4. If someone offered to give you a masterpiece but told you it was cursed, would you happily hang it in your home?

5. When Alex and John are in the storage area of MIMA, Alex ad libs an arty discourse about a Brett Whiteley painting. Does art need to be explained?

6. Do you think artists and critics sometimes try to seem too superior and clever?

7. Alex and John have been close friends for years, but the relationship seems to be changing. Should they explore their feelings or would they be risking their friendship?

8. The forged Brett Whiteley painting would sell for a high price. What makes good art expensive?

9. If a forgery is so good it’s impossible to distinguish from the real thing, why is it not just as valuable?

10. John is so desperate to save his marriage that when Sue turns up at the exhibition opening, he abandons Alex. Did he make the right decision at the time?

11. When Alex is offered the job at MIMA, she must decide between security and what had once been her dream, or the risks associated with the independent path she’s carved for herself. What do you think she ultimately chooses and is it the right choice?

About the Author

Katherine Kovacic is a former veterinarian turned art historian who works with a wide variety of museums, galleries and historic houses. She lives in Melbourne with a Borzoi and a Scottish Deerhound. The Portrait of Molly Dean was her debut novel and the first Alex Clayton art mystery.

Imprint

Echo Publishing

An imprint of Bonnier Books UK

80-81 Wimpole Street

London W1G 9RE

Copyright © Katherine Kovacic, 2019

All rights reserved. Echo thanks you for buying an authorised edition of this book. In doing so, you are supporting writers and enabling Echo to publish more books and foster new talent. Thank you for complying with copyright laws by not using any part of this book without our prior written permission, including reproducing, storing in a retrieval system, transmitting in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, or by photocopying, recording, scanning or distributing.

First published 2019

This ebook edition published 2019

Cover design by Nada Backovic

Page design, typesetting and ebook creation by Shaun Jury

Cover Images: Miguel Sobreira, David Cheshire / Arcangel

A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia

ISBN: 9781760685775 (paperback)

ISBN: 9781760685911 (epub)

ISBN: 9781760685904 (mobi)

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