Painted Lady — Harriet Crawley

'Splendid first thriller.' DAILY EXPRESSA spate of daring thefts is plaguing the art collectors of London: the 'Blond Maniac' is targeting pictures of fair-haired ladies and the police are grappling for answers.Meanwhile, the dashingly handsome Archie Gibbs, retired from the army and tired of his grotty flat, is given a superb job opportunity by his old pal's father. Gibbs is charged with supervising the passage of priceless paintings belonging to the Queen, on their route to an exhibition in Paris. Catastrophe strikes as the vehicle is hijacked. But curiously, it is not clear what exactly has been stolen.Archie and his lover Madeleine, the Parisian police commissioner, embark on a bold mission of discovery and recovery, finding that the only way to combat robbery and fraud is with an equal dose of trickery.The Painted Lady is racy thriller, spanning London, Paris and Tokyo. As the world of the international art market is sullied with scandal, no amount of deception or glamour can save the guilty from suspicion.Harriet Crawley, educated in France, Austria and Italy, studied history at King's College, London and in 1969 wrote a book on European universities and revolt entitled 'A Degree of Defiance'. She has worked freelance for The Daily Mail, done some television interviewing for the BBC and London Weekend, and travelled all over the world to Bhutan, Silkin, Nepal, India, N. Africa, Turkey, Greece, W. Europe, Romania, Hungary and the US.