The Vermeer Deception: An Art Mystery

Zelda Richardson Mystery #4

by Jennifer S. Alderson

An art historian finds - then loses - a portrait by Johannes Vermeer in this thrilling art mystery set in Munich, Heidelberg, and Amsterdam.
When Zelda Richardson investigates a new lead about a missing portrait by Johannes Vermeer, no one expects her to actually find the painting in a retired art dealer's home in Munich, Germany. Not her parents visiting from America; her boss, private detective Vincent de Graaf; or the rightful owner of the Nazi-looted artwork.
However, Zelda's jubilation turns to horror when she arrives to pick up the portrait and finds the art dealer dead and several frames smoldering in his fireplace.
Was the Vermeer a fake and its 'discovery' a cruel joke played on a Nazi victim? The Munich police, Zelda's family, and Vincent certainly think so. Yet the art dealer's best friend believes he was murdered and the real Vermeer stolen by an underground network of art looters, one established during World War II and still active today. The problem is, no one believes him - except Zelda.
Zelda soon finds herself in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with immoral art collectors, corrupt dealers, and an all-to-real killer who wants her to stop searching.
Can Zelda uncover the truth about the Vermeer before she is painted out of the picture permanently?
The Vermeer Deception is Book 4 in the Zelda Richardson Mystery Series. The novels in this series can be read in any order.
PLEASE This is a revised edition of the originally published novel. (Updated August 2022)

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Art, Mystery Thriller, Ebooks, Amazon

190 pages, Paperback

Published April 10, 2020

About the author

Hi! I am an American expat currently living in Amsterdam. After traveling extensively around Asia, Oceania, and Central America, I moved to Darwin, Australia, before finally settling in the Netherlands. When not writing, you can find me in a museum, biking around Amsterdam, or enjoying a coffee along the canal while planning my next research trip.

My love of travel, art, and culture inspires my award-winning Zelda Richardson Art Mystery series, Travel Can Be Murder Cozy Mysteries, and Carmen De Luca Art Sleuth Mysteries.

Connect with me here on Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram, or my website.

Thanks for stopping by!

Reviews

[Roberta Cheadle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Vermeer Deception is another great read by Jennifer S. Alderson. Zelda is working for private investigator, Vincent de Graaf, who specialises in the recovery of missing artworks. Vincent has opened an additional office in Croatia and the new business is not taking off as quickly or as successfully as he had hoped. His frequent travelling is also putting stress and strain on his marriage.

Zelda is finding her job with Vincent less engaging than she had expected and is considering looking for another position in an art museum. In order to keep her occupied, Vincent assigns her a query about a missing Vermeer which is thought to have been looted by the Nazi's. Zelda is due to go on holiday with her parents, who have come out form the USA, and Jacob, her boyfriend. She should put her Vermeer investigation on hold until the end of the two week holiday, but she can't resist a little bit of probing which results in her being pulled into the mysterious death of a well know art dealer and a ring of Nazi looted artworks traders called the Network.

Zelda's preoccupation with her investigation causes her a lot of grief from her parents and Jacob. I didn't like Jacob's sulky and childish behavior in this book and really went off him as a character. I though his attitude towards Zelda and her aspirations and career were rather shameful and I wanted her to get rid of him. I much prefer the character of her friend, Fredrick. This aspect of the book did impact on my enjoyment of the story because I found myself so irritated with Jacob.

Zelda's character ran true to form in all aspects, except for her relationship with Jacob. She is independent and high spirited and this is what I most admire about her and one of my chief pleasures in reading this series. I love her spunk and determination. It is a pity her choices in men are so poor. Of course, that is my personal opinion, other readers may not be remotely disturbed by this aspect of the story.

The author's understanding of art and excellent research come to the for once more in this book and I really enjoyed the descriptions of the various artworks and the mystery surrounding the dealers and the Network. The author explains where her inspiration for this story came from at the end of this book and that was also very interesting and added value to my enjoyment of this story.

[Janice Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this story! When an author knows their subject, the reader benefits and learning about the art history of WWII thefts, then weaving a compassionate mystery around the reality made for a terrific read. History feels real in Book 4 of this series. It's been fun to watch Zelda maturing, finding her way and setting her goals. I wanted to smack her mother, she was determined to direct her daughter's life, unable to accept she was a young, working adult. Zelda was on a mission, determined to bring justice where justice had been denied and the suspense held me until the last page. Hope the author has more art history/mystery manuscripts in the works.

[Cathy Cole · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love art and art history. When I came across The Vermeer Deception, I couldn't resist reading it. "Art history mysteries" are one of my favorite subgenres of the mystery world. (Iain Pears' Jonathan Argyll mysteries like The Bernini Bust are wonderful.) However, I found Jennifer Alderson's book to be mostly annoying.

The one thing I did enjoy about the book was the information I gleaned about the men Hitler sent out to loot Europe of its art treasures. That was good. Unfortunately, that was the only thing. By the fourth book in a series, the doubts about a person's abilities should be dying out. Not here. No one-- not even her boss-- thought she knew what she was doing. Personally, I'd ask Vincent the boss that, if she's so inept, why is she still on the payroll? The other characters, like Zelda's mother and boyfriend, were also infuriating, and finding errors such as arms that were flaying instead of flailing didn't help.

The ending, which isn't tied up in a neat little bow, didn't bother me. What bothered me the most were the characterizations and a rather amateurish writing style. Needless to say, I'll be looking for art history mysteries elsewhere.

[Elizabeth M Houlihan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most interesting novel. Well-written basically exploring the extensive collection of stolen art work from WW2 by the Nazis following incarceration of Jewish family households. The setting is the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. The protagonist, Zelda, is delightful and determined. A fine heroine. There is sadness in the novel but Zelda's commitment to locate a Vermeer and return it to its rightful owner is touching and results in numerous revelations. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it because it is rooted on fact but Alderson creates the drama, which makes it good fiction.

[Pamela Allegretto · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I pick up a Jennifer S. Alderson book, I know I’m going to find not only an interesting storyline but the bonus of an informative travelogue woven into the narrative. This time its Munich, Heidelberg, and Amsterdam. The characters are interesting and complex, even Zelda’s mother and boyfriend/fiancée landed in my “antagonists” column.

[Elizabeth Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zelda is finding her job as assistant to Art Investigator Vincent de Graaf rather boring, but while Vincent is in Croatia, she finds a clue to a Vermeer painting, stolen by the Nazis during the war. However, she must devote her time to her parents who have finally flown over from the States to visit her in Amsterdam. After a week, the family travel to Munich with Zoe’s boyfriend, Jacob, for more sightseeing. Finding herself in the street where she believes the missing painting might be, she can’t resist calling in. Here she meets Kurt Weber, the son of a wartime looter, now intending to return some of the paintings before he dies of terminal cancer. But he is part of a network of descendants of the original Mühlmann Network and the other members have no intention of allowing him to betray them.
Zelda is stuck between the increasing anger of her mother and the evil intent of art dealers Max and Brigitte. When Kurt is found dead and there is no sign of the Vermeer painting, neither Vincent nor the police will believe there has been foul play.
The story gives us a guided tour of the Windmills of Zaanse Schans, the city of Munich and the castle in Heidelberg. The story behind the plot is based in truth and we can understand why Zelda is so anxious to solve the mystery. Bravely venturing into danger causes a rift between Zelda and her boyfriend but we are rooting for her success. I was surprised by events in the final chapter and hope more will be revealed in a subsequent volume of Zelda’s adventures.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you were intrigued by The Girl with the Pearl Earring, you might be tempted to read this art mystery about tracking down a missing Vermeer painting, long ago seized by the Nazis from its Jewish owners. The story reveals a network of art dealers who have held on to a number of valuable collections which their families had rescued and saved from the Nazis, but which they are now secretly holding for their own greedy purposes.
The story would appear to have it all — mystery, intrigue, victory over the Nazis, and romance involving a young researcher working for a Dutch art private investigator. Unfortunately, the writing is so pedestrian that it is a real slog to get through. The choice of details to include and omit really reduce the reading pleasure. Maybe a good editor could have helped.
This is part of a series of art mysteries. I won’t be reading any more.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Vermeer Deception

I enjoyed this book. It has interesting characters and the story is intriguing. It is part of a series but can be read alone. Even though it's only 177 pages, the author does a good job of getting you invested into the characters and storyline. I rarely give a book a 5-star rating , it has to be one I would highly recommend others to read and one I enjoyed very much.

[Lee Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

racing to save a painting

The story/adventure never lets you rest. The descriptions of the towns and landscapes are easy to visualize. I enjoy Zelda's enthusiasm and tenacity to find answers.

[Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh

I expected more historical truth. Not too pleased with the plot here. Finding a better Author for historical background. BAh

[Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

so much interesting stuff makes one think about how the past cannot just pss

[Thajudheen · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Vermeer Deception is a novel about a (fictional) painting by Johannes Vermeer that was lost during World Ward II. Zelda Richardson, our protagonist, investigates a claim regarding this painting and stumbles into a wider conspiracy involving an art looting network from the WW2 era.

Although this is classified by the publishers as a mystery thriller, I'm having a lot of difficulty placing it into that genre. Nowhere in the novel did I feel a sense of heightened tension, where the protagonists seemed to be in actual danger. The antagonists are depicted as sort-of-evil, in a 'will kill to protect our secret' kind of way, but Zelda is oblivious to the Network's presence for the bulk of the novel and vice versa. The antagonists could very well have been a random evil organization from another part of the world (and they kind of are).

The other main problem I had is with the novel's pacing. Out of 40 chapters, 39 deal with the plot at a very slow pace. There's a lot of build-up from the art dealer Kurt Weber's perspective, as he thinks of correcting his wrongs prior to his death, and on the other side.... Zelda goes on a European trip with her parents. Zelda's trip takes up a fair chunk of writing, but this ultimately felt like a plot device to have Zelda in the same country as our antagonists so that they could 'coincidentally' stumble into each other. I think the main problem here was the lack of stakes on Zelda's side - she's literally just looking for a missing painting and has no idea that it's in the possession of a criminal network along with hundreds of other missing pieces of art. What's even worse is that she never figures it out - Zelda's boss dismisses the Network as a rumor all the way up to the last chapter. What's left here is a weird gap, where the protagonist and antagonists barely have any contact with each other.

The last chapter has a completely different set of problems. It picks up months after the end of chapter 39, where the antagonists had the upper hand. Chapter 40 mentions something about how Zelda and her boss Vincent tracked down a series of informants over the next few months that led them to the arrest of the primary antagonist. And those few sentences regarding a several-months-long investigation are all that we have to bridge the gap between chapters 39 and 40. I'm still struggling to understand how a mystery novel can actually skip the part about the investigation into the mystery.

I also did not get much insight into Zelda as a character, but that could be because of this being the fourth book in a series, and I haven't read the previous ones.

There are a few great descriptions spread out through the narrative - of European castles and landmarks and even some of the art. There's a genuine sense of wonder and awe to these paragraphs, which felt nice.

As a whole though, I can't recommend this book since I feel that it doesn't do justice to the 'mystery thriller' tag.

[Pontiki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zelda is looking into a lost Vermeer painting that might have been looted during the war. The looter’s son, Kurt, has felt guilty because his father saved numerous works from Hitler but didn’t return them to their rightful owners, instead keeping them for himself.

Similarly, others did the same thing and formed the Network, a system of secrecy and trade, so that all of them are rich. Anyone dissenting is disposed of, with Max being one of the most ruthless.

Kurt is dying and wants to do the right thing and see the paintings returned and The Network exposed. Zelda’s timely search leads her to Kurt, and as his friends are killed, then he himself is murdered, she won’t let go of the trail.

Meanwhile, her boss Vincent doesn’t believe in The Network until things fall into place. In and around the mystery, Zelda’s parents come for a visit and Jacob, her boyfriend, proposes.

This is a good story, but the execution is lacking in some areas. Zelda is too distracted when her family visits, and Vincent is too skeptical to follow leads he should.

I had high hopes for this book, and it turned out to be average.

[J Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting mix of crime and history

Zelda Richardson has a hard time following orders. She decides to pursue the case of a missing painting when the retired art dealer she was meeting with turns up dead of an apparent suicide. Her boss, private detective Vincent de Graaf sees no reason to doubt the cause of death. Zelda’s parents have flown to Europe and want her to leave the case alone and spend holiday time with them. Only her boyfriend, Jacob, is supportive of her quest to find the Nazi-looted painting.

Overall, the book is a good crime novel. There were some interesting plot twists and subplots. I did not find Vincent to be very believable for a PI. He seemed more set on avoiding the case than pursuing it.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The temptation to rate this book 2 stars was really strong. I rounded up to 3. Although I'm familiar with the Nazis looting valuable items (not just art!) from the Jews and other groups, this book took the story beyond just the looting. I was sad to see just a passing reference to the "Monuments Men." this group of allies, not all soldiers, took so many risks to preserve treasured artworks for the future.

By the second half of the book I had become truly disappointed. If someone was a problem, the author just killed them off until the next problem. My hopes in the early chapters of "The Vermeer Deception" disappeared about a third of the way through. I did finish the book in the hope that things would improve but they did not.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Zelda Richardson and the research in these books is excellent. As Zelda plans to take a vacation with her parents and her boyfriend, she finds herself chasing after a Vermeer that had been stolen during World War II by the Nazis. Astonishing herself, she locates the Vermeer and the elderly owner says he will give it back to the family if they can provide proper documentation. When Zelda returns with the papers, the owner is dead from a fall down a flight of stairs and the Vermeer is missing.

As much as I enjoyed the background, I felt the ending was a bit unsatisfying and abrupt. Maybe the next book will explain what happens next.

[Leonor Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

What's not to love when your focus is Vermeer

If you enjoy reading about lost art works, this is your book. Who can pass up the idea of chasing after a lost masterpiece? A short read which, unfortunately, is partly based on reality. Sadly there so many works which have never been returned to the families who were robbed of their lives and possessions during WWII which makes this short novel plausible. We must never forget what done to the Jews of Europe. Additionally we must not forget that there are people who will buy stolen works for their own gratification. These reasons alone makes this novel with anyone's time.

[Debbie Rathert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stolen Art Mystery

If you’re a fan of books related to the great artists, you’ll enjoy this. A mystery about a stolen Vermeer ties Nazi art thefts to those who decided to save some it by diverting it. It presents a moral dilemma in that it raises the question "whose art is it?" I have to admit I gave it a 4 star rating because I found it an easy, and if somewhat predictable read. I like lots of twists and turns, more historical information but I may be more unusual than most. You’ll enjoy the story regardless of your proclivities. It’s worth your time.

[Keith Withers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heart pounding action

An art detective and his assistant are only the trail of stolen artworks. A lot of these works were stolen during and following Nazi arrested families in the second world war. A group of unscrupulous art collectors, The Network, are still trading works stolen by their parents and grandparents all those years ago. The story brings out the horrendous details of these criminals who hold a vicious sway over the art marketing of forged and/or valuable masterpieces. Riveting action throughout with many innocent lives lost to the Network.

[Jerry Summers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zelda now works for Vincent and she is on a hunt for a lost Vermeer. Can she uncover a Network of Nazi looters? This one is set in Amsterdam and Munich as Zelda has family over. I remember visiting many of the Munich sites and Neuschwanstein is breathtaking. I agree that Disney did find inspiration for his castles there.

Every painting was a puzzle piece that fit perfectly into someone’s family history. The more puzzles they could fill the better the world would be.

[Adele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Makes You Wonder

The topic of this story wasn’t something I ever thought about, but now I can’t stop thinking about it. For some reason I knew the Monument Men had recovered artwork, but had no idea so much more was still to be reclaimed. Thank you Jennifer for making me aware of such an horrific injustice. Too bad there isn’t an amnesty program for artwork like they have for guns. Guess I need to start at book 1 of this series!

[Dianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute premise: Zelda works for Vincent, a private detective searching for art works stolen by the Nazis so they can be returned to their rightful owners. But Zelda finds herself enmeshed in danger and mystery when she follows up a lead that brings her to Kurt, who has a Vermeer painting she and Vincent have been searching for, and plunges her deeply into an investigation of the Network. The story gets murkier and more unbelievable as the story develops.

[Diane Wachter · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Art Mystery, Zelda Richardson Series, EBk-M, Kindle. @ 2019, read 6/2/20. Fiction, mystery, Nazi occupied countries, missing art, restitution. A network of art gallery owners, specializing in stolen masterpieces, is hounded by an art investigator and his naive assistant. Good story, but not much of a mystery. Will probably look for more in the series. 3☆'s = Good.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zelda gets in over her head in Germany and the Netherlands.

Zelda is over the moon excited at the upcoming visit from her parents. She is supposed to be on vacation playing tour guide . But, once again she starts acting beyond her job description.
Alderson delves deep into the nasty world of looted art and vividly describes parts of the Netherlands and Germany.

[Rosemary Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chasing a picture that had been confiscated by the Nazi's in WWII, the paperwork led to a certain German Art Dealer. Although he was no longer alive, his gallery was still in operation.
However, there's a lot more going on than one missing piece of artwork. There's a whole network of 3rd generation art dealers, that have a lot to loose, if their secret gets out.

[Murray Brockman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great premise, exciting start, but...

I thought it was going to be great but the author had great difficulty explaining why the hero didn't do the obvious next step. She settled for a stupid male boss, with whom the hero bickers incessantly. Bickering is just as tiresome in novels as in life.

[Martie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun Mystery

Another fun mystery! Ms. Alderson’s descriptive talent makes you want to go visit Germany and visit the sites she describes.

[Colin Devonshire · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Sister Is The Artist

Because my sister was studying art at college it got me interested. This book brings back great memories. Should I start painting?

[p mondini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vermeer Deception

An interesting novel with fun characters, but it ends rather abruptly leaving some loose ends in the fictional finish of the
story.

[patricia sendelbach · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read with references to The Monument Men.