Stefan Koldehoff and Tobias Timm, Tr. Paul David Young
PositiveFinancial Times (UK)... hair-raising ... Art and Crime offers riveting details of the case of the German art adviser Helge Achenbach, who defrauded collectors of tens of millions of euros ... For reasons perhaps connected to the German legal system, Art and Crime shies away from naming many of those it cites, giving just first names and initials. This seems unnecessary since most can immediately be found on the internet. The book is not particularly well written, perhaps due to this reviewer reading the translation, and is sometimes a little confusing ... At the end Koldehoff and Timm propose 10 simple questions...that anyone in the trade should ask themselves before any transaction, and they even venture that such questions might lead to stories that could enhance the value of a work of art. Optimistic? Perhaps, but doing so would certainly help protect the industry against the thieves, forgers and fraudsters that Koldehoff and Timm chronicle so effectively.
