Books That Crack Into Art Theft 2.0

Last month I blogged about books devoted to the real-life adventures of missing art and noted that my next post would cover fiction titles and authors who write about art and crime, as I continue to be fascinated by the subject of art theft. Genres such as crime fiction often portray fictional art thefts as glamorous or exciting. In literature, a niche of the mystery genre is devoted to art theft and forgery. In film, a caper story usually features complicated heist plots and visually exciting getaway scenes.

Author Noah Charney is a pioneer who started the academic field of the study of art theft. He currently works at the American University of Rome as a professor of art history. His newest book is a 2009 nonfiction work entitled Art and Crime: Exploring the Dark Side of the Art World. His fiction book, The Art Thief (2007), is based on facts and is a twisty and complicated who done it! In the wake of the thefts of three priceless art treasures from Rome, Paris, and London, an art detective and an art historian team up to investigate a series of false leads, forgeries and bizarre clues. Some plots are based on the real theft of missing Carvaggio from Palermo. Through a character's mouth the author also gives his conclusion as to how to narrow the circle of suspects for the famous robbing of the Boston Gardner Museum.

Loot (1999) by Aaron Elkins is another fiction title where ex-curator Ben Revere stumbles across a rare painting from the fabled Nazi truck that disappeared while transporting looted treasure in 1945. He then must journey to Europe and discover the truth about the Nazi truck before a half-century of hatred, revenge, and betrayal destroy him.

Author Iain Pears has a series of novels known as the Art History Mysteries, each of which follows a fictional shady dealing in the art history world. They are quite amusing.

Author James Twining has written a trio of novels featuring a character called Tom Kirk, who is/was an art thief. The third book, The Gilded Seal is centered around a fictional theft of Da Vinci works, specifically, the Mona Lisa.

Author Eoin Colfer's book, Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception features the theft of a painting from a highly guarded Swiss bank.

In the Tenth Chamber by Glenn Cooper, a fictional town hijacks a train and steals, amongst other artifacts, the Portrait of a Young Man by Raphael (missing in real life), offering a fictional explanation as to its disappearance.

The Man Who Stole the Mona Lisa by Robert Noah is a historical fiction speculating on the motivations behind the actual theft.

Inca Gold by Clive Cussler is a Dirk Pitt adventure about pre-Columbian art theft.

St. Agatha's Breast by T. C. Van Adler follows an order of monks attempting to track the theft of an early Poussin work.

Heist Society by Ally Carter is a young adult fiction novel depicting teens who rob the Henley.

Hope you enjoy investigating these art theft tales.