The Gardner Heist by Ulrich Boser

This book is subtitled, "The True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft" and is about the robbery of millions of dollars worth of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. The robbery took place on St. Patrick's Day in 1990, and the author was interviewed on NPR around the anniversary of the heist.

Boser does a fine job of describing many of the facets of the robbery. He covers all the facts from the night it happened and profiles many of the suspects and law enforcement officials involved in the case. He also discusses other significant art heists and provides a detailed personal history of Gardner herself and the origins and guiding principles of the museum. Many of these sections read like good spy or mafia novels - it was hard to remember this was nonfiction.

Later in the book, Boser becomes a central character, as his reporting on the heist turns into a consuming quest to solve the crime. We see the author's life put on hold as he travels around the world and meets with less-than-savory characters to try and solve the case. While his book claims to have made a major breakthrough in uncovering the identities of the art theives, what is more interesting is his obsession with the story and ultimate ability to walk away from the investigation.

Someone in the book comments that if (when) the art is finally returned, there will be a line from "here to downtown" to see the pieces. I will surely be on that line.