-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
A Jack Haldean 1920s Mystery
by Dolores Gordon-Smith
'Art, my dear boy,' said Mr Askern, 'especially sacred art, needs tradition. Tradition is the bedrock of our art…'
He broke off, staring at the woman in front of him. Her face seemed to lose all definition and her skin turned an unnatural shade of putty-coloured grey. 'Art,' she said, her voice scarcely more than a whisper. 'Art! Oh my God, art!'
She swayed dangerously. Jack leapt forward, catching her as she fell.
Jack Haldean expected Lythewell and Askerns' exhibition of church art in Lyon House, London, to be a sedate affair. After all, Lythewell and Askern, Church Artists, were a respectable, old-fashioned firm, the last people to be associated with mystery, violence and sudden death. Or so it seemed – until after the exhibition...
"Starred Review. Fans of lighthearted puckish sleuths like Peter Wimsey and Albert Campion will enjoy this outing." - Publishers Weekly
"Fans of Agatha Christie and dedicated Anglophiles will enjoy this entertaining and well-wrought traditional mystery, which will keep readers guessing until the very last page." - Booklist
"While not up to the gold standard set by the best of the classic mysteries, Gordon-Smith's eighth return to the past (Blood From a Stone, 2013, etc.) provides plenty of between-the-wars atmosphere and a surfeit of red herrings." - Kirkus
This information about After the Exhibition was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Dolores Gordon-Smith lives in Greater Manchester and is married, with five teenage children and assorted dogs and cats.
If you liked After the Exhibition, try these:
by Victoria Redel
Published 2025
A "captivating" lesbian romance set in the "wonderfully atmospheric" art world of 1600s Amsterdam (Sarah Jessica Parker, SJP Lit).
by Hari Kunzru
Published 2025
From one of the sharpest voices in fiction today, a profound and enthralling novel about beauty and power, capital, art and those who devote their lives to creating it
Madame Sosostris and the Festival for the Brokenhearted
by Ben Okri
Published 2025
In this modern fable with the impish magic of A Midsummer Night's Dream, a masked ball makes two upper-class British couples see each other in a new light.
A wise, enchanting novel about love, power, and our many selves—past and future, public and private—from the Booker Prize–winning author.
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
