One of the delights of the reading life is finding an unexpected niche subgenre centered around a topic you didn’t realize you were interested in—until a great book opened your eyes. Fine arts thrillers is one such niche subgenre for me. These are exciting mysteries whose plots revolve around art and drama, sculpture and dance, poetry and theater and more. The fine arts element often deepens my appreciation of a story I love or, sometimes, redeems a story I was otherwise not terribly interested in.
A skilled novelist—one who knows about art as well as the craft of writing—can layer the intricacies of the art world upon a page-turning plot, producing a story that satisfies on multiple levels. I get to learn about museum curation, the practice schedules of classical musicians, or the skyrocketing value of modern paintings, all while getting to know characters immersed in this world and coming along for the ride as they navigate the conflicts specific to their stories.
8 fine arts thrillers you won’t want to put down
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The Marriage Portrait
For her latest historical novel, Maggie O’Farrell drew inspiration from Robert Browning’s poem My Last Duchess, widely believed to have been inspired by Alfonso, the Duke of Ferrara. In 1560, a fifteen-year-old girl left Florence to marry Alfonso, becoming Duchess Lucretia di Cosimo de’ Medici d’Este. Less than a year later she’d be dead; the rumor is she was murdered by her husband. This tragic story inspired this puzzle of a novel. Early in the story, as Lucretia sits to have her portrait painted, it’s clear she’s in trouble. She’s unable to give her husband an heir, for reasons that aren't her fault—but that doesn't mean the violent Alfonso won't take his anger out on her. She doesn't know what her husband is capable of, those close to the Duchess tell her, and urge her to develop an escape plan. O’Farrell paints gorgeous scenes in this taut and brilliantly written portrait of what unfolds inside a fraught marriage. More info →
The Girl from Guernica
Pablo Picasso made a powerful statement against war with his masterpiece Guernica, painted after the Basque town was aerial bombed during the Spanish Civil War in 1937. The painting serves as inspiration for this historical novel. American Griff first rescues Sibi from the wreckage and then saves her life once more when he advises her not to tell anyone she saw swastikas on the planes. Germany denies any involvement and the Nazis won’t have any qualms in silencing her and her sisters. Sibi goes on to join the resistance as WWII gets underway, doing what she must to protect her family as the enemy closes in. More info →
The Night Gate
In this gritty thriller, the connection between two murders more than 70 years apart lies in da Vinci's Mona Lisa. When Enzo Macleod investigates the death of a man buried beneath a fallen tree, the case quickly becomes mired in the past, drawing him back to Occupied France. Georgette was tasked to safeguard the Mona Lisa from the Nazis after France falls, and she's pursued by those who want to steal it for Hitler and Göring. But does she have the real painting or a forgery ordered by the Louvre? Macleod will need to discover the answer in order to solve the case. This is the seventh book in The Enzo Files series but it stands just fine on its own. More info →
The Art Forger: A Novel
What would you do if one of the stolen paintings from the infamous 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist was dangled in front of you? Claire reproduces famous works of art but she still longs to paint her own work. When a gallery owner asks her to forge one of the Degas masterpieces stolen from the Gardner in exchange for a show at his gallery, she agrees, only to get embroiled in a mystery spanning centuries when the real stolen Degas painting is delivered to her studio—and she suspects it might be a forgery too. She’ll have to outwit collectors and art thieves alike as she races to discover the truth. More info →
If We Were Villains
This campus mystery, set in the world of the theater and swimming in Shakespeare, begins at the end: Oliver Marks has just been released from jail after serving a ten year sentence, and he's finally ready to tell the truth. But the truth about what? We slowly learn that ten years ago, Oliver was part of a close-knit group of Shakespearean actors at Dellecher Classical Conservatory, where the offstage rivalries and romances hold just as much drama as their performances. Their final year—the one that lands Oliver in prison—reads more like one of Shakespeare's tragedies. This page-turning suspense novel is packed with Shakespeare references, and perfect for fans of Donna Tartt. More info →
Portrait of a Thief
Five Chinese American college students become justice-driven international art thieves in this Ocean’s Eleven-ish heist novel. When he’s made an offer he can't refuse, MIT student Will Chen recruits four brilliant accomplices—all with looming midterms—to fulfill an audacious goal: to break into art museums in five countries, in order to steal back artifacts that were once wrongfully stolen from China. If they succeed, they’ll receive a life-changing $50 million payout. The heist storyline pops and fizzes, but Li crams in plenty of substance alongside her flashy plot: an exploration of identity and belonging, crushing familial expectations, desires, love, and calling, plus meaningful LGBTQ representation and the seamless integration of pandemic realities. Word to the wise: This reads more Hollywood than real life but you’ll enjoy the ride. (This is a 2022 Minimalist Summer Reading Guide pick.) More info →
Portrait of an Unknown Woman
In Daniel Silva’s most recent Gabriel Allon spy novel, all's fair in love and forgery: the retired Israeli intelligence officer emerges from a blissful retirement to investigate the suspicious sale of a newly discovered and extraordinarily valuable painting by an Old Master—or so it seems. Allon soon finds himself in the midst of a deadly game of cat and mouse, as he races to prove the existence of a Ponzi scheme in which forged art is the ultimate collateral. The art crime setting made for an enjoyable read. This is book 22 in the series but it stands on its own just fine. More info →
The Violin Conspiracy
This fine arts thriller begins with a bang: Ray McMillian may be the most talented young musician in the world. Two weeks before the most important competition of his life, he opens his violin case after getting off a flight and discovers his $10 million dollar Stradivarius is gone—replaced by a white Chuck Taylor and a ransom note. I was hooked! Slocumb then takes us back in time to show us how Ray, a young Black man from North Carolina who doesn't have the family wealth or privilege so many of his classical music peers do, fell in love with both music and his great-great grandfather's fiddle, and came to devote his life to winning the Tschaikovsky Competition—and how he came to own a $10 million Strad! We also experience many painful and heart-pounding instances of the racism Ray experiences as a Black man moving through a space that's predominantly white—and how his Blackness is used against him by those who wish to claim his violin as their own. I loved this, and JD Jackson's narration was the icing on the cake. Don’t miss my conversation with the author in WSIRN Episode 351! (This is the Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club January 2023 selection.) More info →
What fine arts thrillers do you recommend? Tell us all about them in the comments section!
P.S. 20 unputdownable mysteries and thrillers to keep you glued to the page, 12 bookish mysteries about bibliophiles and bookstores, and 16 page-turning mysteries that aren’t too dark and gloomy.
59 comments
One of my favorites is The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova — Kostova is one of my favorite authors!
I just finished The Marriage Portrait a few days ago and loved it. It was luscious and captivating and I was rooting for Lucrezia all the way!
The Marriage Portrait is my favorite book of 2022! So beautifully told in audio too.
Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreelan
I am currently reading The Swan Theives although I’m not enjoying it as much as The Historian, which may be a favorite of all time! I also just finished The Marriage Portrait a few days ago.
I loved the art forger!!
I loved the Violin Conspiracy! I’m looking forward to any future books by him.
He has another coming out in April.
“The Bookman’s Tale” by Charlie Lovett may be a little “fine art adjacent”, but it does involve Shakespeare and a portrait.
I’m shocked you didn’t include Estelle Ryan’s Genevieve Lenard series. Each book tackles a different artist and art crime.
I love the Estelle Ryan series so much, and never would have heard of them if someone hadn’t recommended them in the comment section here. Perhaps the recommendation was from you? If so, thank you!
Same! They’re so good.
I just saw that the first book in this series, The Gaugin Collection, is free today on Amazon as an ebook.
This has been a favourite surprise genre discovery of mine this year. I read and loved a few of these on your list, adding a few others to my TBR!
My non-fiction pick for this genre to learn more is Rembrandt is in the Wind.
I love this post! A recent favorite of mine is Lisa Barr’s Woman on Fire. Another, while it might not be a full-on ‘thriller’ it is filled with mystery and tension and high drama in the Nazi era: Stolen Beauty by Laurie Lico Albanese. Similarly, is an older novel by JoJo Moyes, The Girl You Left Behind. And another old fave is The Chrysalis by Heather Terrell (who is one and the same as author Marie Benedict!).
Currently reading con/artist by Tony Tetro. It’s nonfiction-a look at his life as an art forger. The Van Gogh deception series by Deron R Hicks is mid grade action packed novels where the young protagonist must solve art related mysteries. It has a QRC codes that you scan and it takes you to the piece of art that is being discussed.
This is a genre I didn’t know I needed until right this minute! Excited to add these to my list!
Dean Street Press recently reissued the 1950s novels ‘All Done by Kindness’, and ‘My Carravaggio Style’, both by Doris Langley Moore. They deal respectively with machinations in the art world, and the forging of Byron’s memoirs. Both on my tbr list.
The Lost Painting: A Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece by Jonathan Harr.
Women on Fire by Lisa Barr fits nicely into this category!
Playing with Fire by Tess Gerritsen – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25177983
What a fun list! The only one I’ve read so far is The Violin Conspiracy. I really enjoyed that in audiobook format.
The Cellist by Daniel Silva and
Still Life by Louise Penny, both recommended by Anne, fit this list. Also The Feather Thief; it’s nonfiction but would be at home on this list.
Thanks for the suggestions. I’ve read the Art Forger and the Muralist by Shapiro and this is definitely a sub genre I could get into!
Recommendation for a children’s lit art thriller: Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett! I remember reading this as a kid and feeling like it was something super unique and radical, unlike any other book I’d read at the time.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tart which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Amazing book- could not put it down!
I was just thinking where is “The Goldfinch?” 📱🎧
I love this list! My husband and I both love this genre. Here are more titles:
– Nightshade by Annalena McAfee (female artist, psychological)
– Con/Artist by Tony Tetro (nonfiction tales of a real life art forger)
– Still Lives by Maria Hummel (art world)
– The Talented Mrs Farwell by Emily Gray Tedrowe (forgery, double life, long cons)
– The Animals At Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey (historical fiction, natural history exhibit, creepy)
– Temper by Layne Fargo (theater, bad relationships, deceit)
– Stolen Beauty by Laurie Lincoln Albanese (historical fiction about Adele Block Bauer and Gustav Klimt)
“Fake” by Erica Katz is good.
As Art Thrillers, I would recommend the novels of Robertson Davies (especially What’s Bred in the Bone) and Arturo Perez-Reverte (especially The Flanders Panel).
Yes! I loved What’s Bred in the Bone. It has stuck with me for years.
Great choices, I am a fan of Shapiro and If we were villains, but I would add Bel Canto by Ann Patchett and The Glass Room by Simon Mawer – if you believe as I do that architecture can be considered fine art, and the true life thrill of the Bad Ass Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer.
Iain Pears has written a series of art history mysteries featuring Jonathan Argyll, a British art historian. Each book is centered on a different artist and often involve the “Italian Art Theft Squad,” a governmental organizaion.
I second this!
Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto has to be at the top of any list.
Girl With The Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. All her books are wonderful, descriptive and engrossing stories!
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks was wonderful–not exactly a thriller (more bookish)but the way she weaves a century of tales together is well worth reading.
Not thrillers, maybe, but interesting books, well-written.
Steve Martin’s “An Object of Beauty” is about New York’s fine art world.
“Stealing the Show” by John Barelli, who was chief security officer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, details six art thefts at the museum. Fascinating read.
“Fake: The Story of Elmyr de Hory” by Clifford Irving.
Iain Pears’s Jonathan Argyll mystery series features art history mysteries investigated by the Italian Art Police.
“Big Lies in a Small Town” by Diane Chamberlain is a dual timeline mystery, moving back and forth between 1940 and 2018. A troubled young artist tries to figure out why she was chosen to restore an almost 80-year-old mural, and what became of the woman who originally created it. It came out in 2020 and was one of my favorite books of that year.
I loved that book!
One more— “Broken Colors” by Michele Zackheim is a WWII novel with a beautiful cover, but also a great story.
The Flanders Panel by Arturo Perez-Reverte was uneven but still super interesting.
The Bellwether Rhapsody by Kate Racculia. For adults and teens both. It’s about a brother and sister who go to a music festival and get embroiled in an epic murder mystery and all kinds of other plus. Incredible story steeped in music, true love, twisted tales, and a “oh no we’re all trapped in the hotel with a murderer” pace!
The Hare with Amber Eyes, by Edward de Waal is a family memoir that focuses on a collection of carved wood and ivory netsuke (miniature sculptures) passed down through five generations of the Ephrussi family in Odessa, Paris, WW2 Vienna and Japan. The fates of the family members and the netsuke are intertwined. Fascinating.
Sorry that should be Edmund de Waal.
Currently reading ‘Portrait of an unknown woman’ , probably because you recommended it?? 😁
An oldie that I loved is In the Frame by Dick Francis. An artist, horse racing, and a trip to Australia. It was great!
very much enjoyed The Violin Conspiracy.
Not quite fine art but one I just read is Horse by Geraldine Brooks-
New York City, 1954. Martha Jackson, a gallery owner celebrated for taking risks on edgy contemporary painters, becomes obsessed with a nineteenth-century equestrian oil painting of mysterious provenance.
Estelle Ryan’s Genevieve Lenard series. The Modigliani Scandal by Ken Follett
Does Bel Canto count? I learned so much about opera reading that book!
Posession by A.S. Byatt. It’s more than just a thriller including two (!) love stories. And since it’s a mystery about poets, there’s plenty of wonderful original poetry included. Don’t be put off by the book’s Booker Prize 😉
One of the best books I’ve ever read!!
Books by Susan Vreeland
The Passion of Artemisia
details the life of 17th century female painter.
And Girl in Hyacinth Blue which is about a Vermeer painting that transforms the lives of its many owners with its beauty. Both by Susan V
Definitely not a thriller, but there’s a someone-stole-my-art component to Linda Holmes’ Flying Solo. 🙂
YES! I’m delighted that you pointed this out!
Mozart Code by Rachel McMillian
Stolen Lady by Laura Morelli
All of these sound fantastic and I’m adding to my to-read list!
Here are a few of mine about art/paintings although most wouldn’t be thrillers: Tell the Wolves I’m Home, The Girl with the Pearl Earring, Big Lies in a Small Town, The Butterfly and the Violin.
Not a classic thriller, but I feel like Rebecca Makkai’s The Great Believers fits in here. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time worrying about who was going to get AIDS and who was going to escape it, and there is a fine art component. I loved this book so much.
I thought for sure I would see The Turnout by Megan Abbott on this list. So many dirty inside secrets about ballet in that one. So dark and twisty. Yum!
Check out these two authors. They’ve both written more than one art-related novel.
Oil and Marble by Stephanie Storey (about DaVinci and Michelangelo)
Lust For Life by Irving Stone (about Vincent and Theo Van Gogh)