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Inspector Jack Oxby #2
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Imagine if Tom Clancy used high art as a plot vehicle instead of advanced technology; if instead of tracking rogue Russian submarines, Jack Ryan were on the trail of international art thieves. This is the twist Thomas Swan provides in The Cézanne Chase, a novel set in an art world where the stakes are just as high, and the operatives just as ruthless, as in the more familiar crime-fiction universe of espionage and nuclear weapons.
The Cézanne of the title refers to two self-portraits by that painter that are destroyed in an attempt to manipulate the black market in art. In addition to the usual collection of good guys and bad guys, exotic locations and tricky double-crosses, The Cézanne Chase also offers some pretty nifty insights into the nitty-gritty of buying, selling, preserving--and destroying--great works of art.
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First published January 1, 1997
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About the author
Thomas Swan
15 books5 followersTHOMAS SWAN is a past president of the Mystery Writers of America, New York Chapter. Now a full- time writer, he was an ad agency vice president, a senior advertising executive with American Express, a copywriter, and a television producer. He lives in Short Hills, New Jersey.
Series:
* Inspector Jack Oxby
Series:
* Inspector Jack Oxby
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 1, 2022
What a chore! Now I know why this book is the oldest book on my TBR list. i read the first in the series, The DaVinci Deception and frankly wasn’t all that impressed but figured it was the first in the series and usually has a lot of character development involved so I gave the author another shot. The premise is great: mystery set in the art world with one of my favorite artists.. Cezanne. I actually saw his exhibit in Philadelphia years ago and was blown away. Maybe it was the copy that I downloaded. Mistakes everywhere. Repeated sentences and there was one section where the author’s name in CAPS just appeared mid-sentence. Genre books should be quick , mind candy reads… this definitely was not. I deleted the third book in the series from my Kindle.
July 8, 2018
I saw this on the $1 shelf at my local independent bookstore, and thought: a mystery, set in the art world - just my kind of thing. Sooooo... it was that but it's a bit of a chore to read and a genre book should NEVER be a chore. A very few books are so worthwhile that one can put up with dry, uninspired writing and a lumbering pace, but a mystery needs to move! It reminds me of one of my writing teacher who recommended we read bestsellers, even ones with little to no literary merit. "Those writers know how to keep you turning pages, and every writer needs to know how to do that," she said. She was right.
March 11, 2013
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906), a French Impressionist, painted some twenty-six self-portraits in his lifetime. The portraits range from showing a "fiery theatrical self-interpretation of his youth...to a shrunken and timid middle-aged man." Most of these paintings are in prominent museums.
Thomas Swan tells us a tale of the events leading to a 150-year birthday celebration and retrospective of Cezannne's works to take place in January 1989 in Aix-de-Provence, the artist's birthplace. The events concern the international art world and the burning of four Cezanne self-portraits. A painting at The Hermitage in St. Petersburg dissolves before a museum employee's eyes; she weeps. A British collector in Surrey finds his Cezanne deteriorating...the curator of his gallery dead. In the National Gallery off London's Trafalger Square, an attache case burns causing thick, black smoke; moments later an Australian couple informs the guards that something is wrong with a painting. At the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, patrons do not notice a beautiful Scandinavian girl spray the portrait of an artist nearing sixty with a neatly trimmed white beard wearing a floppy beret; they notice the painting when it burns and melts.
This novel is one of a trio of art mysteries by Swan involving England's Arts and Antiques Squad's Detective Jack LeConte Oxby. Oxby likes to do his crime-solving in Westminister Abbey where he often enters into imaginary but spirited debate with John Ruskin and other art critics. After the London escapade, Oxby is called into the case. He follows closely the self-portraits belonging to a trio of private owners...a New York bon-vivant who has inherited his portrait from his grandfather, a British dealer who is trying to sell his to a wealthy Japanese collector, and a French widow. As the portraits race toward display at Aix-de-Provence, Oxby chases them and calls in his counterparts from New York and Paris to help catch a criminal.
Swan knows the international art world well and successfully blends fact and fiction in his tale. At two points in his story he mentions the theft of Edward Degas' "After The Race" from an European museum. Art lovers will realize that the Degas sketch was stolen from the Gardner Museum in Boston a year after the time of THE CEZANNE CHASE.
Other Oxby art mysteries by Thomas Swan are The Final Faberge and The Da Vinci Deception.
Thomas Swan tells us a tale of the events leading to a 150-year birthday celebration and retrospective of Cezannne's works to take place in January 1989 in Aix-de-Provence, the artist's birthplace. The events concern the international art world and the burning of four Cezanne self-portraits. A painting at The Hermitage in St. Petersburg dissolves before a museum employee's eyes; she weeps. A British collector in Surrey finds his Cezanne deteriorating...the curator of his gallery dead. In the National Gallery off London's Trafalger Square, an attache case burns causing thick, black smoke; moments later an Australian couple informs the guards that something is wrong with a painting. At the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, patrons do not notice a beautiful Scandinavian girl spray the portrait of an artist nearing sixty with a neatly trimmed white beard wearing a floppy beret; they notice the painting when it burns and melts.
This novel is one of a trio of art mysteries by Swan involving England's Arts and Antiques Squad's Detective Jack LeConte Oxby. Oxby likes to do his crime-solving in Westminister Abbey where he often enters into imaginary but spirited debate with John Ruskin and other art critics. After the London escapade, Oxby is called into the case. He follows closely the self-portraits belonging to a trio of private owners...a New York bon-vivant who has inherited his portrait from his grandfather, a British dealer who is trying to sell his to a wealthy Japanese collector, and a French widow. As the portraits race toward display at Aix-de-Provence, Oxby chases them and calls in his counterparts from New York and Paris to help catch a criminal.
Swan knows the international art world well and successfully blends fact and fiction in his tale. At two points in his story he mentions the theft of Edward Degas' "After The Race" from an European museum. Art lovers will realize that the Degas sketch was stolen from the Gardner Museum in Boston a year after the time of THE CEZANNE CHASE.
Other Oxby art mysteries by Thomas Swan are The Final Faberge and The Da Vinci Deception.
September 11, 2021
Paul Cézanne painted twenty-six self-portraits. One owned by the London National Gallery, one owned by Alan Pinkster and one owned by the Hermitage have all be destroyed by an acidic chemical sprayed on them. Who and why?
Detective Inspector Jack Oxby of Scotland Yard Arts and Antiquities Squad is called in to find the culprits and find out why it was done. He enlists the help of American Edwin Llewellyn, who owns one of the Cézannes — one that has never been seen by the public.
Suspicion is that the vandalism is done in an effort to drive up the prices of Cézanne’s work, as Cézanne has recently become an interesting artist to the super high end buyers.
The destruction of the Pinkster piece puts interest on Pinkster, as he is known as one of the major players in the high-end market. Also as rumour has it, he is in deep financial debt and needs to make some fast cash.
The characters are interesting. The main antagonist, has a vast knowledge of chemistry, a drive to destroy the work, a coldness of attitude. The woman assists him in the destruction of art works does so to gain love and affection.
Oxby is of the methodical school of investigation and is also well versed in the world of art. Even if he doesn’t care for the particular artist, he does care about solving the crime.
Detective Inspector Jack Oxby of Scotland Yard Arts and Antiquities Squad is called in to find the culprits and find out why it was done. He enlists the help of American Edwin Llewellyn, who owns one of the Cézannes — one that has never been seen by the public.
Suspicion is that the vandalism is done in an effort to drive up the prices of Cézanne’s work, as Cézanne has recently become an interesting artist to the super high end buyers.
The destruction of the Pinkster piece puts interest on Pinkster, as he is known as one of the major players in the high-end market. Also as rumour has it, he is in deep financial debt and needs to make some fast cash.
The characters are interesting. The main antagonist, has a vast knowledge of chemistry, a drive to destroy the work, a coldness of attitude. The woman assists him in the destruction of art works does so to gain love and affection.
Oxby is of the methodical school of investigation and is also well versed in the world of art. Even if he doesn’t care for the particular artist, he does care about solving the crime.
July 26, 2020
“She stood as if transfixed by a power flowing off the canvas. Then she cried, and her arms fell to her side. She dropped to her knees and sobbed”
Original ideas that unfortunately never came together in the end...the author just skipped across the surface of what could have been a beautiful seascape. I’m always up for a fine art novel or mystery and one set on the French Riviera...the inspiration for so many European artists, not just Cezanne, seemed so promising. But characters were dimensionless, the plot slow and meandering and there were no existential depths of meaning to ponder...Not to mention a totally unsatisfying ending....I’m left still asking questions about Cezanne’s self-portraits, his life on the Med, the underground and Asian art market and the intricate motivations of the thieves....I guess I’m at least thinking about them now...
Original ideas that unfortunately never came together in the end...the author just skipped across the surface of what could have been a beautiful seascape. I’m always up for a fine art novel or mystery and one set on the French Riviera...the inspiration for so many European artists, not just Cezanne, seemed so promising. But characters were dimensionless, the plot slow and meandering and there were no existential depths of meaning to ponder...Not to mention a totally unsatisfying ending....I’m left still asking questions about Cezanne’s self-portraits, his life on the Med, the underground and Asian art market and the intricate motivations of the thieves....I guess I’m at least thinking about them now...
December 3, 2019
Детектив? Про искусство? Дайте два!
Так я думала, когда решила послушать эту книгу, а в результате страшно разочаровалась.
По-моему, нужен особый талант, чтобы написать книгу, которая одновременно была бы и запутанной и совершенно без интриги; была бы зубодробительно подробной в некоторых деталях типа стрелок на брюках, обивки кресла или модели фотоаппарата и при этом совершенно сумбурной в событиях; в которой было бы миллион ненужных и бесполезных персонажей, встречающихся ровно на три строчки, а главные герои при этом были бы абсолютно картонными и неправдоподобными. Впрочем, неправдоподобно в этой книге было все.
Так я думала, когда решила послушать эту книгу, а в результате страшно разочаровалась.
По-моему, нужен особый талант, чтобы написать книгу, которая одновременно была бы и запутанной и совершенно без интриги; была бы зубодробительно подробной в некоторых деталях типа стрелок на брюках, обивки кресла или модели фотоаппарата и при этом совершенно сумбурной в событиях; в которой было бы миллион ненужных и бесполезных персонажей, встречающихся ровно на три строчки, а главные герои при этом были бы абсолютно картонными и неправдоподобными. Впрочем, неправдоподобно в этой книге было все.
June 5, 2017
Demasiados personajes que me perdía entre quién era quien pero me mantuvo entretenida
March 28, 2018
Always enjoy and "art mystery"!
March 11, 2019
An interesting story about the intriguing world of high-priced art.......
May 11, 2024
es como un libro de dan brown pero malo y aburrido
Read
August 2, 2025DNF
July 21, 2022
⭐⭐⭐💫 3.5/5
Este relato eata repleto de arte, y junto con las peripecias criminalísticas del inspector Oxby transporta al lector directo a la mesa de un investigador. Mostrando todos los detalles de la historia y las complicadas relaciones de intereses este triller logró sorprenderme.🤩
Definitivamente lo que más se destaca el libro es el impresionante desarrollo de los hechos. Conocemos a muchos muchos personajes (en mi guía de personajes figuran 38😲) y cada uno aporta su "grano de arena" para que la investigación siga su curso. Es enriquecedor para la historia, porque en la vida real no hay solo 5 personas que se ocupan de todo, sino que son muchas las manos por las que pasa un objeto; y estas diferentes manos que interfieren en la investigación hacen a un relato real y le confieren un magnífico carácter descriptivo. 🥰
Pero esta misma característica es la que termina por "autosabotear" el libro.¿Como hace un autor para que en esta maraña de personajes el lector pueda concentrar su atención en las pocas personas que mueven la historia?🙉 Tiene atisbos de un intento por destacar ciertos personajes y su desarrollo; pero igualmente uno se marea con la cantidad de personajes y termina resultando un relato indiferente para el lector. Destaco, sobre todo, la trama de Hastrid Haralsen y como el escritor plasma sus problemas.😬
Un último aspecto importante del libro, fue la cantidad de referencias a pinturas y obras de arte que se hicieron a lo largo del libro. Cobraron protagonismo las tramas debido a que me resultaba sumamente interesante las pinturas y dibujos; y llama la atención cómo un mercado sucio y deshonesto como el tráfico de piezas robados pueda fusionarse con la exquisitez y la pureza de las obras artísticas clásicas🌄😲
Este relato eata repleto de arte, y junto con las peripecias criminalísticas del inspector Oxby transporta al lector directo a la mesa de un investigador. Mostrando todos los detalles de la historia y las complicadas relaciones de intereses este triller logró sorprenderme.🤩
Definitivamente lo que más se destaca el libro es el impresionante desarrollo de los hechos. Conocemos a muchos muchos personajes (en mi guía de personajes figuran 38😲) y cada uno aporta su "grano de arena" para que la investigación siga su curso. Es enriquecedor para la historia, porque en la vida real no hay solo 5 personas que se ocupan de todo, sino que son muchas las manos por las que pasa un objeto; y estas diferentes manos que interfieren en la investigación hacen a un relato real y le confieren un magnífico carácter descriptivo. 🥰
Pero esta misma característica es la que termina por "autosabotear" el libro.¿Como hace un autor para que en esta maraña de personajes el lector pueda concentrar su atención en las pocas personas que mueven la historia?🙉 Tiene atisbos de un intento por destacar ciertos personajes y su desarrollo; pero igualmente uno se marea con la cantidad de personajes y termina resultando un relato indiferente para el lector. Destaco, sobre todo, la trama de Hastrid Haralsen y como el escritor plasma sus problemas.😬
Un último aspecto importante del libro, fue la cantidad de referencias a pinturas y obras de arte que se hicieron a lo largo del libro. Cobraron protagonismo las tramas debido a que me resultaba sumamente interesante las pinturas y dibujos; y llama la atención cómo un mercado sucio y deshonesto como el tráfico de piezas robados pueda fusionarse con la exquisitez y la pureza de las obras artísticas clásicas🌄😲
February 6, 2017
This is a wonderfully complex story with enjoyable characters. There is good insight into both good and bad guys. This is a well researched story involving the Paul Cezanne self portraits. I recommend this story to any reader who enjoys a cerebral protagonist. It is streamlined and well written without a lot of adverbs or excessively descriptive language. Thomas Swan ably allows his readers to know what his characters are thinking. I plan to read the remaining 2 novels in this series.
That said, know that this is my favorite genre.
That said, know that this is my favorite genre.
September 14, 2014
Wish this book had more about the painter and was less a detective story only using the portrait of the artist like a coveted piece of bling in a jewelry heist. A confusing number of characters, major and minor, all overly described in detail, as were all the many locations in which the events take place. A somewhat tedious read. Sorry.
May 18, 2015
Read this for my mystery book club. While I didn't enjoy the violence, I was fascinated by the peek into the world of high-priced art. I didn't know about the fact that big museums have registrars to check works in and out of the museum. How a painting can be replicated was pretty interesting too. Swan has a couple other art-related mysteries, and I'll look for them.
October 17, 2015
Nothing creative or interesting here: contrived, who-cares, stick-man characters with phony emotions and a slip-shod plot with all the familiar tropes.
May 20, 2015
Good story but choppy.
Hard to keep track of the good guys.
NO character to relate to.
Cezanne self portraits are destroyed.
Hard to keep track of the good guys.
NO character to relate to.
Cezanne self portraits are destroyed.
August 10, 2015
I didn't finish this book. The premise of the story was interesting but the story was hard to follow and the level of detail bogged down the story rather than enriching the story.
September 13, 2010
Slow and confusing.
April 27, 2016
Interesting premise. Good mystery. Well written.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews