Name: The English Masterpiece
Author: Katherine Reay

The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay is a suspense-filled historical mystery novel set in 1970s London with an engaging renewal story arc. Read my review.

The English Masterpiece Review - Katherine Reay

Publication: Harper Muse, June 2025.

Genre: Historical, Crime Mystery, Drama, Thriller

The English Masterpiece Publisher Synopsis

Set in the art world of 1970s London, The English Masterpiece is a fast-paced read to the end, full of glamour and secrets, tensions and lies, as one young woman races against the clock to uncover the truth about a Picasso masterpiece. Perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Ariel Lawhon.

As the recently promoted assistant to the Tate’s Modern Collections keeper Diana Gilden, Lily helps plan a world-class Picasso exhibit to honor the passing of the great artist–and she’s waited her whole life for this moment. The opening is beyond anyone’s expectations–the lighting, the champagne, the glittering crowd, and the international acclaim–until Lily does the unthinkable. She stops in front of a masterpiece and hears her own voice say, “It’s a forgery.” The gallery falls silent.

Lily’s boss, Diana, is polished perfection, schooled in art, and descends from European high society. She’s worked hard to become the trusted voice in London’s modern art scene and respected across the Continent. The Tate’s Picasso Commemorative is to be her crowning achievement, featuring not only the artist’s most iconic and intimate works, but a newly discovered painting–one she advised an investor to purchase. But when Lily makes her outrageous declaration, suspicion and scandal threaten everything Diana has achieved, as museums and collectors across Europe, already doubting most post-war acquisitions, fall into chaos and rumors of a world-wide forgery run wild.

All Lily has ever wanted is to follow in Diana’s footsteps and take the art world by storm in her own right. Yet one comment puts not only her own career at risk but also her mentor’s. Unless . . . Was she right? With the clock ticking and the clues starting to pile up against her, Lily must uncover the truth behind the Picasso before she loses not only the career she’s always wanted, but her freedom.

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My Review

The English Masterpiece is the first of Katherine Reay’s novels that I’ve read. But, I metaphorically cracked its spine with great anticipation given the comparisons made to Kate Quinn’s writing and this title’s alluring art-world mystery premise.

I was immediately drawn in by Lily’s first-person narrative, and then delighted to find Reay had employed one of my favourite literary frameworks, alternating character perspectives. Through these intimate internal windows Reay slowly but surely shines light on the effort both female leads invest in curating the impression they leave on the world, much like the art installations they work on.

It’s not her history so much as her reticence in sharing it that impresses me most. Her example has taught me that if you have status, money, and power, you don’t need to talk abut it. Rather you wear it lightly, effortlessly, like an Egyptian cotton shift on a warm summer day.

I am not suggesting Reay’s The English Masterpiece female leads are superficial — quite the opposite actually. The historical baggage each carries has chiselled into them many interesting layers.

That day I wandered in and out of the empty classrooms, the half-full studios with stressed students deep into their term-end assignment, and I fell in love. It wasn’t just being near art, like one can be when standing in a museum or a gallery, it was being close to the energy of its creation. The messiness, the intimacy, the grandeur, and the soul involved in making art. I sensed both acumen and ability of those students as surely as I understood their vulnerability and desperation, their rawness and even their heartbreak.

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Katherine Reay describes in vivid and absorbing yet highly accessible prose all that her characters see in individual canvases — both the artist’s technical skill and the emotions influencing their creation. Understated but effective also is her depiction of the mood of 1970s London, the tension between the lingering loss, scars and suspicion of WWII and the heady winds of change and new opportunity.

On reaching the conclusion I found myself reflecting on, with some admiration, just how many different themes Reay explores with secondary storylines she has spun from The English Masterpiece‘s central art crime mystery premise. Yet, the story never felt overburdened by them.

This new historical mystery novel from Katherine Reay contained red herrings I was caught by, romantic tension that was believable, a fun cameo, and redemptive and renewal story arcs that imbued hope for the future… all in just 304 pages. The perfect entertaining weekend read.