The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby
"Read this in about two sittings--absolutely loved it. Dazzlingly clever and beautifully twisty. Don't miss it!!"--Emilia Hart, author of Weyward
The gripping follow up to the "smart, stylish, and savage" (People) New York Times bestseller and Reese's Book Club pick The Club--a twisty mystery involving a cursed wealthy family and a Surrealist painting which holds the key to three suspicious deaths over the course of a century.
Some women won't be painted out of history . . .
Everybody knows that in 1938, runaway heiress artist Juliette Willoughby perished in an accidental studio fire in Paris, alongside her masterpiece Self Portrait As Sphinx.
Fifty years later, two Cambridge art history students are confounded when they stumble across proof that the fire was no accident but something more sinister. What they uncover threatens the very foundation of Juliette's aristocratic family and revives rumors of the infamous curse that has haunted the Willoughbys for generations.
But what does their discovery mean? And how is it connected to a brutal murder in present-day Dubai?
A tale of love and madness, obsession and revenge, The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby unravels the riddle posed by a Sphinx who refuses to reveal her secrets . . .
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Ellery Lloyd is the pseudonym for the London-based husband-and-wife writing team of Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos. Collette is a journalist and editor, the former content director of Elle (UK), and editorial director at Soho House. She has written for the Guardian, the Telegraph, and the Sunday Times. Paul is the author of two previous novels, Welcome to the Working Week and Every Day Is Like Sunday. He is a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Greenwich. They are the authors of People Like Her and The Club.
"Lloyd's novel interweaves the stories of these three distinct time periods to create an elegant tapestry--and a novel of love, suspense, family secrets, Egyptology, surrealism, and corruption. Above all, it is a novel of women. . . . . the novel will not disappoint. A must for fans of Kate Morton. A delightful puzzle box of a novel." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"This fascinating novel from married couple Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos writing as Lloyd (People Like Her; The Club) contains enough twists and turns to keep it fresh and entertaining." -- Library Journal
"This cinematic and compelling book will appeal to fans of suspense that is enhanced by intellectual history." -- Booklist
"This surprise-packed story twists and turns its way through a tightly wound tangle of lies and secrets buried in the unspoken history haunting the Willoughby family. Told from alternating perspectives, first Caroline's, then Patrick's, interspersed with extracts from Juliette's journal, The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby delivers some truly blockbuster revelations that will keep readers on the edge of their seats from first page to last. A must for Ellery Lloyd fans and a great find for newcomers." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review
"A reader can get dizzied by the details in THE FINAL ACT OF JULIETTE WILLOUGHBY . . . . But its engaging central story invites you to push past the excess and revel in the mystery." -- New York Times Book Review
"Ellery Lloyd is the pen name of a married duo who've been cowriting some of the most vicious and insightful critiques of modern living I've ever read. Now, they've turned to historical fiction to explore class, colonialism, and misogyny in the pre-war art world." -- Literary Hub
"Flawlessly executed through brilliant characterizations, THE FINAL ACT OF JULIETTE WILLOUGHBY accentuates the fascinating world of historical art and women's struggle for recognition within it, a sordid illicit love affair, a highly dysfunctional family drama, and an intriguing murder and missing person mystery. The duo's mesmerizing writing style draws readers in, holding them in the palm of their hands until the final page. This book is a highly entertaining, fast-paced, scandalous murder mystery I recommend to art history buffs, as well as mystery and suspense readers." -- The Big Thrill
"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 It Ends at Midnight
"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 Edith and Kim
"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 clever, richly imagined, first-class mystery. A story both thrilling and deeply layered, touching and fun. I loved it." -- Chris Whitaker
"The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby is a page turner filled with plot twists and secrets. Fans of Ellery Lloyd will not be disappointed." -- B.A. Shapiro, New York Times bestselling author of The Art Forger
"A stunning, intricately plotted and clever mystery that spans decades and has everything I love in a thriller: a rambling old mansion, a family secret, a missing person, a painting with hidden clues to a murder, and a love story at its heart. I loved it." -- Claire Douglas, author of The Girls Who Disappeared
"The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby is smart, stylish, and sly. This page-turner sets us in rapid motion with a murder, aristocratic intrigue, and the mesmerizing story of a Surrealist painter and her masterpiece through time, keeping us happily in orbit until the very last page." -- Dominic Smith, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Painting of Sara de Vos and Return to Valetto
"With a delicious, enticing premise and rich plotting, The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby is a stylish art-world thriller." -- Flynn Berry, New York Times bestselling author of Northern Spy
"What a fascinating, intricately stitched literary treat from Ellery Lloyd. Bold and ambitious and consuming from start to finish - I absolutely loved it." -- Louise Candlish, bestselling author of Our House
"The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby is 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 wonder 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, bestselling author of The One
"A terrific, transportive read that had everything I could wish for in a mystery, all twisted up with a darkly satisfying plot that was worthy of Edgar Allen Poe. Wonderful!" -- Gytha Lodge, author of A Killer in the Family
"Expertly paced and extraordinarily plotted, Ellery Llyod's new novel mixes academic ambition and family secrets with explosive results. The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby is a deliciously erudite thriller that makes even a trip to the archives seem fun, if deadly. Truly, the perfect thing to read after you've finished watching Saltburn." -- Katy Hays, New York Times bestselling author of The Cloisters
"A rollicking thriller, an epic love story, and a brilliant examination of the many ways women are painted out of history. The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby has an Indiana Jones sense of fun and a heart of fury that brought to mind Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Ellery Lloyd just keeps getting better." -- Abigail Dean, author of Girl A
"I was completely absorbed by this rich and immersive read. Mysteries heaped upon mysteries with a fascinating and glamorous cast. It made me stay up late into the night to discover the truth. What a brilliant story." -- Cesca Major, author of Maybe Next Time
