Buckle up, and get ready to be transported… This latest Ellery Lloyd novel is full of unexpected twists and turns, and a fabulous, toxic world full of unlikeable characters. The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby plunges you into the world of a fading British aristocracy, art and art history. It has shades of The Secret History and several points of view and timelines. All timelines have unexpected reveals, culminating in a thrilling ending.
I adored The Club and People Like Her so I was expecting a fantastic read … and this did not disappoint!

Surrealism is an artform created after WWI, which rose to prominence after the Paris International Exhibition of 1938. Juliette Willoughby exhibited one painting, “Self Portrait as Sphinx”, but withdrew it after one day. A short time later, Juliette and her lover, Oskar – also a surrealist, died when a fire ripped through the Parisienne attic studio where they lived, totally destroying everything. The only record of the painting was the brief description in the catalogue for the Exhibition. In 1991, Caroline Cooper is a student of Art History at Cambridge University, as is her on-off boyfriend Patrick Lambert. Caroline is especially interested in Surrealism, and Patrick is especially interested in Caroline so goes with the flow. For their final dissertations, their appointed supervisor is Alice Long, an elderly, eccentric, expert in the field (too old to be a member of the University staff but it’s Cambridge and that’s the sort of thing that happens). She directs Caroline to the Willoughby Bequest, donated to the University by the Willoughby family and housed, largely unsorted, in the Museum Of Archaeology and Anthropology (it’s Cambridge vide supra). The Bequest is a collection of mostly Egyptological items, but might contain some clues to Juliette’s life before she ran off to Paris with Oskar at the age of eighteen. What she discovers there dictates the course of her career as she rises to become Professor Cooper, an international authority on Surrealism and the authority on Juliette. In 2023, she is called to examine a painting currently in the Dubai Gallery owned and run by Patrick; an impossible painting!
So a mystery story with three histories, Juliette’s, Caroline’s and Patrick’s, told from their three perspectives. Along the way, various other characters feature including other members of the Willoughby family, past and present, and other students, especially the members of the Osiris Society, an exclusive club founded by Juliette’s father, Cyril, in 1901. The three histories combine at the Gallery and the various mysteries that have occurred over the last hundred years are finally tied together. The plot is a complex weaving together of the three histories, beautifully written, detailed, logical, unlikely, but believable. There are a couple of minor plot anomalies, but I suspect most readers will miss or glided over those, because the story is so strong. The pace is deceptive, because of the amount of detail needed to support the underlying plot. I’ve argued with myself about the stars for this, but have decided that if I had no quibbles I would have given it 6 so knocking it down to 5.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

I am not really an art officianado so I wondered whether I would enjoy a book about art and painters but actually this was more of a mystery and a good one at that.

How can Caroline, who has made her reputation on the work of Juliette Willoughby, reconcile what happened at university to her life now? What is the secret in Juliette Willoughby’s painting and what is the story behind the tragic death of Juliette and her lover?

What is the truth behind the Willoughby family’s secrets?

If Caroline can’t find out now, it could end in tragedy for the people she loves.

This book is an exhilarating ride from start to finish, it will get under your skin like nothing else.
The story follows the life of surrealist artist Juliette Willoughby and her turbulent life in 1930s Paris. This life and her masterpiece become the subject for 2 cambridge students' final dissertation in 1990 and it is only then that a complex and twisted web of interconnected families, relationships and secrets come to light and begins to unravel.
The main characters of Patrick and Caroline are flawed but relatable and pull the story from their university time in 1990 to the present day art accumulating billionaires of Dubai
Unputdownable!

This book exceeded all of my expectations and I would fully recommend this if you enjoy dark academia mysteries! Set across 3 timelines, the story follows Caroline and Patrick as students at Cambridge in the 90’s as well is in modern day Dubai. At university, the two begin to investigate the mysterious lost paintings of Juliette Willoughby, and what follows is a dark, twisted journey into her past. With endless twists and turns, this was a really fast paced read that I couldn’t put down. One of my favourite reads of the year!

It’s the 1930’s and Juliette Willoughby has absconded to Paris with her married lover Oskar Erlich to live. They’re both surrealist artists.
Moving forward in time to 1991 two university students Caroline Cooper and Patrick Lambert, they’re both history of Art students about to start their dissertations for their degrees.
They are allocated a supervisor for just the two of them, and this course of action will set them off on a journey towards their future career paths, and much more than they could have ever imagined.

The book is written in different timelines, 1930’s Paris, 1990’s England and present time Dubai.
I was drawn into the mystery and intrigue from the beginning, second guessing myself as I read along. Interesting and lots of suspense.
I don’t want to give the plot away, but I really enjoyed reading this book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Publisher for an advanced e-book copy. Opinions about the book are entirely my own.

An enjoyable book from this writing team under the name of Ellery Lloyd. However as a fanatic for the books of Jeffrey Archer I have to say his knowledge of the art world and his writing skills to entertain are a little better than this.. That said anyone who enjoys stories involving the art world will enjoy this book that shows the authors great knowledge for the subject. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

Who knew art could be so scandalous. An artist who died tragically young becomes the main focus of Caroline Cooper, a university student studying surrealism artists. It quickly becomes questionable how her death arose, a dark cloud hovers over her future family tree. After decades of work around Juliette has Caroline finally found out the secret that should have died with Juliette.

I found myself really enjoying this book, it was quite different from my usual read but it grasped me all the same. Although it was pretty predictable. It was quite a lighthearted despite the tragedies along the way.

I would recommend this book to someone wanting a lightweight murder mystery and certainly enjoyed it myself.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reading copy.

From the synopsis this promised to be an intriguing novel but for me, it just didn’t live up to that. It’s three stories across three timelines, on occasion it it seemed difficult to follow and I found it very slow going and somewhat predictable in places. I know others have loved it, but for me it was sadly lacking. I would rate this book 3 stars as I was compelled to finish it. Thank you to NetGalley, Pan MacMillan and the author for the chance to review.

Twisty, cerebral thriller set in the art world, with skeletons and cupboards a-plenty!

Well. I’m for sure going to want to read more of this husband and wife writing couple. I will admit to prejudices around writers not working alone, thinking there will be awkward joins, but I suppose it might be be an advantage in a book written in several first person voices, as this is, so perhaps each author is responsible for their own first person narrators

Juliette Willoughby is/was an artist with a privileged, though dysfunctional background. Her parents were cold, and she felt, and was, unloved. There was a tragic loss in her childhood. In the late 1930’s Juliette decamps to Paris, involved with a rising Surrealist star. Unfortunately a tragic accident (or was it?) results in the death of the couple and the destruction of Juliette’s only artwork

In the early 1990’s two young Cambridge PhD art history students, Caroline and Patrick, both with somewhat complex and shady pasts romantically connect with each other. Neither is from the kind of hooray Henry background of privilege they begin to move in. As part of their individual projects, their work begins to come together over a mystery around female artists in general, and Juliette in particular, who have been written out of art history, except as the lovers of male artists

Fast forward some decades, into our current world of high tech and social media. Caroline is now a well regarded art historian, with a speciality in Surrealism. Patrick is a gallery owner and art dealer. The two have separated, romantically, quite some time ago, but have remained respectful of each other, and not bitter enemies. Something exceedingly strange appears to be going on as long lost artwork comes to light, and ancient family enmities surface, as well as revelations of shady activities from the 1990’s which the pair, and their fellow students, appear to have been involved in. New setting – Dubai, where a lot becomes considerably darker and more dangerous because of the setting

I took this book as an ARC, despite my needless reservations about a jointly written book, because the blurb suggested it was in the same kind of rather cerebral literary, arts world mould as The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, which I had loved

The comparison in this case, well made. Loved that, loved this. There are SO many twists in this, clever ones, and they seemed pretty plausible. I did have to suspend disbelief a couple of times, but I was happy to

I have read both of Llyod’s previous works and ‘The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby’ is my favourite by far. It feels like their voice and style has developed in all the best ways. Lloyd has always felt fresh and original within the genre of mystery and thriller but this one just feels elevated. There are so many layers that build up the vivid imagery across the three timelines but it weaves through them with ease.
It is a page turner for sure and although I felt the pacing at the beginning was a little slow the novel as a whole made up for it in spades. Glamorous and dark- what more could you want in a good mystery to lose an evening to?

Three time frames as the description says - 1938 Paris, Cambridge 1991 and Dubai present-day. There's a lot about the day to day lives of the people in these timeframes but all centred around Juliette of 1938. Peter and Caroline are Art History students and have chosen Juliette as their dissertation topics, or maybe had her chosen for them. Juliette had painted her infamous Self Portrait of Sphinx but she, it and her older lover had perished in a fire at the Parisian apartment. Caroline is the brilliant and dedicated student, Peter preferring the drinking/socialising aspects and is certainly in with a flamboyant lot. One of whom disappears during a 21st birthday celebration at the old family home of Juliette. Juliette's diary is found by Caroline, the mystery deepens and there are family machinations and drama, but there are complications. These come to the fore in Dubai, some 30 years later when a second painting comes to auction and Patrick and Caroline are brought together again.. Well written and characters feel of their times, plenty of description, more than sufficient red herrings - these come together to make a good read. The book lost a star because two aspects were too predictable although how they played out were not. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

Heiress Juliette Willoughby is remembered as a painter who died a tragic death in a fire in Paris. A footnote in the life of her more famous lover, Oskar. However, Juliette is also known as painter of Self Portrait with a Sphinx, a Surrealist painting of repute which was also thought to be destroyed in the fire.
Our timeline focuses on three periods. Juliette as a young woman, two young art students who discover the painting and believe that it tells a sinister story about the circumstances of her death and the present where a second copy of the painting is discovered and sold.
There are common threads to the three strands - namely the characters and the home belonging to the Willoughby family.
After a fairly slow start things start to come together in a way that slowly reveals the details that are shared by each time period, and offers hints as to the story behind each mystery. This is a process that takes its time, but we are most definitely rewarded for sticking with it!
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this.

On the whole I enjoyed this new novel by Ellery Lloyd. There were lots of twists and turns to the story and the characters were brought to life in great way. I knew nothing of the Surrealist movement and by the end of the book I felt I had learned a lot. What let it down for me slightly was the ending. It all felt a bit unreal and contrived. Nevertheless it was a good read.

The Final Act of Juliette Willougby is an epic tale, I devoured it.

Ellery Lloyd are fast becoming favourite authors. Loved their first two books, both very different but great stories and this third outing from them raises the bar again. Complex characters and clever plot twists across decades and continents pulling you deeper into the lies and deception.

Cracking stories within stories. I loved it.

Highly recommend

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby by Ellery Lloyd is a mystery thriller intertwined with historical fiction set in the art world across three timelines and locations: Paris, Cambridge, and Dubai.

Dealing with three timelines was quite challenging at times, as it felt like reading multiple books simultaneously. I usually don't mind multiple storylines, but in this case, it was a bit confusing. Around 20% into the book, I decided to read the diary entries separately and then went back to read the other stories, skipping the diary entries.

The story is told from multiple points of view, but the positive aspect is that at the beginning of each section, it clearly states whose point of view it is, the year, and the location, which makes it easier to follow.

The plot revolves around the late surrealist artist Juliette Willoughby and her missing masterpiece "Self Portrait as a Sphinx." Caroline Cooper and Patrick Lambert are on a mission to uncover the truth behind what really happened.

The book contains a lot - dark family drama, passionate art enthusiasts, manipulation, Egyptian history, and a never-ending pursuit, with some intriguing plot twists throughout.

For me, this book would have been a solid 5-star read if the story had spanned from 1938 to the present day. I understand that the structure was designed to create a mystery, but sometimes we just want a straightforward story!

Overall, this book is perfect for art and historical fiction enthusiasts, as well as those who love mystery thrillers.

Thank you, NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for this copy!

Set over 3 timelines, Paris 1938, Cambridge 1991 and Dubai now, this historical thriller had me gripped.
The painting ‘Self-Portrait as Sphinx’ by Juliette Willoughby is at the centre of the story, which is told by various points of view.
With lots of twist and turns, this was a great read with a nicely tied up ending which was most satisfying!
With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest

This is the first Ellery Lloyd book I've read and it didnt disappoint!

I absolutely loved the three timeline aspect and there were quite a few moments where I audibly gasped at what I had just read! It kept me on the edge of my seat and the plot twists were extremely clever without feeling too "out there". Will definitely be leaning towards more Ellery Lloyd books when I'm looking for a fantastic page turner!

Set over 3 time lines of the late 1930’s, 1991 and present day, in Cambridge, Suffolk, Paris and Dubai. An interesting murder mystery, family secrets and the ins and outs of the arts world in Britain and world wide.
Caroline is fascinated by the Surrealist movement which she wants to base her theses on at Cambridge, she is resistant to relationships but can’t help falling for Patrick whose father is a social climbing art dealer.
The characters are quite interesting but I never felt any depth to any of them. Well written, good twists in the story which took me down a Saltburn spiral at one time, but this was dryer and not so entertaining.
Feeling a little left up in the air with this book as the premise never came true for me. The insinuation of darker levels were unfollowed. The characters left cheated.
I was excited to read this for so many reasons but was left feeling meh and a little let down.
Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan for the early read.

This book had me hooked from the start and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. We meet Caroline and Patrick in the current year but we also encounter them as students at Cambridge in the early 90s when they first meet. The story is interspersed with chapters about Juliette, an artist in Paris in the 30s. The characters are well drawn and the story moves at a satisfying pace. I was intrigued to learn a little about Egyptology and also the art world. I was very surprised to learn that this book was written by two people as everything was seemless - so I don’t know which voice was whose, but that really doesn’t matter as the book is a delight to read.