The Hogarth Conspiracy by Alex Connor

Synopsis :

Could a single scandalous painting rock two British monarchies, centuries apart…and threaten the lives of everyone who knows of its existence? It could--if the painting contains proof of a liaison between a prostitute and a prince.

 The evidence, a painting by William Hogarth done in 1732, was supposedly destroyed. But hundreds of years later, on a private jet, Sir Oliver Peters learns that it still exists. Dying of cancer, and desperate to secure his family's well-being, Sir Oliver resolves to find the missing work. But when a fellow passenger who also knows the secret is murdered, he realizes he's battling more than time.

The main reason I bought this books was because I needed a couple more copies to make up a bulk price and this book looks brand new among the others found at the book fair.  A quick glimpse of the synopsis revealed a rather acceptable storyline and that were the two reasons how I ended up with The Hogarth Conspiracy.

Because of how I ended up with the book, I wasn't expecting much from it.  Because I wasn't expecting much from it, I ended up being delighted with it.

The storyline revolves around a masterpiece painted in the 1700s.  The art was thought destroyed but it wasn't so.  When the story starts in current timeline, it was discovered that the masterpiece was recently stolen and in the hands of a rich art dealer.  Due to the subject matter in this masterpiece, if it were to fall into the wrong hands, it could very well topple the British monarchy.  From that revelation, the race to be the first person to next get hold of the masterpiece starts and murders and bodies started t pile up.

While The Hogarth Conspiracy could turn out to be a masterpiece just like the art piece in the center of the storyline, it didn't really hit the mark.  The plot is rather confusing, the characters are rather disjointed and yes, some of the plot did come towards the end of the book, it didn't really add any substance to the whole storyline.

It is rather suspenseful but rather violent and rather gruesome at times.  The double cross and the twist and turns are there and somehow, it could have been a great book but it wasn't and while it's readable, it certainly no masterpiece.