In The City Of Dark Waters

Jane Jakeman returns with a thrilling tale of murder, love, and the artist's life, set amid the labyrinthine canals of Venice.

At the dawn of the twentieth century, among the crumbling marble glories of Venice where the nobility still dwells in ancient palazzi, one can easily forget the breakneck pace of the outside world. Here, artist Claude Monet and his wife Alice have escaped scandal and rumor in Paris so that Claude might capture the famous Venetian light on water and marble. Their fellow guest Revel Callender is a London lawyer on a year's sabbatical, eager to learn Italian and study the galleries.

But even as they glide through the placid waters of the canals, undercurrents of intrigue are surfacing. Monet remains haunted by the Parisian murder case that brought unwanted attention to his wife. And when the powerful, age-old Casimiri family hires Callender to handle some paperwork, his fascination with the ethereal Clara Casimiri draws him into a labyrinth of legend, sexual deviation-and murder.

Artist Claude Monet and his wife flee from scandal and rumor in Paris, settling in Venice. Yet even as they glide through the placid waters of the canals, undercurrents of intrigue and sexuality draw Monet into a labyrinth of legend and murder.

Jane Jakeman is a well-known journalist and art historian and has worked for Oxford University Press. She is also the author of two 19th-century novels starring Lord Ambrose, The Egyptian Coffin (9/05) and Let There Be Blood (9/04)