Second Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders (Deadly Sins #3)

First time in a trade edition-- Lawrence Sanders's masterpiece, "The 1st Deadly Sin," set a standard for today's novels of psychological suspense. Now, retired Captain Ed Delaney returns to a distinctly urban milieu of paranoia and impulsive violence to solve a brutal murder that shocks New York's unshockable art world.The victim is Victor Maitland. Long-considered one of the world's greatest artists, he excelled in capturing the beauty of life on canvas. In private, he destroyed whomever he his wife, his son, his mistress, his dearest friends and family. Fittingly, Maitland has paid for his sins. But in a world where self-delusion is rewarded, where greed triumphs, and where murder is just another art, who else will pay the price?

Paperback, 1978

Goodreads: 3.99