Old Scores: A Chris Norgren Mystery [Hardcover]

Aaron J. Elkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1993

When a well-known French collector donates a Rembrandt to the museum, curator Chris Norgren travels to Europe on a fact-finding trip that takes a sinister turn. By the author of A Glancing Light and Make No Bones.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Seattle Art Museum curator Chris Norgren falls prey to the lure of a newly discovered Rembrandt in this third in a spirited series (after A Glancing Light ). He also topples head-first out of a second-story window, but the nasty fall is happily blunted by a conveniently located car. Acquiring art isn't usually perilous, but anything is possible when the work is in the care of French dealer Rene Vachey, notorious for passing off thefts as publicity stunts. Vachey has offered the Rembrandt--if it really is a Rembrandt--as a gift to Chris's museum, with a veritable spider's web of strings attached. He will, however, permit only a cursory viewing and explicitly forbids scientific authentication. Chris, adrift in France, far from the arms of his girl, feels pretty sure that the painting is the genuine article. But after Vachey is murdered, his claim to have found the Rembrandt in a junk shop suddenly seems dubious; moreover, his employees have excellent motives to dislike him, several art experts have been burned by his outrageous exploits, and he even has that old crime fiction favorite, a deadbeat son recently dunned out of his dad's dough in a suspect will. Elkins wields all this with indecent ease, keeping the laugh count high and imparting copious amounts of art lore along the way. Mystery Guild main selection.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus 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.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 242 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; First Edition edition (May 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684195518
• ISBN-13: 978-0684195513
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,127,408 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Mystery - Art Related, March 4, 2006

By 

Mary Davis (Southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Old Scores: A Chris Norgren Mystery (Hardcover)

If you love mysteries dealing with art then you will love this book. Chris Norgren is a curator for the Seattle Art Museum and he gets involved in some interesting adventures.

Pick up this book or one of the others in the series, I am sure you will agree with me that it is well worth your time. It is an interesting read.

Aaron Elkins wrote three books in the Chris Norgren series: "Old Scores", "A Deceptive Clarity" and "Glancing Light".

I wish Mr. Elkins would continue the series.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Art Mystery, July 22, 2002

By 

Alicia K. Ahlvers "alibrarian" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Old Scores (Mass Market Paperback)

When eccentric art patron, Rene Vachey, decides to donate an original Rembrandt to the Seattle Art Museum, curator Chris Norgren is cautious. Rene is known for playing tricks on museums and making them look silly so Chris flies to France to inspect the painting. Shortly after he arrives, he is thrown out a window and later that night, Rene is murdered. Fearing that the painting may be the reason for the murder, Chris starts to investigate. I love this series because of the way that Aaron Elkins shows artwork through the eyes of Chris Norgren as well as for the good mystery.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Chris Norgren Mystery..., January 5, 2009

By 

Judy Smith "judylynnsbooks" (jamestown, ky United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Old Scores (A Chris Norgren Mystery) (Paperback)

A famous art collector wants to give the Seattle Art Museum an original Rembrandt...so why isn't Chris Norgren, curator of Renaissance and Baroque Art, smiling? Perhaps because the gift seems too good to be true. The collector is the elderly Rene Vachey, one of the art world's most controversial eccentrics. The Rembrandt has come out of nowhere...in fact, from a Paris junk shop...with no known history of ownership. Vachey will let Chris examine the painting, but he's not allowed to make scientific tests before he officially accepts the painting for the museum. Could the whole episode be a cruel hoax? In attempting to find out Chris must use all his wits and expertise in a perplexing quest for a killer, the evaluation of a painting, and the untangling of a complex man's many layered past.