by Peter Mayle
First published 1997
When a priceless Cezanne painting vanishes from a French country house, inept art expert Michel Rougier is hired to track it down. Rougier's bungling investigation leads him on a madcap chase across the Provençal countryside, evading shady art dealers, grasping heirs, and a relentless insurance investigator. As Rougier closes in on the elusive canvas, he discovers that recovering the lost masterpiece may come at a heavy personal cost.
Genres: fiction, art, mystery, crime, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: bungling-investigator, cat-and-mouse
Setting: Southern France
295 pages · Hardcover · Knopf