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Beautiful Deception
"Art is the most beautiful deception of all." Claude Debussy
No one dies like that, unless … In a small city in South West France, an art historian falls to his death, a student is murdered, a museum curator is crushed in a freak accident.
Celestine Courbet, former detective in the Police Judiciaire, wintering in the small port nearby with her eccentric partner Jacques Lecoubarry, recognises the patterns and is drawn inexorably into a world of art forgery and organised crime, where desperate people take violent measures and it seems everyone, even friends, are hiding something.
Celestine’s investigation takes her from the local museum to the sophisticated art galleries of Paris and Zurich. Trying to force the players to reveal themselves, she soon finds that she is the one out in the open and in peril.
Four suspects; the beautiful, the powerful, the devious and the vicious – how can Celestine unravel the threads before another murder is committed?
This, the third in the Celestine Courbet series, surges towards a thrilling climax in the ancient heights of the town in the sky; but will the truth lead to redemption or more violent deaths?
Background to the Story - After visiting the lovely town of Montauban one Christmas, and whilst there a visit to the fantastic Ingres Bourdelle Museum, the story, now fully written up, started to emerge. The themes running through the story are....
The continuing story in the Celestine Corbet Murder Mystery series, and the developing relationship between Jacques and Celestine as they choose to winter in the area.
The imagined story of Art Forgery in its various forms, taking place on a local level. and which includes the artistic copying of masterpieces; the creation of provenance to authenticate artwork; the buying of forged works for resale.
The wider implication of international Art Fraud and the involvement of organisations like The International Art Foundation which continues to work discreetly to investigate (and prosecute) art forgery and corruption in all media forms everywhere.
The story is a work of fiction, and in no way suggests that the artwork in any Museums in the area is anything other than authentic and genuine.
Places that inspired the story
Montauban..... This historical bastide town situated about 50 kilometres north of Toulouse in the Tarn-et-Garonne department, was founded in 1144 by the Count of Toulouse. Beside the banks of the Tarn River, is largely constructed using the attractive pink stone found in the region, The highlight of the town, and at it's very centre of the original bastide, is the Place Nationale which is surrounded by grand pink houses in the red brick that is unique to this part of France, and set above pretty arcades. The arcades (the arches) and walkways that surround the square, historically provided shelter for the market traders, are an unusual 'double' construction. The centre of the square today features a 'mirror of water' with several tiny fountains and an occasional mist of water. It is impressive and cooling during the summer months.
When you reach the banks of the wide Tarn River you can see the lovely old bridge - built around 1303-1335, but before crossing the bridge, and as you walk along the Quai Montmurat, you come across three historic convents built in the 17th century and now used for other purposes. Once across the bridge the road leads to the Jardin des Plantes, a large public garden with a wide range of trees and flowers along the banks of the Tescou. The trees come from all around the world. Much of the action taking place in the book, see the protagonists exploring these areas.
A splendid visit to the Ingres Museum (next to the old bridge), where you can see the works of renowned 19th-century artist Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and another famous local artist, sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, inspired the current story. Housed in an impressive palace which was built on the site of an earlier palace previously occupied by the Black Prince during the Hundred Years Wars, and where you can see remains of the original building in the basement of the Museum.
Cordes sur Ciel
"The traveler who, from the terrace of Cordes , looks at the summer night and knows that he has no need to go further and that, if he wishes, the beauty here, day after day, will remove him from all solitude."
– Albert Camus
Dating back to the Middle Ages Cordes, is a stone city rising on a promontory and it seems to climb up through the clouds, to the sky. But if you visit, forget the heels! You don't go up to Cordes sur Ciel by car either! The ascent is done on foot, through the steep and cobbled streets.
While climbing to the top of the city, it's worth stopping to visit the workshops of artists and craftsmen, where for a long time, painters, writers, ceramists, sculptors and jewellers have found artistic inspiration here. While meandering up towards the top of the city, you are immediately immersed in the medieval atmosphere: fortified gates, ramparts, sculpted Gothic facades and hidden corners. It's charm works from the very first step, and from the top of this medieval city you dominate the world and contemplate history and your place in it. Some mornings when the pink mist has invaded the valley, Cordes sur Ciel deserves its name and floats above the skies. Sometimes in winter, the mist mystically envelops it and isolates it from the world below. During the 1940’s Cordes became an artistic centre when Jeanne Ramel-Cals, a celebrated Parisian poetess escaped the war in the north to settle in Cordes. Other artists and writers followed her, giving the village a new life as an artistic centre, which endures today. Most famously, the artist Yves Brayer, known for his landscape paintings of Provence and the writer Albert Camus lived in Cordes and inspired the creation of the Cordes Academy of Art. This medieval gem of a village, celebrated its 800th year in 2022, still remains a haven for artists and artisans today - a world-renowned metal sculptor and mosaic artist, a painter, a stonemason, a violin maker and even a British celebrity hairstylist are among those who draw inspiration from this glorious 12th century French village, and who enjoy living within the timber-framed houses, whose sun-baked stone walls lean towards each other over steep cobbled streets.
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