Jenny Kidd

“A twisted and sinister affaire macabre.”—R.D. Hartwell

While spending autumn in Venice, a young American artist, Jenny Kidd, hopes to create a portfolio of paintings to launch her career and establish her independence from her tyrannical father. At the Guggenheim Collection, she encounters Randi, a colorful British woman, who invites her to a masked ball at the Palazzo Barbon. There, she meets the seductive Caterina Barbon and her brother, Sebastiano, who entice Jenny into a world of glittering façades that cloak sexual perversion, art forgery, and murder. As Jenny struggles between her attraction to Caterina and her growing awareness that she is in danger, Jenny discovers an inner strength and spirit worthy of her infamous pirate ancestor.

“A little gem...a top-notch thriller…Jenny Kidd spins its web as languidly as an afternoon by the canals. Egan’s descriptions of the food, the art, and the general atmosphere are as purposeful as they are evocative. Her prose is full-bodied and elegant, and she makes prosecco and prosciutto as sumptuous as the work of Titian and Tintoretto. As delicious as Egan’s writing is when it comes to describing masked balls, four-course lunches, and miniatures painted in pastels, she also knows how to propel a mean action scene. The last twenty pages or so are a breathless rush of dark passageways, tense interrogations, and perfectly executed gore that leave you gasping and satisfied.”—Jerry L. Wheeler, Out in Print

“The plot becomes…dizzying in its twists and turns. Not only does this book offer a riveting story, but her sentences have a cadence that will carry you along. Once I had reached the half-way point in the book, I found it impossible to put it down.”—Martha Miller, G & L Review

“In Jenny Kidd author Laury A. Egan expertly assembles colorful, but not-quite-what-they-seem, characters to animate this dark thriller. Set in Venice, her story features art forgery, theft, multiple murders, and an age-old noble family awash in mystery and decadence. It’s a slender piece, paced like lightning, and edge-of-your-seat suspense—a truly gripping read. Don’t miss this chilling, and emotional, adventure!”
—Luke Sherwood, Basso Profundo

“A very compelling suspense novel, rife with stunning imagery and shocking plot beats. An eerie, glittering world.”
—Jennica Dotson, author of “A Reaper’s Folly”