Art and artifact investigator Axel Webb is asked to investigate a lawyer, A. Barton Bailey. The lawyer claims he represents a client willing to sell a portfolio of paintings by 20th-century bad-boy, Welsh portrait painter, Augustus John. Bailey approaches the Art Gallery of Ontario, owner of what is arguably John's best work, a portrait of the flamboyant Marchesa Luisa Casati. The bohemian excesses of Augustus John and Luisa Casati, his occasional sexual partner, friend, and muse for over forty years, are legendary. If you thought the Kardashians were the epitome of fashion influencers, think again. Even though the Italian heiress, once the wealthiest woman in Europe, died penniless in 1957, her influence is still seen on almost every couture fashion runway in Paris. Her bizarre style sense, excessive partying, and sexual exploits make the Studio 54 crowd look like a group of Sunday school teachers. Her over-the-top approach to life could only be matched by John, who was fascinated by her, even though he was more inclined to curb his more public excesses. A portfolio of Augustus John Casati portraits, stretching from the Marchesa's wild heydays in the 1920s to her sad, penniless, Dickensian decline in the 1950s, could be worth a fortune if they are authentic.
What would seem like a relatively simple task of authenticating the paintings ends up uncovering an international art hoax that triggered arson, insurance fraud, and murder. Webb finds himself in the middle, trying to unravel the layers of deception, unsure if the people who hired him have another agenda.