The Knowledge of Water

In the winter of 1910, Paris was ravaged by the most devastating flood in its history. Sarah Smith renders the rain-soaked city in dark strokes, blending fact and fiction to create a haunting tale of murderers, lovers, thieves, and artists. A young American pianist struggles against an overwhelming erotic obsession with a man who — having committed murder himself — is being stalked by the killer of a prostitute known as ''Mona Lisa.'' And the real Mona Lisa has been targeted for destruction by the artistic avant-garde, which may also be involved in forging Impressionist masterpieces. An accessible mix of historical speculation, literary allusion, and suspense, The Knowledge of Water could become this year's Name of the Rose. A-