Art Crime

Crime and Punishment stands as one of the most penetrating psychological dramas ever written—a dark, relentless journey into the mind of a young man who believes he can outthink morality itself. Raskolnikov, trapped in the poverty-stricken streets of St. Petersburg and drowning in his own feverish theories, commits a desperate act that shatters every illusion he ever held about power, conscience, and destiny. In the days that follow, he discovers that the courts do not deal out the real punishment, but by the silent terror of his own soul.

On March 18, 1990, two men disguised as police officers entered Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and vanished with masterpieces by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Degas, and more—an art haul worth over $500 million. Decades later, not a single piece has been recovered. The Gardner Museum Heist unravels the daring crime, the mob connections, the false leads, and the enduring mystery that haunts the art world. Equal parts true crime and cultural history, it’s the definitive account of America’s greatest unsolved art theft.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist: Art, Ambition, and Unsolved Mystery (1990) offers a gripping deep dive into the events of that night and the decades-long investigation that followed. Author James G. Edwards II masterfully blends true crime with art history, exploring how a single robbery devastated a cultural institution, shook the art world, and fueled countless theories—from mob connections to inside jobs.