A Life Lost: Romance and Intrigue in Venice and Istanbul. Past mingles with present. Captivating.

By Holley Martlew

"This book has it all Read and enjoy" 5 star Reader Review *****

A passionate love affair. A glittering secret buried for centuries. A question that could destroy everything.

When an English writer meets the fifth-generation owner of a glass foundry in Murano and they fall in love, their worlds explode.

Business and pleasure take them to Athens, the Greek islands and Istanbul. The shocking sequence of events that follows includes two murders in a Venetian Palazzo on the Grand Canal, the unmasking of an international smuggling gang in the bowels of a ruined Byzantine Monastery in Istanbul and the discovery of a cache of glittering medieval mosaics that have been hidden away for over a thousand years.

Finally, their story takes a surprising and horrific twist. It raises a question and when it is answered, a life is shattered, raising a moral dilemma:

Was a murder committed on the slopes beneath the Parthenon?

Set in Venice, Athens and Istanbul, A Life Lost is a passionate love story, action-packed, full of intrigue. A detective story and a thriller. Rich, deep, and all-absorbing, it is a fascinating mix of pure history and historical fantasy. It is fun. It is scary. It is sexy. It is thought- provoking. Fans of Donna Leon, Dan Brown, and Kate Mosse will be captivated by this literary thriller filled with art, passion, and ancient secrets that refuse to stay buried.

ALSO AVAILABLE:

Written as a companion to this novel, The Most Serene Republic of Venice and The Byzantine Empire: A Celebration of Their Lives and Relations is the perfect follow-up history to the novel. It provides invaluable and exciting historical background that will surprise, delight and amaze.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1068191309
• ISBN13: 9781068191305
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Venice Press
• Length: 616 Pages
• Weight: 1.79 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"