Two New Thrillers Center on Paintings: Kahlo's 'Suicidio de Dorothy Hale' and a Forged Basquiat

Two new thriller novels, 'The End of the Vodka' by Oscar de Muriel and 'Sacrifice' by Lynda La Plante, revolve around paintings. 'The End of the Vodka' blends fact and fiction, centering on Frida Kahlo's 1939 painting 'El Suicidio de Dorothy Hale,' commissioned by Clare Boothe Luce for $400 after Hale's suicide. The novel imagines a conversation between Luce and Wallis Simpson at the Ritz Hotel in Paris in 1940, involving blackmail and a question about Hitler. Luce was horrified by the painting, which depicts Hale's death three times, and had Noguchi alter the inscription. The painting was later donated anonymously to the Phoenix Art Museum. 'Sacrifice' is a straightforward crime thriller featuring Detective Jack Warr investigating a forged Jean-Michel Basquiat painting, linked to the murder of art dealer Ester Langton and the disappearance of forger Adam Border. Warr tracks the forger to Sicily, uncovering Mafia ties. La Plante is a Diamond Dagger award winner. Both books are reviewed by Georgina Adam, art market editor-at-large at The Art Newspaper. 'The End of the Vodka' is published 25 June by Extraordinary Books, 336pp, £16.99/$24.95. 'Sacrifice' is published 12 March by Zaffre, 400pp, £22/$21.99.