1 of 1 copy available
It is a headline‑making story: the discovery of a previously unknown Rembrandt. René Vachey, the iconoclastic art dealer who claims to have uncovered it, wants to make a gift of it to the Seattle Art Museum, but curator Chris Norgren is wary. Vachey is notorious in art circles for perpetrating scandalous shams; not for profit but for the sheer fun of embarrassing the elite and snobbish “experts” of the art establishment. And thanks to the web of strings attached to Vachey’s donation (e.g., no scientific testing permitted), even Rembrandt expert Chris is uncertain as to whether or not the painting is authentic.
His doubts multiply when he goes to Dijon to examine it and finds himself in the middle of a host of controversies of which Vachey is the devilish focus. But there is no doubt that the bullet soon found in Vachey’s head is authentic. And there is no telling how much time Chris has to find the truth about the “masterpiece”—and the murder—before he finds himself painted into a corner by a shrewd and villainous murderer.
1993 Nero Award, given by the Nero Wolfe Society/the Wolfe Pack for literary excellence in the mystery genre.
-
Creators
-
Series
-
Publisher
-
Release date
April 2, 2014 -
Formats
-
Kindle Book
-
OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781497604988
-
EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781497604988
- File size: 3362 KB
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Reviews
-
May 3, 1993
Seattle Art Museum curator Chris Norgren falls prey to the lure of a newly discovered Rembrandt in this third in a spirited series (after A Glancing Light ). He also topples head-first out of a second-story window, but the nasty fall is happily blunted by a conveniently located car. Acquiring art isn't usually perilous, but anything is possible when the work is in the care of French dealer Rene Vachey, notorious for passing off thefts as publicity stunts. Vachey has offered the Rembrandt--if it really is a Rembrandt--as a gift to Chris's museum, with a veritable spider's web of strings attached. He will, however, permit only a cursory viewing and explicitly forbids scientific authentication. Chris, adrift in France, far from the arms of his girl, feels pretty sure that the painting is the genuine article. But after Vachey is murdered, his claim to have found the Rembrandt in a junk shop suddenly seems dubious; moreover, his employees have excellent motives to dislike him, several art experts have been burned by his outrageous exploits, and he even has that old crime fiction favorite, a deadbeat son recently dunned out of his dad's dough in a suspect will. Elkins wields all this with indecent ease, keeping the laugh count high and imparting copious amounts of art lore along the way. Mystery Guild main selection. -
May 30, 1994
The third installment in Elkins's spirited series featuring Seattle Art Museum curator/detective Chris Norgren was a Mystery Guild main in cloth.
-