A finely told debut novel about one of the great mysteries of art history. Maximilian Kisch is obsessed. For half his life, the art historian has been futilely chasing a missing painting by the Blue Rider painter Franz Marc. Its traces disappeared after the Munich exhibition "Degenerate Art" into the private collection of Hermann Göring. Since then, the art world has been puzzled over its whereabouts. One last time, Max wants to scour estates for new clues at the Getty Center in Los Angeles – and, with the support of his colleague Jessica Steiner, he actually makes an astonishing discovery. In equally thrilling and historically documented flashbacks, Uwe Fleckner tells the story of the famous painting: from its creation, its collectors, a cunning abduction, and a tremendous suspicion.