Ultima (Maestra, #3) (2024)

If you can't beat them - kill them

First there was Maestra. Then there was Domina. Now - there is Ultima.

Glamorous international art-dealer Elizabeth Teerlinc knows a thing or two about fakes. After all, she is one herself.

Her real identity, Judith Rashleigh, is buried under a layer of lies. Not to mention the corpses of the men foolish enough to get in her way.

But now, caught in the murderous crossfire between a Russian Mafia boss and a corrupt Italian police detective, Judith is forced to create an even more daring work of art - a fake masterpiece she must take to the world-famous auction house where she used to be a lowly assistant and sell for $150 million.

For Judith the prospect of putting one over her loathsome former employer and the world's art establishment is almost as thrilling as the extreme sex she's addicted to - especially when the price of failure is a bullet in the back of the head.

But exposing her new identity to the glare of the spotlight puts her at risk of an even greater danger. Like a beautiful painting stripped of its layers of varnish, something altogether different could be revealed.

A truth about her past even Judith might find shocking.

Lisa's forthcoming history book, 'The Scandal of The Century' will be published by Michael Joseph in May 2024. A retelling of the life of England's first professional woman playwright, Aphra Behn, it reveals the true-life source of the first novel in English literature, based on the story of Lady Harriet Berkeley, whose elopement with her own brother-in-law Lord Grey resulted in one of the most sensational court cases of the seventeenth century.

As L.S Hilton, Lisa is currently releasing 'All My Lovers' Wives,' a wry, raw work of autofiction which is being developed for television by Universal Studios. Lisa authored the 'Maestra' Series (Bonnier Zaffre), consisting of three novels, 'Maestra' (2016), 'Domina' (2017) and 'Ultima' (2018). 'Maestra' was a number one Sunday Times Bestseller, a New York Times bestseller and a number one bestseller in 8 European territories. To date, it is on sale in 43 countries and over 1 million copies have been sold worldwide. 'Maestra' is in development for film with Sony Pictures.

Lisa has often taken inspiration from the lives of women who shaped the world, and has written seven other historical biographies around this theme, including 'Sex and the City of Ladies' (Harper Collins, 2020), which was commissioned by the Times Literary Supplement and casts a revisionist eye over the reputations of influential women throughout history whose deeds and dispositions have been distorted by centuries of misogyny.

Other works include 'Athenais: The Real Queen of France' (Little, Brown, 2002 – shortlisted for the Somerset Maugham Prize), 'Queens Consort' (Little, Brown, 2006), a composite biography of England's medieval queens, the authoritative 'Elizabeth, Renaissance Prince' (Orion, 2014) and 'The Horror of Love' (Orion, 2011) – an account of Nancy Mitford’s influential affair with Gaston Palewski.

Lisa's passion for history extends into historical fantasy with her novels 'Wolves in Winter' (Atlantic, 2012) and 'The Stolen Queen' (Atlantic, 2015). Her third historical novel 'The House with Blue Shutters' (Atlantic, 2010) was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Fiction Prize.

A regular art critic, Lisa has worked on projects for museums including the UK National Portrait Gallery and the Pinacoteca di Brera and is the author of 'The Death of Cleopatra' (Skira, 2017), which sheds light on the beauty and ambiguity of Guido Cagnacci’s portrayal of the legendary queen of Egypt.

On screen, Lisa has presented numerous historical series, including Charles I: Downfall (BBC4, 2019) and Charles I: Killing a King (BBC4, 2020), and served as presenter and script-writer for the BAFTA-nominated Elizabeth I’s Secret Agents (72 Films, 2017). She has appeared as a contributor and advisor on several series of Secrets of the Royal Palaces (Channel 5), Bloody Queens: Elizabeth and Mary (BBC2, 2016), as writer and presenter (in French) of the series Tendres Rivales (Arte, 2012), and as co-author and contributor on Versailles: Dream of a King (Brook Lapping, 2011).

Behind the camera, Lisa has written scripts and provided historical consultation on subjects as diverse as women Impressionist painters, vampires, Versailles, English Restoration monarchs to French Renaissance menus and culinary innovation.

Lisa was delighted to be awarded Glamour Magazine Writer of the Year in 2016, Porter Magazine Incredible Woman of the Year and Red Magazine Writer of the Year.

Lisa is fully tri-lingual and is regularly published in all three languages. In Italian, for Corriere della Sera, Vanity Fair and La Repubblica, in French for Elle, and in English, in features for the Sunday Times Style, the restaurant column for The Critic, and features for the Times, Times Magazine, and Times Literary Supplement.

Lisa grew up in the north of England and read English at New College, Oxford, after which she studied History of Art in Florence and Paris. Since then, Lisa has lived in New York, Paris, Milan and London and is now b