The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby

Some women can’t be erased from history . . .

A story of love and madness, of obsession and revenge.

Paris, 1938: Runaway heiress Juliette Willoughby perishes, with her married lover, in an accidental studio fire alongside her Surrealist masterpiece, Self-Portrait as Sphinx.

Cambridge, 1991: Two art history students stumble across proof something sinister was at play in Juliette's death, threatening to expose the long-buried secrets of the artist's aristocratic family.

Dubai, now: An art dealer is accused of the brutal murder of his oldest friend – the last surviving member of the Willoughby dynasty.

Three suspicious deaths over the course of a century.

Is the key to unlocking them all hidden in Juliette Willoughby’s lost painting?

From the author of The Club, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick, The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby is Ellery Lloyd's compulsive multiple-timeline mystery – a story of love and madness, of obsession and revenge.

Review

Intoxicating, enthralling, compelling . . . the reclaiming of an artist's story wrapped up in a mystery with a great love story to boot. I loved it! -- Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange

A richly ingenious puzzle novel, adroitly juggling disparate timelines and addressing such issues as the underrepresentation of women in fine art. ― Financial Times

Read this in about two sittings - absolutely loved it. Dazzlingly clever and beautifully twisty. Don't miss it! -- Emilia Hart, author of Weyward

An original, compulsive and brilliantly told mystery set within a world of secrets and privilege spanning decades and continents. Like a reversal of the painting at its centre, the layers of the story are carefully peeled back until the picture is revealed. From the first page to the last, I loved it. -- Charlotte Philby, author of A Double Life

Indiana Jones meets The Thomas Crown Affair – an art-world thriller that blends Bullingdon Club hijinks with an academic adventure so richly drawn you'll be googling to see whether it really happened. Egyptology, Surrealism and country house mystery – Juliette Willoughby is the new Da Vinci Code. -- Harriet Walker, author of The Wedding Night

A whip smart page turner with twists and turns that'll keep a hold on you right up until the final, gripping denouement. It paints such a vivid picture of the international art world that you'll be Googling whether Juliette Willoughby actually existed or if she really is just a figment of the authors frighteningly vivid imagination. A terrific, hands down, five star read. -- John Marrs, author of The Marriage Act

A clever, richly imagined, first-class mystery. A story both thrilling and deeply layered, touching and fun. I loved it. -- Chris Whitaker, author of We Begin at the End

I LOVED it – a beguiling, twisting, endlessly surprising tale, and a delicious romp through the art world to boot. A compulsive read. -- Freya Berry, author of The Birdcage Library

A page turner filled with plot twists and secrets. Fans of Ellery Lloyd will not be disappointed. -- BA Shapiro, author of The Collector's Apprentice 

About the Author

Ellery Lloyd is the pseudonym for London-based husband-and-wife writing team Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos. Collette is a journalist and editor, former features editor at Stylist, content director of ELLE UK and editorial director at Soho House. She has written for The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Times, as well as two travel books. Paul is the author of two previous novels, Welcome to the Working Week and Every Day Is Like Sunday. He is the programme director for English literature with creative writing at the University of Surrey.