Sisters at an Exhibition: A Zara and Lilly Mystery

Introducing two very different sister sleuths

Zara, lawyerly and just a little cynical, teams up with her big sister, Lilly, when a possible Caravaggio sketch and its curator both go missing from a San Francisco museum. Lilly’s never met a man—or a scam—she didn’t at least wink at. Meticulous Zara discovers that a major museum donor who was dating the missing curator turns out to be a handsome, wealthy criminal. That’s all Lilly needs to hear before she’s all in to join the chase. Threaded through this modern-day mystery are flashbacks to a journal kept during World War II by the father of one of Lilly’s many boyfriends. Stories from the journal take on new life as the search moves from San Francisco to New York City to an old barn in Alsace, France, where the curator and the Caravaggio may, or may not, be hiding. 

This book is part of the Zara and Lilly mystery series, featuring Zara and Lilly, two mature sleuths whose humor, failings, and wisdom prove both relatable and riveting. 

Claudia Hagadus Long is the author of seven novels, including the deeply emotional mystery series featuring Zara and Lilly: Nine Tenths of the Law and Our Lying Kin. Her books span centuries and topics, including the poetry of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz (Josefina's Sin), the Hidden Jews of Mexico during the Inquisition (The Duel for Consuelo), women in the mining industry in 1753 (Chains of Silver), women in the labor movement in 1920s San Francisco (The Harlot's Pen), and the legacy of inherited trauma as a daughter of a Holocaust survivor. Her mysteries are “sisters-books, family scandals with a mystery flowing through them.” They are also funny. When she isn't writing, she works as a lawyer resolving employment discrimination suits, or you may find her spinning and weaving, cooking, or doting on her grandchildren. She was born in the US into an immigrant/refugee family, grew up in Mexico City, and now she lives in Northern California, deep in wine country.