Aaron Elkins has, over many years, written many books (sometimes with Charlotte Elkins). There is, of course, his vastly entertaining and long, long series featuring forensic anthropologist Gideon Fell. I recently read one featuring a young female art consultant named Alix London, who has a troubled pedigree. There is also, as I remember, a short series about a wine expert whose name is no longer accessible to my memory. And then there is this series featuring Chris Nordgren, a curator for an art museum, who is the acknowledged Pro from Dover to detect art forgeries, particularly of certain artists. They are all very nice, and you can't go wrong reading any of them. Notice the recurrence of the word "expert" in my descriptions. And that is what they all have in common: all of the protagonists really know their stuff. None of this fou-fou "I don't really know what I'm doing but maybe I can bluff my way past this" nonsense. You like these people and you respect them, even if they do have human failings and blind spots. And odds are, you'll learn something about something, even if (in the case of Gideon Fell) it is sometimes kind of icky. This particular volume is one I read very long ago (ah, the blessings of Kindle Unlimited) and I had a few vague memories of the reason for all the murders, bombings and attempted robberies, But I enjoyed it just the same. Chris is called to Germany to look at paintings in a big time exhibit of art recovered from the Nazis. The head curator gives a cryptic hint that one of the paintings isn't all it claims to be. Things start off with a bang (literally) when someone blows the doors off the building where the paintings are being stored just as Chris gets there to look at them. Pretty much, the action doesn't let up, there's a light romantic interest, and there's lots about art. What more can one ask?
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, after smelling 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 two daunting tasks: finding a fake painting among the masterpieces, and a real killer whose sights are now set on him. Chris and Anne, a military person helping with stolen art returned to the original owners, get together. He finds the forgery and the art critic is the killer
What do You think about A Deceptive Clarity (1993)?
Chris.....A DECEPTIVE CLARITY was one of the first Amazon reviews I wrote! At the time Aaron Elkins' wife Charlotte was blogging on the Mystery Cafe discussion group. In fact, she probably gave me my first helpful vote. She noted that Aaron's concept of art/mystery was ahead of its time. But it was a very interesting mystery. I had read all of Elkins' Gideon Oliver's........It's hard to believe, isn't it?, that we've known each other over twenty years and talked about lots of books. And here we are with the three Chris Norgren art/mysteries on our bookshelves....Jane
—Chris
A decent read, though, there were quite a few problems outside the art being described (which seemed accurate, and worked well in the story perspective.) The typos threw me off, whether they were meant as a joke (possibility), or were just due to a lack of editing (EG: Gently being spelled gentiy gets irritating after a bit, a few other words like this); and the overall story relying on a few movie tropes (admittedly), didn't help. The characters, over (Especially detective Harry), are relatable/amicable, which helps the story some, but gives it more "character" than depth. Despite numerous flaws, it was a decent read; but nothing that was anything above average.
—Jonathan
If I had liked more Chris I would put four stars to this review, but I think like Annie , other character of this book when she meets Chris . Above this I truly appreciated this story, I love art and I learned more things reading this book...and I'm Italian so is was nice reading in the setting environment by this series the references to Italian city and works of art . Like mystery story, still I have appreciated the clear and clever plot, the frankly speech of investigation , and the character of Harry above all.
—Lidia
