The Louvre— the greatest repository of art in the world, on August 21, 1911 became the site of a crime like no other. That very morning as the museum's maintenance director passed through the Salon Carre on his rounds, he pointed out Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, telling a co-worker that it was the most valuable object in the museum. The time was 7:20 A.M.. An hour later the painting had mysteriously disappeared.

The Hooblers open their epic true story of murder, theft, and detection with this notorious crime before going into a fascinating tale of Paris as it existed at the turn of the century. I admit to being captivated by scenes of dark alleyways and crime laden streets. At once I was caught up in depictions of violent anarchists, notorious gangsters, and serial killers. During this period Paris had a tradition of sympathy for these people who defied the law. Of course, police fought back against all this lawlessness with a weapon of their own.

Alphonse Bertillon, the world's greatest detective, the inventor of the mug shot and the crime scene photo, a brilliant innovator who pioneered the new science of criminal investigation was just the man to find the Louvre thief or thieves. Surely, he would quickly solve the case. Unfortunately, the case would not prove so simple.

Overlaying the vast criminal elements of Paris was a very different world. Within this different world, Paris exhibited new wonders of science, art, and literature. Here Matisse, Cezanne, and Picasso painted. Claude Debussy's music was everywhere, Marcel Proust's literature made headlines, and the Curies, Marie and Pierre, achieved great scientific advances.

Entertainment venues like Montmartre and Montparnasse became the gathering places for tourists and citizens of Paris. Rodolphe Solis opened LeChat Noir in 1881; it was a cabaret that would forever influence entertainment in the city of Light. Avant garde composer Erik Sartie often accompanied singers on the piano. To outsiders, the best known of all these libertine cafes was the Moulin Rouge renowned for its professional female dancers who performed the risque cancan. Posters and paintings of the dancers by the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec added to the international fame of the cabaret.

Year by year the authors portray the historical advances achieved while the criminal aspects of Paris increased. Newspapers avidly proclaimed the most sensational accounts of lurid crimes. From 1911 forward, amid all the outrageous behaviors of Paris, Bertillon continued his investigation of the theft of the Mona Lisa. Ultimately his efforts appeared to fail. Most Parisians thought the famed painting was lost forever.

When no real developments came to light reporters felt free to print rumors and sheer speculations as to who had perpetrated the crime. All that restrained them were the limits of their imaginations. In a chapter titled, The Theft, the name of Vincenzo Perugia surfaced. He called himself Leonard. His is a name to remember. Let it be enough to say that on January 4, 1914, the Mona Lisa, resumed her rightful place on the wall of the Salon Carre in the Louvre. How this was accomplished, to this day, remains a mystery. The story most often told, although not yet proven, is the most likely possibility of just how thieves pulled off the crime of the century and provided French police a lifetime of embarrassment.

Bravo to the authors for the most enjoyable read I've had in months. The Crimes of Paris: A True Story of Murder, theft, and Detection is a must read.