CRIME FICTION AUTHOR PANEL

Wednesday, April 24, 7-8:30 PM • Community Room

Interested in finding clues, solving crimes, and the thrill of the chase, but prefer reading about it in a fictionalized setting? Join your fellow crime fiction fans for this event.

In this panel discussion, come see local authors Susanna Calkins (Murder Knocks Twice,) Jack Fredrickson (Tagged for Murder,) and Julie Hyzy (Virtual Sabotage) discuss their works, writing life, and share the stories behind their exceptional crime fiction novels.  

Book sale by Book Bin Northbrook and there is an author signing following the program.

Come join us for the fun.

Calling All Crime Fiction Lovers

The Anthony Award finalists have just been announced. For a complete list of finalists in all categories click here.These awards are among the most prestigious in crime fiction. The winners will be announced in early September, but if you are looking for an excellent crime fiction book to read right now, any of these nominated titles for best novel would be a great choice.

Nominees for best novel are:

The Late Show by Michael Connelly

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke

Glass Houses by Louise Penny

The Force by Don Winslow

The Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction

For some reason I really enjoy a good legal novel in the cold month of January. So, with this in mind, I resurrected my copy of the 2015 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction - the winner as well as the finalists - to help me in my selection. The prize, which is cosponsored by the ABA Journal and the University of Alabama School of Law and authorized by Harper Lee, has been awarded each year since To Kill a Mockingbird's 50th anniversary to the novel that best illuminates the role of lawyers in society and their power to effect change.

The finalists:
My Sister's Grave by Robert Dugoni (received 20.64% votes)
From the publisher: "Tracy Crosswhite has spent 20 years questioning the facts surrounding her sister Sarah's disappearance and the murder trial that followed. She doesn't believe that Edmund House - a convicted rapist and the man condemned for Sarah's murder - is the guilty party. Motivated by the opportunity to obtain real justice, Tracy became a homicide detective with the Seattle PD and dedicated her life to tracking down killers. When Sarah's remains are finally discovered near their hometown in the northern Cascade mountains of Washington State, Tracy is determined to get the answers she's been seeking. As she searches for the real killer, she unearths dark, long-kept secrets that will forever change her relationship to her past - and open the door to deadly danger."

Terminal City by Linda Fairstein (received 37.47% votes)
From the publisher: "From the world's largest Tiffany clock decorating the 42nd Street entrance to its spectacular main concourse, Grand Central has been a symbol of beauty and innovation in New York City for more than 100 years. But "the world's loveliest station" is hiding more than just an underground train system. When the body of a young woman is found in the tower suite of the Waldorf Astoria - one of the most prestigious hotels in Manhattan - assistant DA Alex Cooper and detectives Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace find themselves hunting for an elusive killer whose only signature is carving a carefully drawn symbol into his victims' bodies, a symbol that bears a striking resemblance to train tracks."

And the finalist and winner -
The Secret of Magic by Deborah Johnson (received 41.89% votes)
This is the story of Regina Robichard, an African-American attorney working for the Legal Defense Fund with Thurgood Marshall in the 1940s. She receives a packet detailing the disappearance and death of Joe Howard Wilson, a young black World War II veteran, and she travels to Mississippi to investigate. When she arrives, she discovers that nothing about the case, the town or its inhabitants is quite what it initially seemed.

Take a read of one or all and see if your legal mind agrees!

Erin-Go-Bragh! (Long Live Ireland) - Truly Terrific Great Irish Crime Writing!

Dia Dhuit (Hello)

With St. Paddy's Day on the way and in the spirit of celebrating the Emerald Isle, check out the following sampling of "Emerald Noir" (the emerging wave of Irish crime fiction writers). The detectives in these stories are not only defined by their outstanding sleuthing abilities, but through such issues as cultural background and national identity - IRISH! Since everybody is a wee bit Irish in March, try one or more of these mysteries as an accompaniment to your stout (Slainte!) and soda bread:

The Rage by Gene Kerrigan (2011)A recently-released convict, a discouraged policeman, and a retired nun become involved in planning a high-stakes robbery. Winner of the 2012 CWA Gold Dagger, for best crime novel of the year.

Broken Harbor by Tana French (2012)
In the aftermath of a brutal attack that left a woman in intensive care and her husband and young children dead, brash cop Scorcher Kennedy and his rookie partner, Richie, struggle with perplexing clues and Scorcher's haunting memories of a shattering incident from his childhood. 

The Cold Cold Ground by Adrain McKinty (2012)"Featuring Catholic cop Sean Duffy whose outsider status in the mostly Protestant RUC makes it as hard to do his job as the criminals he’s fighting, this is the start of a new series set in Troubles-era Belfast. A body is found in a burnt out car. Another is discovered hanging from a tree. Could this be Northern Ireland’s first serial killer, or another paramilitary feud?" -- Publisher.

The Guards by Ken Bruen (2001)
Stuck in a rut after his dismissal from the Irish police force and still grieving over the death of his father, Jack Taylor finds renewal when an intriguing woman hires him based on his rumored talent for finding things.

Elegy for April by Benjamin Black (2010)
After Dr. April Latimer goes missing in 1950s Dublin, her friend Phoebe Griffin enlists the aid of her brilliant recovering-alcoholic father, Quirke, and Detective Inspector Hackett, who follow April's trail through the darker byways of the city.

The Nameless Dead by Brian McGilloway (2013)
After the Commission for Location of Victims' Remains uncovers a baby's skeleton while following up a tip about Declan Cleary, Inspector Devlin is torn between resurrecting the past and letting a murderer go free.

The Last Girl by Jane Casey (2013)
Investigating two brutal murders, Detective Constable Maeve Kerrigan finds the case complicated by deep-rooted family secrets, numerous false leads, and the questionable decisions of a once-trustworthy superintendent.

Plugged by Eoin McNamee (2011)
When his girlfriend and several people close to him are murdered, Daniel McEvoy finds himself targeted by the New Jersey mafia, corrupt cops, and an eccentric neighbor and searches for a hair-plug technician who may hold crucial answers.

Cathedral by Nelson Demille (1990)
Born into the heat and hatred of the Northern Ireland conflict, IRA man Brian Flynn has masterminded a brilliant terrorist act--the seizure of Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Among his hostages: the woman Brian Flynn once loved, a former terrorist turned peace activist. Among his enemies: an Irish-American police lieutenant fighting against a traitor inside his own ranks and a shadowy British intelligence officer pursuing his own cynical, bloody plan.

Irish Gold by Andrew Greeley (1994)
Dermot Coyne goes to Dublin to investigate his parents' departure from Ireland during the Time of Troubles in 1922 and learns much about his Irish heritage from Nuala Anne McGrail.

Hope one of these luckily turns out to be your Pot o' Gold novel for March 17, 2015!

Go N-Eiri An T-Adh Leat (Good Luck)

Beannachtai Na Feile Padrig Oraibh (St. Patrick's Day Blessing Upon You)

Rural Noir

Rural noir is dark and gritty, involving crime or violence about characters in rural settings and desperate circumstances. The storyline always moves downward from bad to worse and the protagonist moves expeditiously towards disaster. The characters are typically working-class or impoverished and the storylines and pacing can range from fast-paced and suspenseful or more deliberate with a great deal of description.  In contrast to its harshness in tone and plot many novels have beautiful and lyrical text and many of these novels are considered literary fiction. Below are some noteworthy titles in the genre.


Crimes in Southern Indiana by Frank Bill
The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock
American Salvage and Once Upon A River by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Winter's Bone, Tomato Red, Death of Sweet Mister by Daniel Woodrell
Father and Son by Larry Brown
Child of God by Cormac McCarthy
The Adjustment, Cottonwood, The Walkaway by Scott Phillips
Ranchero  Beluga by Rick Gavin
Rain Gods by James Lee Burke
Serena by Ron Rash

Old Favorites

There have always been some books I've read that stick in my mind forever. They range from thriller to historical to heartwarming saga, but what they all have in common is that I never forgot them. Here are just a few of those titles.

Dancing at the Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig

The settlement of Montana between 1890 and 1919 is recounted through the quiet but compelling life of Angus McCaskill, a young Scotsman who travels with his friend Rob Barclay to Montana's Two Medicine Country to homestead. Doig writes fervently of the voyage from Scotland and the lean first years, as the two share the work and hardship of establishing claims and building up flocks of sheep. 

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
Joe Kavalier, a young artist and magician, escapes pre-World War II Czechoslovakia, making his way to the home of Sam Clay, his Brooklyn cousin. Sam dreams of making it big in the emerging comic-book trade and sees Joe as the person to help him. As the cousins gain success with their masked superhero, the Escapist, Joe banks his earnings to bring his family from Prague.  But when the ship carrying his brother to America is torpedoed, Joe joins the navy and is posted to Antarctica. What results is a novel of love and loss, sorrow and wonder, and the ability of art to transcend the hardships of this world and gives us a magical glimpse of "the mysterious spirit world beyond.

The Honk and Holler Opening Soon by Billy Letts
The neon sign had seemed appropriate when the Honk and Holler Opening Soon was being built. But twelve years later, the once-busy highway outside Sequoyah, Oklahoma, is little traveled, and "opening soon" is a tired joke. Today the sign is as battered and beaten as the cafe and its owner, Caney Paxton, a Vietnam War veteran who hasn't ventured outside since its opening. The characters who drift in and out of the Honk don't change much: Molly O, a four-times married earth mother who recognizes a wounded spirit when she meets one; Life Halstead, a widower who eats three meals a day in the cafe so he can be near Molly O; Hooks Red Eagle, Soldier Starr, and Quinton Roach, Cherokee veterans of World War II; and Bilbo and Peg Porter - Bilbo steadily puffing his smokes while Peg struggles for breath through her oxygen mask. With Christmas only days away, their lives are to be forever changed with the arrival of Vena Takes Horse, a Crow woman on a quest, and Bui Khanh, a Vietnamese refugee looking for home.

Shooters and Chasers by Lenny Kleinfeld
A young Chicago cop chases a pair of killers-for-hire who are also star-crossed lovers.As he steps from a taxi, prominent Chicago architect Wilson Willetts is murdered by an inept assassin who thereupon gets himself nabbed with indecent haste. Apart from Willetts's friends and relatives, just about everyone is happy that such a high-profile case has been cleared with such admirable efficiency. But the arresting officers, sexy Mark Bergman and grizzled John Dunegan, his mentor/trainer/partner, are excellent cops, however, and something about a case so impeccably neat and complete begins to rankle. Sensibilities alerted, they take a fresh look, and soon enough find themselves in an alternative investigation, awash in an archipelago of hidden agendas .Appealing heroes and villains, a quirky love story, wit, style and suspense with a Chicago setting.

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
A mystifying puzzle involving the execution of an innocent man is interwoven into this monumental masterpiece of medieval intrigue and ingenuity. When a pious monk and an ambitious stonemason conspire to erect a magnificent cathedral, they are plagued by the malevolent machinations of an unscrupulous priest and a rapacious landowner. Though cursed by an extended series of political battles, military campaigns, and natural disasters, Prior Philip and Tom Builder transcend adversity and exploit every opportunity in order to continue construction. Follett has skillfully crafted an extraordinary epic buttressed by a succession of suspenseful subplots. A towering triumph of romance, rivalry, and spectacle.

Monkeewrench by P.J. Tracy
Haunted by a series of horrifying and violent episodes in their past, Grace McBride and the oddball crew of her software company, Monkeewrench, create a computer game where the killer is always caught, where the good guys always win. But their game becomes a nightmare when someone starts duplicating the fictional murders in real life, down to the last detail. By the time the police realize what's happening, three people are dead, and with seventeen more murder scenarios available online, there are seventeen more potential victims. While the authorities scramble to find the killer in a city paralyzed by fear, the Monkeewrench staff are playing their own game, analyzing victim profiles in a frantic attempt to discover the murderer's next target. In a thriller populated by characters both hilarious and heartbreaking, a rural Wisconsin sheriff, two Minneapolis police detectives, and Grace's gang are caught in a web of decades-old secrets that could get them all killed.

Edgar Award Winners for 2014

The Edgar awards are chosen by the Mystery Writers of America and the winners were announced on May 1, 2014. This year the Grandmaster awards went to Carolyn Hart and Robert Crais.

This year the award for best book went to: Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger 

Looking back at a tragic event that occurred during his thirteenth year, Frank Drum explores how a complicated web of secrets, adultery, and betrayal shattered his Methodist family and their small 1961 Minnesota community.

The award for best paperback original went to: The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood

A gritty, psychological thriller that asks the question: How well can you know anyone? On a fateful summer morning in 1986, two eleven-year-old girls meet for the first time. By the end of the day, they will both be charged with murder. Twenty-five years later, journalist Kirsty Lindsay is reporting on a series of sickening attacks on young female tourists in a seaside vacation town when her investigation leads her to interview carnival cleaner Amber Gordon. For Kirsty and Amber, it's the first time they've seen each other since that dark day so many years ago. Now with new, vastly different lives--and unknowing families to protect--will they really be able to keep their wicked secret hidden? 

Best first novel by an American author: Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews

Russian state intelligence officer Dominika Egorova struggles to survive in the bureaucracy of post-Soviet intelligence. Drafted against her will to become a trained seductress in the service, Dominika is assigned to operate against Nathaniel Nash, a CIA officer who handles the CIA's most sensitive penetration of Russian intelligence. The two young intelligence officers collide in an atmosphere of tradecraft, deception, and a forbidden spiral of carnal attraction that threatens their careers. 

Best fact crime award went to: The Hour of Peril: The Secret Plot to Murder Lincoln Before the Civil War  by Daniel Stashower  

Two-time Edgar award-winning author Daniel Stashower uncovers the riveting true story of the "Baltimore Plot," an audacious conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln on the eve of the Civil War. 

For the full list of the Edgar winners and nominees for each category, click here.

Talk of the Ton: Georgian/Regency Mysteries 1760-1830

One hears about Regency romances a lot, but what about Regency era mysteries?  Come join the Much Ado About Mysteries discussion group on Thursday March 14, 2013. At 7:00pm we will be chatting about the theme Talk of the Ton: Georgian/Regency Mysteries 1760-1830. We are going to be discussing the mystery stories set in the time period in which George III and his son George IV reigned.

Americans know George III as a revolutionary tyrant, but he is know for much more in his homeland.  In England, he was known as "Farmer George" for all of the progress that British agriculture made during this time. Those scientific advances helped grow the rural population, who eventually became the workers during the industrial revolution. He also kept the country together during the French Revolution and during the Napoleonic wars. He was known as a devoted husband (rare for a monarch of his time) and provided the country with several heirs.  Unfortunately he suffered from various health issues (another topic for discussion!) and his son was called in to reign as Regent.


The Regent (the future George IV) was known for his fashionable taste and his scandals. But he did have influence on the high society or as the French called it the 'ton.'  He definitely loved and created gossip.

So come and grab a copy of the reading list, held at the Reader Services desk, find a book and join us in the fun of discussing mysteries about this fascinating period of history. We have Jane Austen in the role of a sleuth, but there are gritter and darker stories too - a little something for everyone. Hope to see you there on March 14th.

Edgar Nominees

Crime fiction readers take note. The Mystery Writers of America recently announced the 2013 Edgar nominees, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television. Winners will be announced on May 2, 2013. The complete list of nominees can be found here. Fiction nominees for adults and young adults are listed below.

BEST NOVEL

The Lost Ones by Ace Atkins  

The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye  

Gone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn  

Potboiler by Jesse Kellerman  

Sunset by Al Lamanda

Live by Night by Dennis Lehane

All I Did Was Shoot My Man by Walter Mosley

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

The Map of Lost Memories by Kim Fay

Don’t Ever Get Old by Daniel Friedman

Mr. Churchill’s Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal

The Expats by Chris Pavone

The 500 by Matthew Quirk

Black Fridays by Michael Sears

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

Complication by Isaac Adamson  

Whiplash River by Lou Berney

Bloodland by Alan Glynn  

Blessed are the Dead by Malla Nunn

The Last Policeman: A Novel by Ben H. Winters

BEST YOUNG ADULT

Emily’s Dress and Other Missing Things by Kathryn Burak

The Edge of Nowhere by Elizabeth George

Crusher by Niall Leonard

Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER - MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD
 (for cozy mysteries)
Dead Scared by S.J. Bolton

A City of Broken Glass by Rebecca Cantrell

The Reckoning by Jane Casey

The Other Woman by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Sleepwalker by Wendy Corsi Staub

If "Gone Girl" is Gone...

Who can explain the enormous popularity of Gillian Flynn’s new crime novel, Gone Girl? The book skyrocketed to number two on the New York Times bestseller list in its first week, and soon claimed the top spot. Maybe it’s the plot: When Amy disappears from her mansion on the Mississippi River, all eyes turn toward her husband, Nick, the town’s golden boy, who becomes increasingly evasive and inappropriate. Even as the evidence mounts against him, Nick stubbornly maintains his innocence. The book’s great appeal could also be due to Flynn’s writing, which has been variously described as "ice-pick sharp," "pitch-black," "comical," and "creepily unforgettable."

If you are waiting for a copy of Gone Girl, or you’ve read it and are looking for something similar, here are a few other character-driven, intricately-plotted, suspenseful books to try:

Gillian Flynn’s other books: 

 Dark Places: A Novel

 Sharp Objects: A Novel

Tana French:  

 The Likeness

 In the Woods

 Faithful Place: a novel

  

Kate Atkinson: 
 Case Histories

 One Good Turn

 When Will There Be Good News

 Started Early, Took My Dog

 
Erin Kelly: 

The Poison Tree

The Dark Rose

   

Patricia Highsmith:  Edith’s Diary

Rosamund Lupton:  Sister

S. J. Watson:  Before I Go To Sleep

Dorothy B. Hughes:  Ride the Pink Horse and Two Other Great Mysteries

If you prefer a DVD, try In a Lonely Place starring Humphrey Bogart (from the book by Dorothy B. Hughes).

Writing Fiction

Writing a book doesn't happen overnight. It takes time, perseverance, and usually some good editing. As a reader, the writing process seems like a magical process. But real writers will tell you that it takes a lot of work. Here are some books to peruse on the writing process.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King : I have heard several writers say they re-read this title every year to gain some insight into the process.

Practical Tips for Writing Popular Fiction by Robyn Carr: This title focuses on genre fiction.

The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction by James Alexander Thom : For those folks interested in writing historical fiction.

There are magazines available for checking out such as Writer's Digest, Writer, Poets and Writers. And take a peek at magazines we own, that are about specific genre writers and books - Romantic Times Book Reviews, Mystery Scene, Locus, and Historical Novels Review.

And there are always writer conferences to go to. Love Is Murder is the Chicagoland area's writer and fan conference for mystery and romantic suspense. And this year's conference is next weekend, Feb 3-5th. Look at their website http://www.loveismurder.net/ for more details.

And write on. And maybe someday we will have your book in the library.

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.

Books That Crack Into Art Theft

What is one of the greatest crimes occurring in the world today? Terrorism, corruption, money laundering? Would you believe ... art theft?

According to the FBI, art theft, "fraud, looting, and trafficking across state and international lines" costs about $6 billion every year - it's big business. Since I recently led a book discussion of the title, Museum of the Missing by Simon Houpt, I have become obsessed with the crime of art theft. This book offers an intriguing tour through the underworld of art theft. The volume is beautifully written and generously illustrated and tells a story as fascinating as any crime novel. It's a gripping page-turner featuring everything from wartime plundering to modern-day heists, from examining criminals' motivations to a look at the art detectives who spend their lives hunting them down.

One art detective, Robert K. Wittman, who was mentioned in Museum of the Missing, often risked his life as the FBI's chief art hunter and undercover art agent for many years. He takes readers along on the hunt for stolen masterpieces in his own book entitled Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures. To help solve the theft of 18 paintings worth $50 million stolen from the home of a Spanish billionaire, he writes:
"I'd be entering another hotel room across town.
To meet a desperate, possibly homicidal gangster eager to close a $10 million deal.
Unarmed.
Dangling a million euros cash as bait.
Working with an FBI partner in his first undercover case.
Negotiating in French, a language I didn't understand.
Swell."
The bait worked.

Everybody loves a mystery, so after reading these books, what really intrigues me is the mystery of who stole $500 million in art from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on March 18, 1990 and it is just plain maddening. A journalist, Ulrich Boser, took up the chase after inheriting the case files of art-theft-detective Harold Smith of Lloyds of London, who pursued the Gardner "caper" for years until his death in 2005. Boser became as obsessed as Smith and wrote The Gardner Heist which does not solve the case, but comes very close. He found an important but long-ignored witness in a persuasive case against the man he thinks did it. Boser believes the Gardner paintings will reappear - stolen masterpieces have turned up after decades, even centuries.

I enjoyed these books because, as I said, I'm obsessed. However, if you have only a passing fancy in art theft and art crime and only want to read one book on the topic, I recommend, The Rescue Artist: A True Story of Art, Thieves, and the Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece by Edward Dolnick. This book focuses on the famous art theft of Edvard Munch's The Scream, one version of which was pilfered from the National Gallery of Norway in Oslo in 1994. This famous heist is the centerpiece, but Dolnick interweaves other fascinating stories of famous art thefts including the Mona Lisa stolen from the Louvre in 1911. Dolnick goes out of his way to give us a portrait of Charley Hill, the most famous art detective in the UK, a former Fulbright scholar and cop. The Rescue Artist also offers readers a biography of the artist Edvard Munch and explores the issues of why thieves steal art. So, if you are an art lover, a true crime reader, or like me, fascinated with the dark world of art theft and museum thievery, this is the book for you!

Visit the Readers Services desk for additional art caper titles. Even though it's hard to beat the real-life adventures of missing art, check out my next blog for a wealth of fiction titles and authors who write about art and crime.

Waiting for the new Erik Larson book?

In the Garden of Beasts is the new book by the author of The Devil in the White City and is looking as though it will be another non-fiction bestseller. If you find yourself on the waiting list for this book at the library, here are several other suggestions you may enjoy if you like non-fiction that reads like fiction.

Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys and the Battle for America's Soul by Karen Abbott

Set at the dawn of the 20th century, Abbott tells the story of two sisters, Ada and Minna Everleigh, and the opulent brothel they opened in Chicago.

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

After murdering his wife, Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen tries to escape to the US via ship, but his plan is foiled due to the newest wireless technology used on board.

The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman

The true story of how the director of the Warsaw Zoo sheltered over 300 Jews and Polish resisters in the zoo during the Nazi occupation.

A Death in Belmont by Sebastian Junger

The author of A Perfect Storm revisits the Boston Strangler case and it's connection to a murder that took place in his hometown of Belmont in which a Black man was wrongly convicted.

Stolen by Lucy Christopher

When I started reading this book, another came to mind that I had read not long ago. Stolen has many parallels to the book Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott. Both dealt with the abduction of a young girl, though Stolen was different in the way that the protagonist had some empathy for her abuductor.

Stolen centered around a 16 year old girl English named Gemma, who was en route to Vietnam with her parents. In the airport, she is drugged and kidnapped by a 25 year old man named Ty who had apparently been following her for years. The story is told through a letter Gemma wrote to Ty after her release.

She is taken from a Bangkok airport after Ty buys her coffee and puts a drug in it. After she begins to feel the effects, he changes her appearance and eventually leads her back to a remote area of the Austrailian Outback. Ty lives soley on the land itself, and when confronted about why he brought her there, all he could say was he wanted to "save her" from big-city life and the emptiness it brings to all people.

The story is odd in the way that not once did the captor try and have any sexual relations with Gemma, nor did he try and hurt her, other than to keep her from escaping. He merely wanted to keep her there so he could have her company and show her that beauty can be a simple life.

The reader is taken back in time to Gemma's childhood up through her adolescence as Ty explains how he has been following her all these years and the people in her life who he has "saved" her from, even though she sees it as being "stolen" from them, as any kidnapp victim would.

The story also takes the reader into the beauty of the land and the many vivid colors of the rainforest and wildlife that would be encountered in an area that is off the map. Gemma comes to appreciate the beauty of nature even though she trys several times to escape, only to find Ty there to "rescue" her from the elements in which she isn't as familiar.

In the quest for her rescue, there is a very interesting paralell with the release of a camel that is clearly much like the life that Gemma is living for the month or so that she is stolen. Ty has mercy on her when she is bitten by a poisonous snake, as he can see as time goes on that she is getting worse and needs the help of professional medical treatment. This leads them to a hospital in Austrailia where Ty turns himself in and begins the journey home for Gemma. How she reacts to it all when she is back with her parents is interesting, but seen in many victims of Stockholm Syndrome.

A riviting read, I would definitely recommend this book to mature teen audiences as well as adults. While Gemma in some respects is not a likable character, she acts like one would expect any kidnap victim to react to their captor when she questions and fights with him as well as her many attempts to escape. And while Ty can be seen as the monster who took this innoncent young girl from everything she knows and everyone she loves, he also shows compassion. This would also make an excellent movie.