A mysterious painting. A woman with a secret. Can a young artist discover the disturbing truth about her mother's past?

Calypso Bergère still grieves. A decade after her mother's devastating suicide, the eighteen-year-old student struggles with her loss and its aftermath. When she comes across a youthful portrait of her mother in her aunt's apartment, she is puzzled and intrigued.

Previously unaware of its existence, Calypso resolves to learn all she can about the painting and its origins. But her aunt is prickly and tightlipped, and Calypso fears there is a darker, more personal truth to be uncovered.

Can Calypso unlock the secrets of the past without destroying her own cherished image of her mother?

Calypso and the Severed Portrait is the first book in the Calypso Bergère Mysteries series, set in the troubled, intriguing world of 1930s France.

If you like resourceful female characters, richly detailed historical settings, and affecting emotional journeys, then you'll love J.P. Sorel's absorbing mystery.