Wednesday, May 06, 2020

The Vermeer Deception by Jennifer S. Alderson


First Line: Kurt Weber gazed out the tenth-story window, taking in the first leaves of spring budding on the tree outside his doctor's office.

When Zelda Richardson finds a lead about a missing portrait by Johannes Vermeer, no one expects her to find the painting. No one believes she can do it: not her parents visiting from America, not her boyfriend, not her boss private detective Vincent de Graaf, and not the rightful owner of the Nazi-looted artwork-- but she does.

When Zelda tries to pick up the portrait, she finds the art dealer dead and several frames smoldering in his fireplace.  Was the Vermeer a fake? Everyone else seems to think so, but Zelda refuses to give up. Can she discover the truth?

I love art and art history. When I came across The Vermeer Deception, I couldn't resist reading it. "Art history mysteries" are one of my favorite subgenres of the mystery world. (Iain Pears' Jonathan Argyll mysteries like The Bernini Bust are wonderful.) However, I found Jennifer Alderson's book to be mostly annoying.

The one thing I did enjoy about the book was the information I gleaned about the men Hitler sent out to loot Europe of its art treasures. That was good. Unfortunately, that was the only thing. By the fourth book in a series, the doubts about a person's abilities should be dying out. Not here. No one-- not even her boss-- thought she knew what she was doing. Personally, I'd ask Vincent the boss that, if she's so inept, why is she still on the payroll? The other characters, like Zelda's mother and boyfriend, were also infuriating, and finding errors such as arms that were flaying instead of flailing didn't help.

The ending, which isn't tied up in a neat little bow, didn't bother me. What bothered me the most were the characterizations and a rather amateurish writing style. Needless to say, I'll be looking for art history mysteries elsewhere.


The Vermeer Deception by Jennifer S. Alderson
ASIN: B082R5XZQC
Traveling Life Press © 2020
eBook, 191 pages

Amateur Sleuth, #4 Zelda Richardson mystery
Rating: C-
Source: Purchased from Amazon.

 

13 comments:

  1. You read it so I don't have to.

    Lots of good books coming up. I got my package today, now calculating the budget to get more books as I don't know about the library re-opening. No idea when.

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    1. I love getting packages of books in the mail!

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  2. Yes, Margot Kingbert's and Sara Paretsky's latest book. I'm thinking about ordering the latest books by Elly Griffiths, Eva Dolan, William Shaw, Susie Steiner, Jane Casey. A few others. And The Stranger Diaries, too, which just won a prize.

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    1. I was so glad to see Griffiths' The Stranger Diaries win that award!

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  3. The Gauguin Connection by Estelle Ryan is great fun! An autistic woman, a thief, and a murderer. I haven't read all of these books about art heists and murder, but the ones I've read have been great.

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    1. I enjoyed The Gauguin Connection, too. Another series I have yet to return to. *sigh*

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  4. I once read a book by Donald Westlake where the robbers go to a house to rob it -- and they are robbed! I don't remember the name of it, but I laughed throughout the read.

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    1. That does sound good. Too bad you can't remember the title.

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  5. It might be this one where Dortmunder and others commit a robbery and his ring is stolen. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/576034.What_s_The_Worst_That_Could_Happen_

    While I was looking that up at Fantastic Fiction, I found another Dortmunder called Don't Ask, which looks hilarious, too.

    I think I need a few of these or more David Rosenfelt books. Laughter is healing.

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    1. I just downloaded What's the Worst That Could Happen, so that will show up on my next eBook Stockpile post. Sounds really good... and so does Don't Ask. Thanks for looking these up for me!

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  6. Definitely. We all need good books at this time, particularly. I want to read Don't Ask, library doessn't have it. I'll check used books.

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Thank you for taking the time to make a comment. I really appreciate it!