Flavia Brollo, a beautiful young model convinced she is the illegitimate daughter of the Conte da Capo-Zendrini, bursting in on a private garden party...her untimely demise in the Grand Canal shortly thereafter...a Contessa begging to be saved from scandal by a few discreet inquiries into the matter...Salvador Dali's The Birth of Liquid Desires hanging in the Palazzo Guggenheim, oddly similar to the bizarre chain of events...Urbino Macintyre has stumbled upon his next mystery, one more difficult and delicate than any before.Critics raved about Edward Sklepowich's first two mysteries set in Venice. Featuring the sophisticated sleuth Urbino Macintyre and his friend Barbara, Contessa da Capo-Zendrini, Death in a Serene City and Farewell to the Flesh were hailed by the press. And now Urbino and the Contessa return in a tale of intrigue, deception, and death in the glamorous Venetian art world.Urbino's inquiries, the most delicate he has so far been involved in because of his friendship with the Contessa, take him deep into the heart of Venice's artistic community. As he investigates, he finds himself inexplicably drawn to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and the Biennale Modern Art Exposition. And what he finds there is a sinister world, where illegal drugs, sinful family secrets, and forbidden love are the common denominators. The search reveals some darker motives and, although the evidence seems to support the young Flavia's strange claims, Urbino must find a way to avenge Flavia's death and save the Contessa. Somehow he must help his friend without bringing disgrace and embarrassment to her family and losing himself in a web of treachery.Edward Sklepowich proves once more his mastery of the atmospheric, literate mystery that has kept his fans coming back for more. Liquid Desires is his best yet. Read Less