The Counterfeit Smile by Brian Hawkins

The Simard family were the crème de la crème of Pittsburgh society, basking in a French heritage that went back to 1758 when Pittsburgh was called Fort Duquesne – except it was all a lie.

Their wealth and status sprang from one forefather, Shawn Callahan from Maine. In 1910 he absconded with stolen money to Paris, teaming up with Reggie, a titled rascal Englishman, to scam the gullible rich. Young and cocky, when they weren’t feeding their appetite for food and flesh, they were selling works of art “stolen” from the Louvre.

But when the Mona Lisa is stolen from the Louvre, it all comes to an abrupt end when one sting too many forces Shawn to flee Paris to begin a new life with a new name in Pittsburgh – until fate catches up with him.

The Counterfeit Smile is a lusty novel about the Golden Age of Paris in the 1900s, charged with characters like King Edward VII, famous artists, bistros, brothels, and easy women.