Dechansay Bright Mysteries Series

Hollywood actress, Esther Langley, has a home in the hills of Provence, an old converted abbey where she keeps her precious art collection. Now she has four paintings in need of restoration: one modern work, fire-damaged, and three crumbling old masters. It looks like a straightforward job for an experienced art restorer like Hannah Dechansay, and who wouldn't relish a few months in Provence?   But living and working on Esther's estate isn't easy. It's a tortured household, haunted by a tragic death. There's guilt and recrimination in the air and relationships soon start to unravel. Was the death an accident? Everyone has a different version to tell. There's something sinister going on and everyone, it seems, has something to hide.   A Crack in the Varnish is the first of the Dechansay Bright Mysteries but is a complete story and can be read in isolation.

It's 1991 and Ranling Manor, set among the wild and watery Norfolk Broads, has been home to the Gyllam-Spence family for generations. Open to the public and family-run, its valuable art collection is decaying and conservators Hannah and Nathan arrive to restore its most fragile works.   But underneath the apparent gentility, the Gyllam-Spence family is at war with itself. And someone is stealing from the collection, someone all too close to home. When a body turns up floating in the nearby lake, it seems the stakes have risen to a new high. The police might deem it an accident; Nathan doesn't.   As the family closes ranks, Nathan and Hannah bury their differences and join forces to find out who is responsible. But they will have to be both devious and extremely careful…   By a Hand Unknown is the second in the Dechansay Bright Mysteries but is a complete story and can be read in isolation.

Some people never tell the truth. They daren't.   Eric Dechansay is a successful artist with a popular studio in Paris, the life and soul of every party. Then the threatening letters start. Eric's past - and someone he thought was dead - have come back to haunt him.   Hannah Dechansay knows nothing of her father's past but a phone call from her half-sister has her leaving Oxford and on a plane to Paris. She won't be welcome. Eric's carefully constructed life is crashing around his ears and Hannah's determination to find out why will only make things worse. Her father's clearly frightened and he's lying. And then there's the piano player. Who is he anyway?   As the stakes rise inexorably higher, who can Hannah trust?   Each of the Dechansay Bright Mysteries is a standalone story.