Book cover of The Flanders Panel

Book description

The clue to a murder in the art world of contemporary Madrid lies hidden in a medieval painting of a game of chess.

In a 15th-century Flemish painting two noblemen are pictured playing chess. Yet two years before he could sit for the portrait, one of them was murdered. In…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked The Flanders Panel as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I love chess, and even though I’m not brilliant at it, I really enjoy books where the characters play chess. The Royal Game by Stefan Zweig is probably the most famous, but I really enjoyed this murder mystery with a game of chess at its heart, which beautifully mirrors the plot as it unfolds.

The game is featured mid-game in a Flemish fifteenth-century painting. The modern protagonists analyze it forward and backward to understand the past and future. I loved the fact that the book includes illustrations of the game as it proceeds for the reader to analyze. There are…

From Marcus' list on board games.

An art mystery, a murder mystery. What more could you ask for?

In Madrid, a noted art restorer Julia has received a painting that is itself an intriguing mystery. A fifteenth-century Flemish painting of a Knight and a Duke playing chess. Julia finds hidden under the paint the inscription Who Killed the Knight? That is a secret that was not meant to be revealed. This book is pre-internet so research is leg work. A cast of devious and delightful characters help and hinder Julia's quest to find the answers she seeks and try to avoid becoming a victim of her…

From Elisabeth's list on artists by non-artists.

If you love The Flanders Panel...

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Book cover of The High House

The High House by James Stoddard,

The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.

The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.

Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…

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