A centuries-old murder mystery in which the only clues are offered by an enigmatic chess game in a Dutch painting -- a promising premise, but the execution is sadly lacking.The course of the mystery is unsatisfying and inconsistent, so that it does not pay to read this book for the suspense. In addition, the characters are entirely flat and predictable, except when some supreme act of irrationality is required in order to move the plot along, so you also need not buy this book for the sake of the drama. Finally, while I cannot comment on the author's grasp of art history, anyone who has ever read a chess book can tell that Mr. Perez-Reverte has not, and therefore I cannot recommend this book as a source of edification.However, I must admit that this novel serves quite admirably as a doorstop.