About this ebook
In Florence, art investigator Marta Leone is called to investigate the disappearance of The Money Changer, a painting insured for €1.8 million. When the work is replaced by a convincing fake on the very morning it is due to be seized by court order, the case takes a sinister turn: Konrad Wendt, the German heir fighting to recover his grandfather’s stolen collection, has died in a suspicious fall.
As Marta and her colleagues follow the evidence, they uncover a tangled history of wartime displacement, disputed ownership, financial guarantees, and paintings that crossed borders under questionable circumstances. Every clue opens another door, and every apparent coincidence raises new questions.
What does the number thirty-one conceal? Who stands to profit from the painting’s disappearance? And how far will someone go to keep the truth buried?
Set against the atmospheric streets, workshops, and historic palazzi of Florence, Hard Currency is a sophisticated mystery about art, provenance, restitution, and the price of doing the right thing. With meticulous investigations, subtle clues, and characters whose loyalties are never entirely clear, Tancredi Coriolano delivers a compelling crime novel in which the truth is hidden not only in the paintings themselves, but also in the documents, signatures, and silences surrounding them.
Perfect for readers who enjoy:
Art mysteries and sophisticated crime fiction
Historical secrets and disputed cultural heritage
Intricate investigations and carefully planted clues
Atmospheric Italian settings and compelling characters
Stories where money, power, and morality collide
Hard Currency is Volume XI of The Florentine Investigations of Marta Leone, a series in which the past never stays buried and every object has a story to tell.
