On This Page
Description
An American museum curator in Berlin must find a fake painting—and a real killer—in this mystery from the Edgar Award–winning author of Switcheroo. Chris Norgren, museum curator and Renaissance art expert, heads to Berlin to assist in mounting a sensational exhibit: The Plundered Past—twenty priceless Old Masters looted by the Nazis, thought for decades to be lost forever, and only recently rediscovered. But things quickly get out of hand when Chris's patrician, fastidious boss, show more after sensing a forgery in the lot, turns up dead the very next day—on the steps of a dismal Frankfurt brothel, of all places. Now, Chris faces a daunting task: finding a counterfeit artwork among the masterpieces—and an all-too-real killer whose sights are now set on him. A Deceptive Clarity is the first in the Chris Norgren Mysteries by the multiple award–winning creator of the Gideon Oliver "Skeleton Detective" novels—a celebrated master who "thoroughly understands the art of the murder mystery" (The Philadelphia Inquirer). Fiction. Mystery. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
This is the first in Andrew Elkins' series of thrillers about an art historian who gets involved in art crimes, which spill over into more commonplace criminality -- like assault and battery. This book is set in Berlin, shortly before the wall came down, and catches the atmosphere of the time and place. The protagonist is interesting, with a convincing set of personal problems, and the other characters are well drawn. The crime itself was less interesting to me than the art historical shenanagins that surround it. A good read.
Fun. This is the first one with this character - I've read all three before, but not recently. I do get a lot of echoes of the first Skeleton Detective story, but it's not really the same. As usual with an Elkins, the characters are vividly drawn. even the minor ones (Jessick would drive me mad!). The setup is convincing, the murder and other attacks are very nasty, and the trick that finally reveals who's behind all of it is very clever. Appropriately cruel. I like Chris.
Liked this mystery. Would read others by this author.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
38+ Works 8,503 Members
Former anthropologist Aaron Elkins has been writing mysteries and thrillers since 1982. He won an Edgar award for Old Bones, as well as an Agatha (with his wife Charlotte), and a Nero Wolfe Award. His major continuing series features forensic anthropologist-detective Gideon Oliver, "the skeleton detective". Aaron speaks often at professional show more conferences, is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, has written for Smithsonian magazine, and is the author of several short stories. His work, which has been published in over a dozen languages, include: NASTY BREAKS (with his wife Charlotte Elkins), MAKE NO BONES, A DECEPTIVE CLARITY, SKELETON DANCE, THE DARK PLACE, and Little Tiny Teeth. He and his wife Charlotte live in Washington. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Work Relationships
Is contained in
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- A Deceptive Clarity
- Original publication date
- 1987
- People/Characters
- Chris Norgren; Anne Greene; Peter van Cortlandt; Harry Gucci; Mark Robey; Earl Flittner (show all 10); Claudio Bolzano; Lorenzo Bolzano; E Gadney; Tony Whitehead
- Important places
- Rhein-Main Air Base, Frankfort, Germany; Berlin, Germany; Florence, Italy; San Francisco, California, USA
- First words
- "It's eleven-fifteen," Tony Whitehead announced peremptorily to the assembled curatorial staff of the San Francisco County Museum of Art.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Louis will be glad to hear it.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 278
- Popularity
- 115,412
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.57)
- Languages
- English, Japanese
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 10
- ASINs
- 6
