Book Reviews
The Gardner Museum in Boston is a monument to the idiosyncrasies of the rich. A replica of a Venetian palazzo, it embodies the vision of Isabella Stewart Gardner, who built a world-class art collection and displayed it her way....[In 1990] thieves dressed as cops faked their way inside and made off with a Rembrandt, a Vermeer and other paintings valued at over $500 million. Ulrich Boser presents his solution to the mystery: The culprits were the minions of Boston-area gangsters. But loose ends remain, notably the whereabouts of the paintings. It can't be easy to dispose of such well-known art works, and a recent federal law has added to the complexity. As a lawyer explained to Boser, "If someone buys the Gardner Rembrandt fifty years down the road, they can still be prosecuted."
Washington Post
By Boser's accounting, every cat burglar between Boston and Dublin has a bead on the missing masterpieces. To his credit, the book is a thrill despite the frustrating nature of the investigation, in which he painstakingly tracks audacious leads from mendacious thugs only to arrive at dead ends. And a few dead suspects. And to be sure, no art. Still, Boser does turn up some new evidence and makes a conclusive case for the identity of the thieves who did the job. The mystery remains unsolved, but the case is reinvigorated in its retelling by a man who fully appreciates the value of the masterpieces and the magnitude of the criminal conspiracy that carried them away in the night.
Kriston Capps - Guardian (UK)
Boser has done a public service in exposing the real world of art theft: It isn't about glamour and culture — it's about greed, violence and irreparable, maddening loss.
USA Today
Boser has produced a captivating portrait of the world's biggest unsolved art theft.
Wall Street Journal
In the early morning hours of March 18, 1990, thieves posing as cops entered Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and left with a haul unrivaled in the art world, including three Rembrandts and a Vermeer, valued today at $600 million. Boser, a contributing editor at U.S. News and World Report, turned amateur sleuth after the death of a legendary independent fine arts claims adjuster, Harold Smith, who was haunted by the Gardner robbery. Boser carried on Smith's work, pursuing leads as varied as James "Whitey" Bulger's Boston mob and the IRA. Along the way, he visited felons-including the notorious art thief Myles Connor-and Bob Wittman, the FBI's only art theft undercover agent. Boser's rousing account of his years spent collecting clues large and small is entertaining enough to make readers almost forget that, after 18 years, the paintings have still not been found: the museum is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to their return.
Publishers Weekly
An enjoyable true-crime tale accessible to lovers of art and whodunits alike.
Kirkus Reviews