Hi all, hoping to find a book I read back in the 90s, though the book could be 80s.
It was a condensed book in a readers digest hardback book (4 different books in 1).
It was about a man (investigator??) who had to get all his clues to a treasure from an old painting.
The painting was obscure (think Salvador Dali), it had a chess board on the floor and all the people facing left had tears on their cheek because they were lying (the clues they gave were false).
There was a tree on a hill. A ladder maybe.
I cannot remember the name of the book or the author and it’s driving me crazy as I really want to read it again!
It has the feel of a Dan Brown book, following ancient clues.