Truthful Lies

SHE SIGNED UP FOR DOWNTON ABBEY.

SHE STEPPED INTO THE HOUSE OF USHER.Family dysfunction turns deadly in this riveting thriller At first blush, the Chedwell Estate, with its sprawling grounds and sumptuous Tudor architecture, appears to be a tranquil palace tucked away in the English countryside, but appearances deceive-the Manor is more House of Usher than Downton Abbey.

In a toothsome take on a classic set-up, after their father's death and their mother's debilitating stroke, siblings Roberto and Stella are about to kill each other over the estate (figuratively, of course ) In a last-ditch effort to keep things civil, Stella demands they hire a curator to prevent Roberto from ransacking the estate.

Enter Mikky dos Santos, tenacious artist, forger, and all-around talented criminal. From her first day on the job, Mikky feels like she's being taken for a ride by fancy con artists-most of all by Roberto, who is at once flirtatious and threatening. But he's also promised her a 175,000 reward if she gets the job done swiftly while neglecting to account for certain high-end items.

The crowning touch comes when he offers Mikky an extremely valuable bargaining chip, a Dutch painting he's acquired through a mutual colleague of theirs. The thing is, it's a fake, and she's the one who forged it.

As Mikky does recon, she even learns that Roberto has dirty dealings with the mafia, and they once had a price on his head. And there's plenty more she isn't saying. She's secretly collaborating with an agent from Europol, the EU's top brass, to catch Roberto red-handed.

Author Janet Pywell's storytelling is as mesmerizing and complex as her characters, and you'll find yourself rooting for one character and then turning against them on a dime. As Mikky tries to piece together this puzzle of deception, illicit sex, and thinly-veiled threats, she can't tell anymore which lies are "truthful" and what's just dead wrong. But she'd better hurry-these people are lethal.

And you'd hate to lose Mikky once you've met her. She's a unique-and uniquely lovable-female protagonist: a tough, tattooed, yet vulnerable badass who'll steal your heart with one hand while pilfering priceless paintings with the other. She's a must-read for devotees of complex female sleuths from Kinsey Millhone to the sly Jennifer Crusie novels, especially those with an international flavor, like THE equally-inked] GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO.