The Bellini Madonna

Original title: The Bellini Madonna
Author: Lowry, Elizabeth.
Publisher: New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009.
A debut novel, this novel's protagonist, down-and-out art historian Thomas Lynch, does not sound very likeable. He's on a quest for a vanished painting of the Madonna by the Italian artist Giovanni Bellini and ends up at the home of, so he believes, its last owner.

The Lost Van Gogh

Original Novel Title: The Lost Van Gogh

Author: A.J. Zerries

Publisher: New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2006 (hardcover); New York: Tor Books, April 2007 (paperback)

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A long missing Vincent van Gogh painting arrives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art by courier from Argentia and thereby hangs this suspense thriller.

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Leonardo's Swans: A Novel

Original Novel Title: Leonardo's Swans: A Novel
Author: Karen Essex
Publisher: New York: Doubleday, January 2006 (hardcover); Anchor, January 2007 (paperback)

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This work depicts the time the artist-inventor Leonardo da Vinci spent under the patronage of the Duke of Milan, Italy.

The Audubon Quartet

Original Novel Title: The Audubon Quartet
Author: Ray Sipherd

Publisher: New York: St. Martin's Press, May 1998 (hardcover); Worldwide Library, May 1999 (paperback)

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A murder mystery surrounding the purchase by a millionaire of four original paintings by 19th century American wildlife artist John James Audubon. The paintings are declared forgeries by a critic when they are first viewed at a gallery following their sale. The critic ends up dead and artist and part-time private investigator Jonathan Wilder tracks down the killer.

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Masterpiece

Original Novel Title: Masterpiece
Author: Miranda Glover
Publisher: London: Bantam Press, 2005 (hardcover)

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Performance artist Esther Glass sells herself at auction. According to the dust jacket blurb, the novel "gives us rare access and insight into the workings of the contemporary art scene...."