Murder at the National Gallery

Luther Mason, world-class expert on the works of Caravaggio and head curator at the the Nation Gallery in DC, has arranged for a special exhibition of Caravaggio artworks. On view will be pieces from London, France, Russia, Spain and Italy. It seems all is set until Mason is told of a recently discovered Caravaggio work in Italy. When he goes to view it he is presented with a proposition. One that involves forgery, deception, prestige, fame and more. The unveiling of this piece will make it the centerpiece to the exhibition.

Needless to say, this plan is highly complicated with international links. It becomes even more so as each link has its own tenuous place in the chain leading to the final charm. Certain players are found murdered, show more some demand more, questions as to the truth of the provenance of the 'found' work; one break in a link and the plan may fail.

Annabel Smith, gallery owner and previous high profile attorney, is asked to be liaison between the White House and the National Gallery by her old college friend Carol Aprile, the current Vice President's wife. The White House has gotten concerned with relations with Italy, there are rumours of possible rifts between the upper echelon at the National Gallery. Aprile feels that Smith could be the 'eyes and ears' for the White House due to her status in the Arts Community.

There are a good number of characters to keep track of and quite a bit of travelling back and forth between the U.S. and Italy. I did find I had to go back and re-read at time to be sure I was on track. The flow does build to a crescendo, but it seemed to end a bit abruptly. I still did enjoy reading it. It has been a while since I've read any of Margaret Truman's books. And I know I will read more. show less

Senior curator of the National Gallery Luther Mason is a renowned Caravaggio expert - and he's mounting a world-class Caravaggio exhibit as the highlight of his illustrious career. And the exhibition only becomes more glamorous when Mason manages to unearth a long-lost Caravaggio masterpiece known as Grottesca. But a string of forgeries and double-crosses put the exhibition and the lives of several people at risk, so gallery owner Annabel Reed-Smith steps in to investigate.

I actually quite enjoyed the story of the forgeries of the Caravaggio and the double-crosses that involved the Mafia and unscrupulous black market buyers. I was even rooting for the swap to be pulled off - despite my actual outrage at people placing fake masterpieces show more in museums. There were snippets of art history lessons, some fun background about how the National Gallery works, and a decent protagonist. What there wasn't for 300 pages, was a murder.

I don't know about you, but when I see a title like Murder at the National Gallery - I think there's going to be a murder. And then that the main character is going to investigate said murder. I do not think there will first be three hundred of art intrigue (though that's cool) before anyone non-peripheral dies. So given the expectations (I think justifiable because of the title), it just moved way too slowly. And there was no real investigation.

So with different expectations, I probably would have found this book considerably more enjoyable.

More posted at my blog. show less

This story centres around an exhibition at the National Gallery in Washington, DC of the works of Caravaggio. The curator of the exhibit, Luther Mason, discovers a lost work by Caravaggio while he is on a trip to Italy. He manages to have the work copied by an expert forger and then he embarks on an elaborate scheme to switch the forgery for the real work. He plans to take the real work with him when he escapes to a place in the sun. Annabel Reed-Smith, a Washington gallery owner and close friend of the Vice-President's wife, becomes involved in the story when she is asked by her friend to represent the White House in staging the Caravaggio exhibit.

I haven't given this book a very high rating because I thought the plot was too strung show more out. I kept wondering when the murder would take place. I also thought the curator didn't make a very plausible thief. I have another book by Margaret Truman to be read so I'll try it and give her another chance. show less

Another favourite, partly because Annabel Reed-Smith features in it and because the plot involves art galleries (second to library plots), theft and murder. Well-paced and interesting characters.

Margaret Truman’s Capital Crime series remind me just a bit of Jessica Fletcher. Just how many murders can one person be present for? Does Jessica attract murders somehow? Even though the premise – an amateur sleuth, Annabel Reed-Smith, who is always in the right place to investigate – is quite faulty, Truman’s books are generally well-written and fun to read.

Not so much this one, though. Murder at the National Gallery sports a number of murders, but investigates none of them. Only one takes place at the Gallery, and it occurs very late in the book. The plot revolves around a curator’s naïve attempt to discover a lost work of art, then forge it and steal the original. At least four sets of antagonists launch counterplots, show more which overwhelm our would-be thief and eventually span the globe. National governments get involved, and international peace is threatened! Of course, only Annabel, our sleuth, can step in and make everything right again. Overall, this one didn’t pass the credibility test, and there wasn’t enough investigation to make up for it. show less

Your basic Truman plot line, but old characters making reappearance's. The story lags to start, but picks up by the middle. However, the ending is't worthy of her talent.

A very respected curator at the national gallery plans to make off with a recently discovered masterpiece by his favorite painter, Caravaggio. Everything seems to go as planned when he commissions two very good copies, but he ends up in league with too many bad guys and finally everything starts going wrong. Mack and Annabel Smith are involved, especially Annabel due to her connections to the art world.