A Frida Kahlo painting, a scandal, a mystery … and secrets that threaten to change the course of history.

In 1938, showgirl-turned-socialite Dorothy Hale falls to her death from a Manhattan skyscraper. Her friend, writer and future diplomat Clare Boothe Luce, commissions Frida Kahlo to paint a memorial portrait.

Months later, while reporting from Europe for LIFE Magazine, Clare encounters the Duchess of Windsor in Paris and begins to see Dorothy’s death in a new light.

Meanwhile, in New York, Frida grapples with alienation, prejudice and estrangement from her husband Diego Rivera. As she works on her masterpiece, she, too, draws closer to the truth.

At the heart of this novel lies a mystery: was Dorothy’s death suicide or murder, and how does it connect to the forces shaping the twentieth century?

Oscar de Muriel is a writer, translator, historian and violinist. He is the author of a successful series of Victorian mysteries, for which he has been nominated for various awards. He is currently collaborating with the Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera Anahuacalli Museums to write a definitive book on Casa Azul, where Frida and Diego lived and painted. Born in Mexico City, he divides his time between that city, Northern England and Edinburgh.