The Flanders Panel

The Flanders Panel (1990) Arturo Perez-Reverte translated by Margaret Jull Costa

I enjoyed The Fencing Master so much that I picked up The Flanders Panel and two other of Arturo Perez-Reverte’s books to read, in the hopes that I would like them just as well.

While restoring the painting “The Game of Chess” Julia discovers a hidden line of text, “Who killed the knight?” Hoping that this inscription will help increase the resale value of the painting, Julia begins to research the history of the painting and the individuals depicted within. However, this 15th century mystery leads to a modern mystery.

Like The Fencing Master, The Flanders Panel is a relatively small book, only 304 pages, which was one of the reasons I picked it up to read. I wanted something relatively short, that was going to be comfortable to read. It would have been better only if it was mass market paperback size instead of trade paperback size. Also like The Fencing Master, I was soon sucked into the story.

What I found interesting is that while The Fencing Master was set in the 19th century, The Flanders Panel was set in modern day Madrid. I tend to expect writers who do one time period well to stick with that time period, but Arturo Perez-Reverte did an excellent job in both the present and the past.

One thing that did strike me about this story was how much everyone smoked. Smoking has become almost anathema in the US, and so reading about characters smoking in restaurants and offices was very unusual. Even the mysteries I read tend not to have much smoking in them, so every time Julia or Cesar lit a cigarette it would come as a surprise. So it was a slight shock, which is rather amusing, since I can easily accept the fantastic in more stories, yet am distracted by smoking. Go figure.

As with The Fencing Master, I really liked the characters. Julia was wonderful–I always like to read strong women written by men. And I quite liked Cesar as well, especially the love he had for Julia, and whom I think he still sometimes saw as a little girl. Munoz was interesting, in that at first I thought I would find him irritating, yet he was such a mystery that I kept wanting to read more about him. And all this was despite the fact that I know next to nothing about chess.

And the mystery and the storytelling were wonderful. I was quickly sucked into the story, and wanted to know what happened next.

I highly recommend this book. The characters are engaging, the mystery is excellent, and the storytelling is great.
Rating: 8/10

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