Art Crime

Max the Forger is an artist and gentleman whose colorful lifestyle has spanned over 70 years. He has lived under the strict regime of Barnardo’s children’s homes, been an elephant handler in the circus, lived rough, busked his way from Brighton to Bombay, sold his fakes up and down the country, dined with dukes, socialized with celebrities, associated with gangsters, served time in prison, and donated tens of thousands to charity. And through it all, he never stopped smiling, and loving life - and missing his mum.

Crime and Punishment, and Notes from Underground are two of the most famous novels written by Fyodor Dostoevsky, a Russian author widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. These three books, in particular, are often cited as among his greatest works.

When their son Arthur mysteriously vanishes in the idyllic village of Kenwood, Emily and Derek are plunged into a heart-pounding race against time to uncover the truth behind his disappearance. As the facade of their once-perfect community crumbles, the couple must navigate a treacherous web of deceit and betrayal, testing the very meaning of family and trust. Discover the chilling secret that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about this seemingly peaceful village.

How do you catch a killer who thinks murder is art? Michael Fisher sees himself as an artist rather than a killer and poses his victims to resemble famous paintings. Detective Nick Kelly is called to attend the latest crime scene and finds himself at the centre of a media storm. But while the rest of the police department feels under pressure, Nick relishes the attention. Karen Kelly, Nick’s soon to be ex-wife, watches in horror as this brutal game of cat and mouse plays out. But Karen has secrets of her own.

A troubled Mary Ann Walker takes a nosedive off a bridge. Seattle's police department macho man John LaMoia takes the call, along with the beauteous cop psychologist Daphne Matthews. They suspect her boyfriend, known to beat Mary Ann. Her seething brother, Ferrell, is convinced the boyfriend did the deed. But the case somehow becomes too slippery to close.

In a Europe on the verge of collapse, the Nazi organisation Ahnenerbe is pillaging sacred landmarks across the world. Their aim is to collect treasures with occult powers, which will help them establish the Third Reich. The organisation's head, Himmler, has sent SS officers to search a forgotten sanctuary in the Himalayas, whilst he tries to track down a mysterious painting. Which ancient power do the Nazis believe they hold the key to?

Arthur Fellig’s ability to arrive at a crime scene just as the cops did was so uncanny that he renamed himself “Weegee”, claiming that he functioned as a human Ouija board. Weegee documented better than any other photographer the crime, grit, and complex humanity of midcentury New York City. In Flash, we get a portrait not only of the man (both flawed and deeply talented, with generous appetites for publicity, women, and hot pastrami) but also of the fascinating time and place that he occupied....

“A powerful memoir of one man’s struggle for freedom, 15 to Life tells in vivid prose the story of Anthony Papa, a painter and a casualty of the War on Drugs. This journey of a soul shows the power of art to transcend the violence of prison, and all that is possible when the human spirit refuses to be contained. Papa’s account should be required reading for New York lawmakers and all Americans who care about civil liberties.” (Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking)

A year after the private detective uncovered a criminal ring disguised as a mink farm in the Ozarks, O’Keefe is back home and back in trouble. A high school crush of O’Keefe’s turns up dead, but the details don’t add up. His pal, Mike Harrigan, has put his trust in the wrong people and now stands accused of crimes that could put him in the slammer. And O’Keefe? The mafia has put a price on his head. In their search for the truth, O’Keefe and his team will have to venture into the criminal underworld of their city, each step forward bringing them closer to the edge.

When Gauri Lankesh, an outspoken journalist in the South Indian city of Bangalore, was assassinated in September 2017 outside her home, it wasn’t just a loss to her close-knit community of writers and activists—the shock reverberated nationwide, making headlines and sparking mass protests. Why was she targeted, and who was behind it? Following the case to its stunning, unsettling conclusion, Rollo Romig uncovers a world of political extremists, fearless writers, organized crime, and shadowy religious groups.

During his decades-long crime coverage in Central Florida, journalist Frank Stanfield covered every atrocity that man or nature could unleash. Vampires, Gators, and Wackos: A Florida Newspaperman’s Life recounts some of the frequently craven, and at times downright stupid, crimes Stanfield covered during his time in the field. He somehow made it through without winding up more mental than the crackpots he tracked. However, his unvarnished, no-holds-barred account of news events reveals just how crazy-making a case can be when you are dead set on nailing the truth.

Taking on a case that sounded simple, Morgan Stark and Felicity O’Brien are tasked to retrieve two high-value paintings, but it quickly becomes more complicated. Using past connections, the ex-mercenary and the former jewel thief go undercover as part of J.J. Slash's growing crime empire.

Following his recovery from a personal and professional trauma, DCI Cyril Bennett returns to discover a complex case involving the art world. Soon, he unearths a dark side of the industry where greed and dubious practices thrive and, where there is money to be made, violence and murder abound. Working their way through a maze of galleries, museums and the Internet, can Bennett’s team differentiate between real and fake?

Steadfast in fighting crime, but operating outside the police force - and sometimes even the law - is the private detective. Driven by his own moral code, he is a shadowy figure in a trench coat standing on a street corner, his face most likely obscured by a tilted fedora, a lit cigarette dangling from his hand. The hard-boiled detective is known by his dark past, private pain, and powers of deduction. He only asks questions - never answers them. In his stories he is both the main character and the narrator.

In the magical and historically rich city of Siena, Italy, old paintings are as common as cobblestones. But what if some of those paintings are forgeries? And what if your employers at Restauro Lorenzetti, a respected firm of art conservators, might be smuggling antiquities? After colleague and roommate Ernst Mann is found dead in the street below their apartment balcony, Flora Garibaldi suspects her bosses are crooks. The Italian police, after ruling Flora innocent of murder, persuade her to spy on her employers.

The original 1941 radio dramatization of Inspector Bonaparte Mystery—featuring Bony, the first Aboriginal detective. The discovery of a stolen red monoplane on the dry flat bottom of Emu Lake meant many things for different folks. For Elizabeth Nettlefold, the chance to nurse its strangely ill passenger meant renewed purpose in life. For Dr. Knowles, brilliant physician and town drunk, it meant the revival of a romantic dream. For some it meant a murder plan gone awry, and for Bonaparte, it meant one of the toughest cases of his career.

The Good Samaritan has been a thorn in Detective John Corbin’s side for years as he tries to hunt down the rogue killer with what few leads he has. As the bodies pile up each one is proven guilty of some profound evil thanks to the evidence provided by the mysterious avenger. No criminal in the city is safe as The Good Samaritan chooses his next victim who will learn, through unimaginable amounts of pain, what it’s like to be the one begging for mercy.

Izzy Stone, a top Secret Service agent, is in charge of a presidential visit to Paris. Without warning, a powerful French magistrate charges the US President with war crimes and crimes against humanity after an American counterterrorist strike goes awry. Now Izzy finds herself in a bloody, desperate race to save POTUS from certain death. A lethal cat and mouse chase unfolds across the City of Lights as Izzy uses her knowledge of Paris' ancient catacombs, a buried chateau fort, and the great Louvre to elude their pursuers.

James and Lianna Winn are siblings with a rivalry that began at childhood. Lianna was always the tattletale and James was always the troubled son. As children, Lianna, the good girl, would look for any opportunity to get her mother's attention and love, oddly enough, by tattling on her brother. This would cause him to seek revenge in this love-hate relationship. Time has passed and now as adults, things remain the same, but have turned into more than just child's play and tattling. Lianna's incriminating words have now landed her brother, James behind bars.

In a secret meeting in 1981, a master thief named Louis Royce gave career gangster Ralph Rossetti the tip of a lifetime. As a kid, Royce had visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and made a habit of sneaking in at night to find a good place to sleep. He knew the Museum's security was lax, and he gave this information to a boss of the Boston criminal underworld. It took years before the Museum was hit. But when it finally happened, it quickly became one of the most infamous art heists in history.