The third novel by the famous English writer David Dickinson (b. 1946) about the adventures of Lord Powerscourt (the SLOVO publishing house has already introduced Russian readers to the previous two). The Victorian era is still in full swing, the British are at war with the Boers, and the "new Americans," who have earned a lot of money on oil and railways, want to join European culture. One by one, they go to London for paintings by old Italian and English masters to decorate their luxurious mansions. Enterprising merchants are happy to "sell" fakes to poorly educated Americans... And here the entire London art world is shocked by the news of the murder of a famous critic, a specialist in Renaissance painting. Who needed to kill a scientist? Who was his death on hand? All these riddles can only be answered by Lord Powerscourt, and, as always, the loving wife of Lady Lucy and faithful friend Johnny Fitzgerald help him...