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AMAZON "BEST OF THE MONTH" PICK
BORDERS "GOTTA READ" BOOK
TIME MAGAZINE "SHORT LIST CRITICS' CHOICE"
1911 was a year of grand escapades.
In the boatyards of Belfast, a magnificent new ocean liner was under construction
that its builders boasted would be “unsinkable.”
In Antarctica, Captain Robert Falcon Scott was trudging across the frozen plateau to the
South Pole, the Union Jack folded in his pack, dreaming of making history.
In Paris, a plan was brewing to pinch the most famous painting in the world.
Of these three grand escapades, the first seemed assured of success, the second likely,
and the third not only improbable but impossible.
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Excerpted in the :London Times • Read on BBC Radio 4
Available in Hardcover • Audio CD • Large Print
Published in 15 Countries
Washington Times
“ R. A. SCOTTI'S PEN IS AS DEFT AS LEONARDO'S BRUSH....
If one can applaud a true-crime whodunit that doesn't certify who actually did it. .., the possibilities are fabulous, and the telling sublime.”
Providence Journal
"CAPTIVATING..... Scotti’s sohistication, wit, style and illuminating research makes this a delightfully suspenseful read, rich in depth with a mystifying turn of events in Casablanca"
Booklist
“DELECTABLE.... Scotti, brisk and irreverent, introduces characters with a keen eye for quirky traits, and enticingly sets the scene..... Her exciting true-life mystery yields intriguing disclosures"
Kirkus (Starred review))
“BOLD AND ELEGANT....Scotti masterfully excavates historical truths and brazen speculations,...weds heady prose to shrewd investigative journalism."
Richmond Times-Dispatch
"SUPERB...An art-heist page-turner that will delight art enthusiasts as well as true-crime buffs. (Note to Hollywood: This may be your best hope for a caper starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney as Picasso and Apollinaire.)"
Publishers Weekly
"CHARMING.. Scotti explores not only the puzzling crime but also the source of the painting’s universal appeal and its provenance."
Time Magazine
"WEEKEND CRITICS' CHOICE:" " R.A. Scotti's deft account of the crime and its aftermath draws bumbling investigators, aristocratic con men and Picasso into a story that La Gioconda herself would have smiled at — enigmatically, of course."
Bookpage
“AS FULL OF TWISTS, TURNS AND SUSPENSE AS ANY MYSTERY NOVEL!
Scotti positions the painting's disappearance at the crossroads of tradition and modernity....Placed in these contexts, the theft of the world's most beloved painting makes the Mona Lisa's story even more significant—and her smile even more alluring.”
