Fake

I chose this 2022 novel by Erica Katz for the Calendar of Crime Reading Challenge based on the month of publication. Fake is set in the art forgery world where art collectors buy copies of their original paintings to display in their homes. The originals are stored in climate controlled freeholds for insurance purposes.

The publisher's summary:

Can you spot the difference? 

Emma Caan is a fake. 

She’s a forger, an artist who specializes in nineteenth-century paintings. But she isn’t a criminal; her copies are commissioned by museums and ultra-wealthy collectors protecting their investments. Emma’s more than mastered a Gauguin brushstroke and a van Gogh wheat field, but her work is sometimes a painful reminder of the artistic dreams she once chased for herself, when she was younger and before her family and her world fell apart. 

When oligarch art collector Leonard Sobetsky unexpectedly appears with an invitation, Emma sees a way out—a new job, a new path for herself, and access to the kind of money she needs to support her unstable and recently widowed mother. 

But every invitation incurs an obligation . . . and Emma isn’t prepared for what’s to come. As she’s pulled further into Leonard’s opulent scene, she will discover what’s lurking beneath the glitz and glamour. When she does, the past she’s worked hard to overcome will collide with the present, making her wonder how much of her carefully curated life is just as fake as her forgeries . . .

The writing is superb. The story opened with a bang and the suspense continued through the ending. The pacing of events was perfect. While there was a lot of inner dialogue with the Emma character, it did not interfere with the action. She always acted upon her impulses so they were a big part of the story. For someone with an art degree from Yale, she is not the brightest star in the universe. She does not believe that copying art is the same thing as forging an art piece. While I can appreciate that Emma lived paycheck to paycheck, she seemed only to be interested in drinking the best vodka that Leonard could provide and attending the hottest parties. Someone with an art degree should have strong feelings about art. Leonard, known as Lenny, was a typical billionaire, or what I think a billionaire behaves like. His discussion with Emma on how to make money was thought provoking. Leonard said that the only way he was able to make money was by spending money. 

I had never heard of freeholds before. In a freehold state you can maintain secrecy concerning artworks that you have bought or sold. An art collector can avoid paying taxes if their ownership is a secret. Delaware and Switzerland are the freehold states that the collectors in this story use. Wanting more information on freeholds, I went to Wikipedia. However, I found nothing.

I loved this story and am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.