Who really owns the painting? And who killed the unlucky art dealer?

Quickly recovering the priceless canvas, Tim sets out to resolve these mysteries – as much to satisfy his own curiosity as to save the feckless Venetia from prison. Moving rapidly between London, Paris, Tokyo and the Greek islands, he finds himself embroiled in the exclusive world of top-level art dealing but also attracting the terrifying attentions of organised criminal gangs whose leaders will stop at nothing to protect their interest…

Intertwined with this eventful quest is the bloodsoaked history of The Triarchs itself and its various owners through five dramatic centuries. For it seems that whoever comes in contact with the elusive painting is likely to suffer a particularly nasty end.