Death and the Old Master

Set in the rarefied atmosphere of a Cambridge college, this excellent mystery has Detective Chief Inspector Arthur St. Just interrogating a wide assortment of characters—from the college porters to art historians, from curators to super-rich American graduate students—all to discover who killed Sir Flyte Rascallian, the master of his college and a renowned art historian. Why kill Rascallian? Because, we are led to believe, he may have recently inherited a Rembrandt, unleashing no end of speculation. Excellent art mysteries are always rich in atmosphere and complex in plot, and Death and the Old Master does not disappoint, bringing the reader as far back as the Monument Men (and Women) who worked during World War II to recover and restore stolen cultural treasures. A sophisticated and effortless read that is one of Malliet’s very best.