Shadows in Saffron

About this book

In the bustling artistic hub of 1672 Delft, seventeen-year-old Liora van der Meer possesses an uncanny ability to read the hidden secrets within a painting's pigments. Apprenticed to her struggling master painter father, she dreams of guild membership despite the strict rules forbidding women. When a wealthy patron dies of poisoning at their family table, Liora's father becomes the prime suspect. Defying curfew and societal expectations, Liora uses her knowledge of exotic colors and toxic mixtures to investigate the death. She uncovers a dark conspiracy within the Painters' Guild orchestrated by an enigmatic guild master dealing in forged art and tainted paints. Teaming up with an apprentice tile painter and a smuggling clerk, Liora must navigate treacherous canals, decode hidden messages in pottery, and confront agonizing moral choices about her family's innocence to expose a killer before she faces arrest.

Book details

Genres:

Mystery, Historical Fiction, Thriller

Language:

en

Published:

2026-03-01

Content rating:

PG-13