The Man Who Stole the Mona Lisa
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
The Marquis de Valfierno spent his life preparing to become the man who stole the Mona Lisa. We are introduced to him in Buenos Aires, where the criminal mastermind with exquisite taste in art and women has built a highly profitable business selling fake religious masterpieces to grieving widows. A botched love affair forces him to head for Mexico City, where he discovers new ventures and greater profits for his art. In Mexico, he begins to assemble the team that will move with him to Paris. He enlists such talents as those of Yves Chaudron, a master painter without a touch of creative instinct; young Miguel, a crippled street urchin; and Mme Renard, a savvy woman of many faces.
Valfierno will move his team to the scene of the crime, Paris. There he is tempted by nothing more than the imminent theft of the world's most celebrated painting. He could not have anticipated that this theft would be but the beginning.
The Man Who Stole the Mona Lisa is a beautifully written blend of mystery and history. Robert Noah artfully guides his readers through the turns of an intrigue-filled and delicious story.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Based on an actual 1911 attempt to steal the world's most famous work of art, this intricate, fable-like yarn concerns the Marquis de Valfierno, an urbane Buenos Aires swindler, and his partner in crime, a master painter who can only copy other people's work. After the duplicitous duo successfully steal and forge several prominent masterpieces in Mexico City, Valfierno sets his sights on the Mona Lisa. The plot acquires a romantic angle when the marquis marries a much younger Brazilian and finds himself providing for a family. Noah's (All the Right Answers) descriptions of the cat-and-mouse games of an art thief are consistently entertaining, but it's the elaborate fantasy atmosphere that makes the machinations work. The intriguing cast of secondary characters includes the young cripple who performs the actual thefts, the barber who organizes the marquis's affairs and the blackmailer who tries to capitalize on the loss of the Louvre's showcase piece. The decision to present the climactic theft before the final resolution robs the book of some momentum, but this charming tale should delight art lovers as well as readers who love a creative caper.
