Supper Sleuths


Art Mysteries

There is something inherently fascinating about the theft of a great work of art or priceless jewels. The intricate planning by the thieves and the relentless search to bring them to justice make such tales compelling. -- Dorothy Broderick, Contributing Editor, Mysteries and Thrillers, NoveList.

How did they do it? That is the question the mystery reader needs answered. And a good Art Theft mystery immerses the reader in the journey as the plot and its solution unfold. So the mysteries for this month have to do with art, art museums, art dealers, forgery, theft, and murder. Many of them are historical, some are procedurals, and in most of them, the art itself is a character. There are a few series (Nicholas Kilmer, John Malcolm, Iain Pears), but mostly the novels are stand-alones or individual books with the art theme from a series.

The following is a list of authors who fit into this category. The titles in each series is given. Please read one or more of these authors and/or titles, and come prepared to discuss your impressions of them with the group.

AUTHOR PROTAGONIST TITLES
Mary Allingham Death of a Ghost (1934)
Click Here for Murder (2003)
Ruth Birmingham Sunny Childs Atlanta Graves (1998)
Kyril Bonfiglioli Charlie Mortdecai Don't Point that Thing at Me AKA Mortdecai's Endgame OUT OF PRINT | NOT IN NOBLE (1972)
Something Nasty in the Woodshed
OUT OF PRINT | NOT IN NOBLE (1976)
All the Tea in China (1978)
After You with the Pistol (1979)
Great Mortdecai's Mustache (2002)
(Published Posthumously)
Alistair Boyle Gil Yates The Con (1996)
John Ed Bradley Restoration (2003)
Lilian Jackson Braun Jim Qwilleran Cat Who Could Read Backwards (1966),
Simon Brett Mrs. Pargeter Mrs. Pargeter's Point of Honour (1998)
Dan Brown Robert Langdon Angels & Demons (2000)
The Da Vinci Code (2003)
Michael Butterworth Virgin on the Rocks (1985)
Victor Canning Vanishing Point (1982)
Sarah Caudwell Thus was Adonis Murdered (1981)
Carol Higgins Clark Regan Reilly Iced (1995)
David Adams Cleveland With a Gemlike Flame (2001)
Carolyn Coker Balmoral Nude (1990)
Appearance of Evil (1994)
Phillip R. Craig J.W.Jackson Vineyard Enigma. (2002)
John Creasey The Baron and the Missing Old Masters (1968)
Bill Crider Murder is an Art (1999)
Mary Daheim A Fit of Tempura (1994)
Gaylord Dold Mitch Roberts Samedi's Knapsack (2001)
Mikel Dunham Rhea Buerkin Stilled Life (1989)
Aaron J. Elkins Chris Nogren A Glancing Light (1991)
Old Scores (1993)
Loot(1999)
Loren Estleman Amos Walker Hours of the Virgin (1999)
Linda A. Fairstein Alexandra Cooper Cold Hit (1999)
Robert L. Fish Kek Huuygens The Tricks of the Trade(1972).
The Wager(1974).
Ken Follett Modigliani's Scandal (1976)
Earlene Fowler Benni Harper Fool's Puzzle (1994)
Dick Francis To the Hilt (1988)
Michael Frayn Headlong (1999)
Caroline Garcia-Aquilera Lupe Solano Havana Heat (1999)
Michael Francis Gilbert Paint, Gold and Blood (1992)
James Goldman The Man From Greek and Roman (1974)
Martha Grimes Richard Jury Stargazey (1998)
Robert Lee Hall Ben Franklin Benjamin Franklin and a Case of Artful Murder (1995)
Lyn Hamilton The Etruscan Chimera (2002)
Dashiell Hammett The Maltese Falcon (1929)
MacDonald Harris Treasure of Sainte Foy (1980)
April Henry Circles of Confusion (1999)
Diane Johnson Le Mariage (2000)
Kelly Jones Seventh Unicorn (2005)
Nicholas Kilmer Fred Taylor Harmony in Flesh and Black (1995)
Man with a Squirrel (1996)
O Sacred Head (1997)
Dirty Linen (1999)
Lazarus, Arise (2001)
Jayne Ann Krentz Lost and Found (2001)
Allen Kurzweil Alexander Short The Grand Complication (2001)
Jane Langton Homer Kellyy Murder at the Gardner (1988)
Donna Leon Guido Brunetti Aqua Alta (1996)
Robert S. Levinson Neil Gulliver Hot Paint (2002)
Ross MacDonald The Blue Hammer (1976)
Charlotte MacLeod Max Bittersohn The Family Vault (1979),
For the rest of the series, see Cozies.
Lise McClendon Alix Thorssen The Bluejay Shaman (1994)
Blue Wolf (2001)
Val McDermid Kate Brannigan Clean Break (1995)
John Malcolm Tim Simpson Whistler in the Dark (1986)
Wrong Impression (1990)
Sheep, Goats, and Soap (1991)
Hung Over (1995)
Into the Vortex (1997)
Simpson's Homer (2001)
Shane Maloney Brush-off (1998)
Ngaio Marsh Artists in Crime (1938)
David Derbin Nolta Grave Circle: An Ivory Tower Mystery (2003)
A.E. Maxwell Fiddler Art of Survival (1989)
Marcia Muller Joanna Stark Cavalier in White (1986)
There Hangs the Knife (1988)
Susan Oleskiw Joe Silva Double Take (1994)
Jake Page Mo Bowdre The Stolen Gods (1996)
Lethal Partner (1996)
Martin Page The Man Who Stole the Mona Lisa (1998)
Elliot Paul Homer Evans Waylaid in Boston (1953)
Iain Pears Jonathan Argyll
Flavia DiStefano		 The Raphael Affair (1990)
TheTitian Committee (1991)
The Bernini Bust (1992)
The Last Judgement (1996)
Death and Restoration (1996)
Giotto's Hand (1997)
The Immaculate Deception (2000)
Arturo Perez-Reverte The Flanders Panel (1994)
Ellery Queen Ten Days Wonder (1994)
David Ramus Thief of Light (1995)
Gravity of Shadows (1998)
Jonathan Santlofer The Death Artist (2002)
Dorothy Sayers Five Red Herrings (1994)
Douglas Skeggs The Estuary Pilgrim (1989)
The Triumph of Bacchus (1993)
Richard Stark Parker Firebreak (2001)
Thomas Swan Walter Deats The Cezanne Chase (1997)
The Da Vinci Deception (1998)
William G. Tapply Brady Coyne The Spotted Cats (1991)
Jonathan Valin Final Notice (1980)
Paul Watkins The Forger (2000)
Clarissa Watson Persis Willum Runaway (1985)
Somebody Killed the Messenger (1988)
Last Plane From Nice (1988)
Paul Watson Landscape of Lies (1989)
David Westheimer Olmec Head (1974)
Collin Wilcox Alan Bernhardt Full Circle (1994)


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