"I'm not a saint, William," says Hannah, the main character in "The Art of a Lie." She‘s not kidding.

Laura Shepherd-Robinson, whose last book was a twisty bit of historical fun called " The Square of Sevens ," returns to the bad behavior of another era in "The Art of a Lie," which is alternately narrated by two characters who are hiding big secrets. Hannah Cole operates a sweets shop in London in 1749, after the unexplained disappearance of her husband. A stranger, William Devereux (not his real name, of course), offers to help Cole settle her husband's estate, which almost certainly means he's up to no good.

They're both smart, shifty and hot. So, of course, they fall for each other. Their shenanigans also capture the investigative attention of Henry Fielding, who wrote "Tom Jones" b

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