The Borgia Portrait: 2 cover art

The Borgia Portrait: 2

A Venetian Mystery, Book 2

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The Borgia Portrait: 2

By: David Hewson
Narrated by: Richard Armitage
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About this listen

A noble family, a legendary painting, a cursed palazzo. The new Venetian mystery from master storyteller David Hewson.

When Arnold Clover is recruited by Lizzie Hawker to help her look into her family inheritance, he cannot begin to guess the journey he is about to embark on.

Lizzie's mother, an Italian countess, disappeared thirty years ago, presumed dead. Her father, a famous, some say infamous, music promoter, has just died and now the family home Ca' Scacchi, a leaning palazzo in Dorsoduro, has fallen to her. When her mother vanished so too did a priceless painting, supposedly an erotic portrait of Lucrezia Borgia, which has captivated men for generations.

When a body is discovered in a hidden crypt beneath the checkerboard courtyard of the palazzo, other secrets are unearthed with it. Lying with the body is a document, a story of an episode in Casanova's colourful life, and within it a set of clues that might lead to the location of the painting. But it quickly becomes apparent that Lizzie and Arnold are not the only ones interested in finding the painting.

The search for the lost Lucrezia quickly becomes a race through the secret history of Venice, one with potentially deadly consequences.

©2023 David Hewson (P)2023 W.F.Howes Ltd Amateur Sleuths Fiction International Mystery & Crime Mystery Italy Detective Suspense

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These books transported me to Venice - I could picture every piazza, rio and sottoportego and almost taste the salt-air of the lagoon on every page. The mystery at the heart of the novel kept me guessing, and I had great fun playing along with the treasure hunt the characters set out on, often pausing the book to conduct my own research and mark off points on a Google map before listening on to see if I’d been right. David Hewson’s stories are quietly complex and thrilling — not flashy or designed to shock, but seemingly to engage the mind and the senses and take you along on a journey of discovery along with his characters.

Richard Armitage’s performance was reliably fantastic. Not only does he have the most wonderful, rich and dulcet voice, but he brings real feeling and considered nuance to every story he narrates — his acting talent shines through in his delivery of the prose, understated yet impactful. Arnold Clover comes to life for me through his expert performance, exemplifying how narrator and novelist can work masterfully together to deliver a fascinating tale told through the eyes of a complex, gentle, intelligent and very human protagonist.

I’ve come to feel like I know these characters and the Venice they inhabit over the course of the first two books in this series, and I hope to enjoy many more in future.

A love-letter to Venice in the form of a fascinating fictional treasure hunt

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Narration excellent as always. There's not as much fine detail on Venice food and routes taken by the characters. All this detail annoyed me in the first book because it meant nothing to me. Having said that, the story was not as good as the first book. A lot of history in this one, which was nice. But no chance to solve the puzzle. A bit like the Da Vinci Code I guess

Less of a struggle than first book

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I really love listening to Richard Armitage. This was a story. I hope they're well be another

wonderful performance

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I felt it would help if I knew Venice - but the atmosphere comes across. Great story as always.

Deep in Venice

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Perfect choice to have such a skilled narrator for a wonderful sequel. Highly reccomend

Even better than the first book

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