Angels of the Flood [Hardcover]

When Kate Holland, an internationally respected conservator, is anonymously sent a priceless Italian painting, she discovers it has been crudely tampered with. The mysterious message contained in the painting plunges Kate back to a place in her past she has been trying to forget ever since...Florence 1967, a city devastated by a horrific flood. No tourists, no cars, just a sea of oily mud. The young volunteers from overseas who came to rescue the buildings, paintings and sculptures, became known as the 'Angels of the Flood'. Kate Holland was one of these angels, until the hideous death of her friend Francesca forced her back to England with a vow never to return. Now, for the first time in thirty years, she is drawn back. Her trail leads Kate back to Francesca's family home...a family whose dark secrets are as abundant as their priceless works of art. And when she meets the younger sister again, Kate's life is suddenly in danger. Two women, guilt and friendship, deception, blackmail and murder, are all at the heart of this chilling mystery from the highly acclaimed Joanna Hines.

Joanna Hines was born in London. She read history at Somerville College, Oxford, then studied at the LSE. She divides her time between London and Cornwall, and is the author of, among others, IMPROVISING CARLA and SURFACE TENSION.