On an idyllic spring morning in Giverny, as the sun rises over Claude Monet's famous lily pond, Jérôme Morval's dead body is discovered in a nearby stream. A notorious philanderer, Morval's passion for women was surpassed only by his passion for art. Was he the victim of a jealous husband? A spurned lover? A rival collector? Newly arrived in Giverny, Inspector Laurenç Sérénac is an outsider in the insular town… unlike the three women shadowing his investigation: a beautiful local schoolteacher trapped in an unhappy marriage, an artistically gifted young girl dreaming of fame, and an elderly woman determined to avenge a long-simmering wrong. All three are seeking escape…but would they kill to get it? A bestselling crime writer in his native France, Michel Bussi paints an engaging portrait of the ugly secrets that can haunt a small town—and delivers a final plot twist I did not see coming! (KG)