Old Scores - Softcover

Frederic Raphael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1857994205 ISBN 13: 9781857994209

Publisher: McArthur & Co / Orion Con Trad, 1996

Synopsis

Rachel and Pansy Stannard are "the good and the bad news" as far as their divorced parents are concerned. Rachel's highly unsuitable marriage to Roger Raikes shocks and embarrasses her smart friends. To escape financial ruin they move to France, but when Pansy comes to stay, paradise becomes hell.

About this title

About the Author

With their backgrounds in art scholarship, forensic anthropology, and psychology, Charlotte and Aaron Elkins were destined to be mystery writers. Between them, they’ve written thirty mysteries since 1982, garnering such awards as the Agatha Award for the best short story of the year, the Edgar Award for the year’s best mystery, and the Nero Wolfe Award for Literary Excellence. The pair revels in creating intensively researched works that are as accessible and absorbing as they are sophisticated and stylish. Charlotte was born in Houston, Texas, Aaron in New York City. They live on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.

From the Inside Flap

"A fascinating glimpse into the hidden world of tense auctions, suspected forgeries and internecine feuds." St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The art world is abuzz with news of the discovery of an unknown Rembrandt. Rene Vachey, the famed collector who made the find, wants to donate it to the Seattle Art Museum. But curator Chris Norgren is wary -- Vachey has a reputation for dealing in forgeries. But one thing about Vachey is most certainly not a fake -- the bullet soon found in his head. Now Chris must find the truth behind the masterpiece and the murder before he's painted into a corner by a master in the art of killing. . .

Reviews

A perceptive look at the world of museums, dealers, and collectors through the somewhat innocent eyes of Chris Norgren, curator of Renaissance art at the Seattle Art Museum (A Glancing Light, 1991, etc.). The museum has been offered the gift of a newly discovered Rembrandt by long-established French gallery owner Ren‚ Vachey, notorious over the years for outrageous put-downs of his peers. There's a deadline for acceptance, and no scientific testing for authenticity is permitted. A similar offer, of a L‚ger, has been made to the Mus‚e Barillot in Dijon--the victim some years back of one of Vachey's antic schemes. Is the offer legit or another trick to ridicule the establishment? To find out, Chris flies to France, meets Vachey and his dissolute son Christian, along with Edmond Froger, director of the Barillot; respected L‚ger expert Jean-Luc Charpentier; and a host of other art VIPs. In the midst of the festive hoopla, someone attacks Chris, a claimant for the Rembrandt surfaces, and Vachey is shot to death. Chris manages to make his decision about the painting, enjoy some Paris time with girlfriend Anne, and solve the murder too. An unpretentious, conversational style, convincing plot, laid- back hero, easy-to-take art-history, and a loving evocation of Paris--in a fresh, funny, thoroughly entertaining story. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

The third installment in Elkins's spirited series featuring Seattle Art Museum curator/detective Chris Norgren was a Mystery Guild main in cloth.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: McArthur & Co / Orion Con Trad
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1857994205
• ISBN 13: 9781857994209
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272