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. ( )