Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Deceptive Clarity
    Old Scores
    A Glancing Light
    Ebook series3 titles

    The Chris Norgren Mysteries Series

    By Aaron Elkins

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this series

    A notorious French art dealer is murdered in this “thoroughly entertaining” mystery by the Edgar Award–winning author of the Gideon Oliver series (Kirkus Reviews).

    It is a headline‑making story: the discovery of a previously unknown Rembrandt. René Vachey, the iconoclastic art dealer who claims to have uncovered it, wants to make a gift of it to the Seattle Art Museum, but curator Chris Norgren is wary. Vachey is notorious in art circles for perpetrating scandalous shams; not for profit but for the sheer fun of embarrassing the elite and snobbish “experts” of the art establishment. And thanks to the web of strings attached to Vachey’s donation (e.g., no scientific testing permitted), even Rembrandt expert Chris is uncertain as to whether or not the painting is authentic.

    His doubts multiply when he goes to Dijon to examine it and finds himself in the middle of a host of controversies of which Vachey is the devilish focus. But there is no doubt that the bullet soon found in Vachey’s head is authentic. And there is no telling how much time Chris has to find the truth about the “masterpiece”—and the murder—before he finds himself painted into a corner by a shrewd and villainous murderer.

    1993 Nero Award, given by the Nero Wolfe Society/the Wolfe Pack for literary excellence in the mystery genre.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Media
    Release dateApr 1, 1986
    A Deceptive Clarity
    Old Scores
    A Glancing Light

    Titles in the series (3)

    • A Glancing Light
      A Glancing Light

      A Glancing Light

      Aaron Elkins
      4/5 - 10 ratings
      4/5 - 10 ratings

      A museum curator travels to Italy and looks into a murder in this “fresh, funny [and] thoroughly enjoyable mystery” by the author of the Gideon Oliver series (Publishers Weekly). Mild‑mannered and law‑abiding, Chris Norgren, curator of Renaissance and Baroque art at the Seattle Art Museum, is an unlikely undercover investigator, but when a priceless Rubens portrait is discovered in a shipment of “authentic reproductions” in a local warehouse, Chris is pressed into service to find out how it got there. The quest leads him to the medieval city of Bologna, one of his favorite places, but all too soon what might have been a welcome Italian interlude turns into a bizarre journey into shady art world doings and murderous secrets . . .

      A museum curator travels to Italy and looks into a murder in this “fresh, funny [and] thoroughly enjoyable mystery” by the author of the Gideon Oliver series (Publishers Weekly). Mild‑mannered and law‑abiding, Chris Norgren, curator of Renaissance and Baroque art at the Seattle Art Museum, is an unlikely undercover investigator, but when a priceless Rubens portrait is discovered in a shipment of “authentic reproductions” in a local warehouse, Chris is pressed into service to find out how it got there. The quest leads him to the medieval city of Bologna, one of his favorite places, but all too soon what might have been a welcome Italian interlude turns into a bizarre journey into shady art world doings and murderous secrets . . .

    • A Deceptive Clarity
      A Deceptive Clarity

      A Deceptive Clarity

      Aaron Elkins
      4/5 - 6 ratings
      4/5 - 6 ratings

      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, 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).  

      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, 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).  

    • Old Scores
      Old Scores

      Old Scores

      Aaron Elkins
      4/5 - 8 ratings
      4/5 - 8 ratings

      A notorious French art dealer is murdered in this “thoroughly entertaining” mystery by the Edgar Award–winning author of the Gideon Oliver series (Kirkus Reviews). It is a headline‑making story: the discovery of a previously unknown Rembrandt. René Vachey, the iconoclastic art dealer who claims to have uncovered it, wants to make a gift of it to the Seattle Art Museum, but curator Chris Norgren is wary. Vachey is notorious in art circles for perpetrating scandalous shams; not for profit but for the sheer fun of embarrassing the elite and snobbish “experts” of the art establishment. And thanks to the web of strings attached to Vachey’s donation (e.g., no scientific testing permitted), even Rembrandt expert Chris is uncertain as to whether or not the painting is authentic. His doubts multiply when he goes to Dijon to examine it and finds himself in the middle of a host of controversies of which Vachey is the devilish focus. But there is no doubt that the bullet soon found in Vachey’s head is authentic. And there is no telling how much time Chris has to find the truth about the “masterpiece”—and the murder—before he finds himself painted into a corner by a shrewd and villainous murderer. 1993 Nero Award, given by the Nero Wolfe Society/the Wolfe Pack for literary excellence in the mystery genre.

      A notorious French art dealer is murdered in this “thoroughly entertaining” mystery by the Edgar Award–winning author of the Gideon Oliver series (Kirkus Reviews). It is a headline‑making story: the discovery of a previously unknown Rembrandt. René Vachey, the iconoclastic art dealer who claims to have uncovered it, wants to make a gift of it to the Seattle Art Museum, but curator Chris Norgren is wary. Vachey is notorious in art circles for perpetrating scandalous shams; not for profit but for the sheer fun of embarrassing the elite and snobbish “experts” of the art establishment. And thanks to the web of strings attached to Vachey’s donation (e.g., no scientific testing permitted), even Rembrandt expert Chris is uncertain as to whether or not the painting is authentic. His doubts multiply when he goes to Dijon to examine it and finds himself in the middle of a host of controversies of which Vachey is the devilish focus. But there is no doubt that the bullet soon found in Vachey’s head is authentic. And there is no telling how much time Chris has to find the truth about the “masterpiece”—and the murder—before he finds himself painted into a corner by a shrewd and villainous murderer. 1993 Nero Award, given by the Nero Wolfe Society/the Wolfe Pack for literary excellence in the mystery genre.

    Author

    Aaron Elkins

    Aaron Elkins’s mysteries and thrillers have earned him an Edgar, an Agatha, a Nero Wolfe Award, and a Malice Domestic Lifetime Achievement Award. His nonfiction works have appeared in Smithsonian magazine, the New York Times magazine, and Writer’s Digest. A former anthropology professor, Elkins is known for starting the forensic-mystery genre with his 1982 novel, Fellowship of Fear. He currently serves as the anthropological consultant for the Olympic Peninsula Cold Case Task Force in Washington State. Elkins lives in Washington with his wife, Charlotte—his occasional collaborator—who is also an Agatha winner.

    Read more from Aaron Elkins

    Related to The Chris Norgren Mysteries

    Related ebooks

    Crime Thriller For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      About The Author... J.P. Pomare

      Dec 27, 2020

      He grew up on a racehorse farm in Rotorua, left home at 15 and dropped out of university before finishing his degree. He now lives in Melbourne, where he worked in marketing while building his writing career. His real name is Joshua and this is his t

      1 min read

    • Article

      Coming Soon...

      Dec 15, 2020

      David Tennant stars as Phileas Fogg in this new adaptation of Jules Verne’s novel. Phileas is joined on his voyage by sidekick Passepartout (Ibrahim Koma) and journalist Abigail Fix (Leonie Benesch).  The cookery show returned earlier this year afte

      1 min read

    • Article

      Sabrina Cohen-Hatton

      Sep 20, 2021

      Sabrina Cohen-Hatton
      5 min read

    • Article

      Wise old Mrs Merrow

      Jul 27, 2020

      Littlesea was everything the description said: a white stone cottage with beams and higgledy-piggledy walls and steps away from a tiny quay in a private bay. It would have been the perfect spot for honeymooners had it not had just the one single bed

      8 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Chris Norgren Mysteries

    3.5/5

    114 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words