The Salon, a graphic novel by Nick Bertozzi moves from art history and becomes a murder mystery, and those involved are none other than the famous 20th Century Modernist like Braque, Picasso and Satie.

“Though I took several art history classes in college, I never felt as though I fully understood the tenets of Cubism,” the 36-year old graphic novelist said. “I thought that doing a comic about Picasso and Braque and how they developed the artistic movement would be an opportunity to really understand how painting changed after 1907.That was interesting to me, but I knew it wouldn’t be enough for a graphic novel.”

The book, which is set in turn of the 20th Century Paris, is being referred to as “fast paced,” and likewise was published last month by St. Martin’s Griffin, where he has tried to evoke the rich personalities of all involved, especially for Picasso, who is egotistical and speaks in broken English.

Readers though, are advised not to take each scene as fact. Mr. Bertozzi has stared that researching the personalities when placed into the context of a story could lead to historical accuracy in terms of dates and places, but the writer said he wanted to stay true to what he called “an emotional reality.”