The Architect's Deceit by Natalie Braunn

Beneath the sleek, glass facades of Copenhagen’s Bella Center, a chilling exhibit takes center stage at the International Sustainable Architecture Conference: the contorted body of renowned architect Lars Olsen, a grotesque parody of his own spiraling atrium design.  The revolutionary bio-concrete, lauded for its sustainability, has become his tomb.  Forensic architect Anya Sharma feels a sickening sense of déjà vu. Days earlier, in Berlin, her mentor met a similar fate, her body mirroring the intricate bamboo latticework of her signature style.

While authorities dismiss the deaths as tragic accidents, Anya sees a sinister pattern, a calculated critique of the very principles these architects championed.  Driven by grief and professional outrage, she plunges into a world of falsified data, compromised materials, and cutthroat ambition, seeking the hidden flaws within these architectural tragedies. An unlikely ally emerges in Brian Patterson, a cynical investigative journalist whose buried idealism resonates with the lurking danger. Together, they navigate the shadowy backrooms of the sustainable construction industry, their uneasy partnership fueled by shared suspicion and a grudging respect that slowly ignites into something more.

Their investigation zeroes in on Heather King, the charismatic CEO of BioBuild, a company at the forefront of the green building revolution.  Is she a visionary or a ruthless manipulator orchestrating this deadly performance?  The answer becomes terrifyingly clear when Anya’s own award-winning designs, incorporating BioBuild’s bio-concrete, become targets.  A catastrophic plan emerges, threatening to sabotage the groundbreaking "Eden Project," a global initiative to create self-sustaining eco-cities.

As Anya and Brian delve deeper, a shocking betrayal rocks Anya’s world, forcing her to question everything she believes.  The stakes escalate, turning their investigation into a desperate race against time to expose the truth and prevent an environmental disaster of unimaginable proportions.  Trapped in a deadly game of cat and mouse, they must unravel a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of the industry, where powerful figures have much to lose if the secrets of their eco-conscious empire are revealed.  In a heart-pounding climax amidst the skeletal frame of an unfinished eco-tower, Anya must make an impossible choice: protect her career or risk everything to expose the industry's lies, knowing the fate of sustainable architecture, and perhaps even the planet, hangs in the balance.