BelEdit Book Reviews
The Art of a Lie is a delightful, delicious read. From the start, the reader is immersed in Hannah Cole’s world. The richly detailed descriptions make every character and scene feel alive and vivid, right from the opening pages:
“That day, The fifteenth of June 1749, I was watching a gentleman in the mirror behind my counter. He’d just strolled in, escaping the bustle of Piccadilly, remarkably unsullied by the dust and heat of the day outside. His finger hovered over my golden nests of spun sugar, each filled with marchpane eggs and topped with a sugar-work bird – a new creation I’d put my hand to whilst the shop had been closed for mourning. Like my birds, he was a colourful creature – his coat a smoke-blue silk with silver embroidery at the collar and cuffs, a topaz pin in his cream cravat, and a plump meringue of a periwig beneath the smoke-blue hat adorned with a peacock feather.”
Hannah is now proprietor of a confectionary shop, following her husband’s murder, but she is struggling to keep the business afloat. When William Devereux enters her shop, he offers a potential lifeline. But can she trust him? He is closely followed by Henry Fielding, Chief Magistrate of Westminster, who wants to talk to her about her husband.
Thus begins a dance of trust and mistrust, deceit, betrayal, obfuscation and revelations. Impossible to say more without spoilers.
The Art of a Lie is cleverly structured and well paced, written in a style that is sumptuous but light as spun sugar. It amply deserves all the accolades it has received.
If you enjoy historical mysteries, I highly recommend The Art of a Lie.
Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the ARC. All my reviews are 100% honest and unbiased, regardless of how I acquire the book.
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