Portrait of an Unknown Woman

Portrait of an Unknown Woman – Daniel Silva

Gabriel Allon has finally stepped away from the world of espionage. Retired from his post as chief of Israeli intelligence, he has settled in Venice with his family and returned to his first love, restoring the paintings of the old masters. But a request from an old friend soon draws him back into a world of deception.

In Portrait of an Unknown Woman, the twenty-second novel in Daniel Silva’s bestselling series, the London art dealer Julian Isherwood asks Gabriel to look into a painting attributed to the Flemish master Anthony van Dyck, which has been sold for a fortune. Gabriel suspects that the painting is a brilliant forgery, and his investigation reveals that it may be part of a vast and lucrative fraud reaching into the highest levels of the international art market.

To expose the scheme, Gabriel devises an audacious plan: he will become a forger himself, creating convincing fakes to lure the criminals into the open. His mission takes him from Venice and London to Paris, Geneva and beyond, as he navigates a world of wealthy collectors, auction houses, galleries and dangerous criminals.

Rich with fascinating details about painting, restoration and the art trade, the novel showcases a different side of Gabriel’s talents.

Elegant, suspenseful and full of surprises, Portrait of an Unknown Woman is a superb read for longtime fans and for newcomers who enjoy sophisticated thrillers set in the world of art.