Artist O Neal s first novel is a lackluster mystery involving the Indiana landscape painter Beecher Hornbeck s visit to Italy for his one-man exhibition at the prestigious gallery of Guido Brazzano. There he meets Cristina Brazzano, whose late husband was Guido s favorite son, and his slow awakening to her charms is clouded by lingering memories of his murdered wife, Myra--particularly after he thinks he sees Myra in Rome. A man has been following Beecher; finally he contacts Beecher and promises to reveal information about Myra. When the seedy investigator is killed at Beecher s hotel door, his last words hint at the significance of the ancient connection between Myra s family and the Rossettis of artistic fame. Instead of delivering drama with the expected shadings of the international art world and some Italian color contrasted with Beecher s Indiana background, the plot flounders in amateurish composition and description, veering from the wildly improbable to the downright silly.