A Beautiful Crime

File:PI5DAE~2 - CopyPeggy Guggenheim Museum.JPG

Nick Brink and his boyfriend Clay Guillory arrive in Venice, leaving behind their lives in New York City. They first met two months earlier at the memorial service of Freddy van der Haar, Clay's previous boyfriend who bequeathed to him a collection of silver antiques and his share of a Venetian {{lang|it|palazzo}} nicknamed "{{lang|it|Il Dormitorio|italics=no}}". After Nick and Clay learned that the antiques were forgeries, they devised a plan to settle their debts by selling the pieces to Richard West, a wealthy American expatriate who finances cultural conservation projects in Venice. Four years ago, while Clay interned at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, he also worked as Richard's personal assistant. When he failed to gain a permanent post at the museum, Clay was devastated to learn Richard was responsible for his rejection and has since held a grudge against him.

Nick intentionally runs into Richard and poses as an expert silver appraiser while concealing his relationship with Clay. He is invited to a dinner party at Richard's home, which shares a wall with {{lang|it|Il Dormitorio|italics=no}}. A few days later, Nick performs a spurious authentication and persuades Richard to purchase the silver for $750,000. Nick and Clay celebrate their successful transaction, but Nick begins to worry how long the money will last and devises a plan to sell {{lang|it|Il Dormitorio|italics=no}} to Richard, who has long wanted to merge it with his own residence. Clay is reluctant because the property partly belongs to Freddy's estranged sister Cecilia, but he eventually agrees to the scheme and flies to Paris to arrange forged documents identifying him as the sole owner.

File:Canale di Cannaregio - Viewed from Grand Canal.jpg, where {{lang|it|Il Dormitorio|italics=no}} is located|alt=View of a bridge over a canal with buildings on both sides]]

Nick visits Richard again, hoping to persuade him to complete the purchase of {{lang|it|Il Dormitorio|italics=no}}, but he is horrified to see Dulles Hawkes, a retired silver appraiser whom Richard has invited to view his newly purchased antiques. Dulles immediately detects the forgeries but plays along with the ruse, and he later threatens to divulge the scam unless Nick has sex with him in his hotel that night. Nick is forced to oblige. Afterwards, Dulles continues to blackmail Nick, insisting they will have sex again the next day and demanding half of the profits of the scam. A panicked Nick follows Dulles to the hotel elevator, which is under repair, and impulsively pushes him down the empty elevator shaft. Dulles dies on impact and Nick flees the hotel.

Clay agrees to sell {{lang|it|Il Dormitorio|italics=no}} to Richard for four million euros. On his way to the final meeting to complete the transaction, Clay is stopped by Richard's assistant Battista, who has discovered Richard has been anonymously financing a planned tourist development in the city. Battista, a vocal protester against the development, tells Clay the meeting is a trap; Richard has traced Cecilia, discovered the documents are forgeries, and notified the police. Richard, who is still unaware of Nick and Clay's relationship, casually reveals the setup to Nick. Enraged, Nick fights with Richard and strikes him in the head with a doorstop. Clay is suspected in the investigation but Battista provides an alibi and exposes Richard as the anonymous investor. The attack is ultimately attributed to an unknown protester. Richard, who has been rendered indefinitely mute from the attack, is transferred to a neurological clinic in Leipzig. Nick moves to a nearby island to avoid scrutiny while Clay remains in Venice, and they continue to communicate discreetly. Five months later, Clay travels to the island when they decide it is safe for him to do so, and they joyfully reunite.

File:Christopher Bollen Librairie Mollat interview 2016.png

A Beautiful Crime is Christopher Bollen's fourth novel following Lightning People (2011), Orient (2015), and The Destroyers (2017).{{cite news |last=Chee |first=Alexander |author-link=Alexander Chee |title=Christopher Bollen's A Beautiful Crime Is a Cold-Blooded Yet Seductive Novel |url=https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/books/a30855625/christopher-bollen-beautiful-crime-book-review/ |access-date=July 29, 2021 |work=O, The Oprah Magazine |date=February 12, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613233047/https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/books/a30855625/christopher-bollen-beautiful-crime-book-review/ |archive-date=June 13, 2021}}{{cite news |last=Alessandro |first=Brian |title='A Beautiful Crime' review: Masterful tale of deception in Venice |url=https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/books/a-beautiful-crime-christopher-bollen-1.40929054 |access-date=July 29, 2021 |work=Newsday |date=January 30, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200131154844/https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/books/a-beautiful-crime-christopher-bollen-1.40929054 |archive-date=January 31, 2020}} Bollen incorporated aspects of his own life into the plot and characters; for instance, both he and Nick grew up in Ohio and like Clay, he was an intern at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection after graduating from college.

The Venetian apartment where Nick stays is modeled on an apartment near Campo Santa Margherita where Bollen lived during his internship. Nick is partly based on the character of Daisy Miller from the eponymous 1879 novella by Henry James. Comparing the characters, Bollen described Daisy as someone who is "lovely but reckless and falls into danger".{{cite news |last=Burton |first=Bill |title=Writing Is No Mystery to Christopher Bollen |url=https://provincetownindependent.org/writing-is-no-mystery-to-christopher-bollen/ |access-date=July 29, 2021 |work=The Provincetown Independent |location=Provincetown, Massachusetts |date=March 26, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729235525/https://provincetownindependent.org/writing-is-no-mystery-to-christopher-bollen/ |archive-date=July 29, 2021}} Bollen chose to feature an interracial relationship between Nick, who is white, and Clay, who is Black, to represent "two all-American guys" and to highlight diversity within the LGBT community.{{cite news |last=Woods |first=Paula L. |author-link=Paula L. Woods |title=Five of 2020's best crime writers on where mystery fiction is today |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2021-04-09/times-book-prize-mystery-writers-roundtable |access-date=September 24, 2021 |work=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles, California |date=April 9, 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921163723/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2021-04-09/times-book-prize-mystery-writers-roundtable |archive-date=September 21, 2021}} The character Freddy van der Haar, who represents the older generation of gay men living in New York, was inspired by the American photographer David Armstrong and had a more prominent role in the novel's first draft.

Bollen has described A Beautiful Crime as his most personal novel to date. He dedicated the book to fellow novelist Edmund White, who he described as "someone who I really admired who blazed the trail for me", citing their shared Cincinnati roots and White's works of gay literature. White had previously dedicated his 2016 novel Our Young Man to Bollen.{{cite news |last=Nugent |first=Mitchell |title=Christopher Bollen Is Pretty Sure He's Not a Sociopathic Murderer |url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/christopher-bollen-beautiful-crime-novel-venice |access-date=July 29, 2021 |work=Interview |date=February 4, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227034723/https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/christopher-bollen-beautiful-crime-novel-venice |archive-date=February 27, 2021}}{{cite news |last=Eggleston |first=Giuliana |title=Interview: Edmund White |url=http://midwestgothic.com/2016/07/interview-edmund-white/ |access-date=August 3, 2021 |work=Midwestern Gothic |date=July 7, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616143811/http://midwestgothic.com/2016/07/interview-edmund-white/ |archive-date=June 16, 2019}} In an interview with Vogue Italia, Bollen credited Toto Bergamo Rossi, the director of a cultural conservation nonprofit in Venice, with teaching him about Italy's architecture and the Italian language while he was researching for the book.{{cite news |title=Christopher Bollen: l'intervista di Vogue Italia |trans-title=Christopher Bollen: interview with Vogue Italia |url=https://www.vogue.it/news/article/christopher-bollen-intervista-nuovo-libro-venezia-febbraio |access-date=August 4, 2021 |work=Vogue Italia |date=February 16, 2020 |language=it |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125162144/https://www.vogue.it/news/article/christopher-bollen-intervista-nuovo-libro-venezia-febbraio |archive-date=January 25, 2021}} Bollen wrote A Beautiful Crime while living in a 17th{{nbh}}century Parisian monastery during a 2018 residency; Clay's brief trip to Paris in the novel is the result of Bollen's promise to his sponsoring organization to set one of the book's chapters in that city.{{cite news |last=Holmes |first=J. Corbett |title=The Outbook interview: Christopher Bollen discusses 'The Destroyers,' travel and writing gay characters |url=https://www.desertsun.com/story/desert-outlook/2018/01/31/outbook-interview-author-christopher-bollen-destroyers-palm-springs-book-club-camelot-theatres/1085129001/ |access-date=August 4, 2021 |work=The Desert Sun |location=Palm Springs, California |date=January 31, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205021428/https://www.desertsun.com/story/desert-outlook/2018/01/31/outbook-interview-author-christopher-bollen-destroyers-palm-springs-book-club-camelot-theatres/1085129001/ |archive-date=December 5, 2020}}{{cite news |last=Wayne |first=Teddy |author-link=Teddy Wayne |title=Lit Hub Asks: 5 Authors, 7 Questions, No Wrong Answers |url=https://lithub.com/lit-hub-asks-5-authors-7-questions-no-wrong-answers-february2020/ |access-date=August 4, 2021 |publisher=Literary Hub |date=February 11, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226092216/https://lithub.com/lit-hub-asks-5-authors-7-questions-no-wrong-answers-february2020/ |archive-date=February 26, 2021}}

A Beautiful Crime was published in the United States by Harper as a 400-page hardcover edition on January 28, 2020.{{cite news |title=A Beautiful Crime |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-285388-2 |access-date=July 28, 2021 |work=Publishers Weekly |date=October 22, 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819005738/https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-285388-2 |archive-date=August 19, 2020}}{{cite news |last=Copenhaver |first=John |title=Find 'Unlikeable' Characters & Unlikely Points-of-View in these Multi-layered Crime Novels |url=https://lambdaliterary.org/2020/05/crime-novels/ |access-date=July 28, 2021 |publisher=Lambda Literary Foundation |date=May 17, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812093437/https://lambdaliterary.org/2020/05/crime-novels/ |archive-date=August 12, 2020}} Harper Perennial published the paperback version on January 12, 2021.{{cite web |title=A Beautiful Crime |url=https://www.harpercollins.com/products/a-beautiful-crime-christopher-bollen |publisher=HarperCollins |access-date=July 29, 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124152331/https://www.harpercollins.com/products/a-beautiful-crime-christopher-bollen |archive-date=January 24, 2021}} Tim Paige narrated the 11-hour audiobook, which was released by Harper Audio. AudioFile{{'s}} review of the audiobook praised the emotions conveyed by Paige's narration but characterized his accents for secondary characters as "inconsistent".{{cite news |title=A Beautiful Crime |url=https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/173062/a-beautiful-crime-by-christopher-bollen-read-by-tim-paige/ |access-date=July 28, 2021 |work=AudioFile |date=February 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728222829/https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/173062/a-beautiful-crime-by-christopher-bollen-read-by-tim-paige/ |archive-date=July 28, 2021}}

File:Cruiseship passing bacino San Marco Venise.jpg in Venice|alt=Cruise ship in the background passing several gondolas]]

Venice is a popular destination for tourists. In 2019, the city was estimated to have 25 million visitors annually.{{cite news |last=Hardy |first=Paula |title=Sinking city: how Venice is managing Europe's worst tourism crisis |url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/apr/30/sinking-city-how-venice-is-managing-europes-worst-tourism-crisis |access-date=July 28, 2021 |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=April 30, 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724233518/https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/apr/30/sinking-city-how-venice-is-managing-europes-worst-tourism-crisis |archive-date=July 24, 2021}} Analyses of overtourism in Venice have reported negative impacts such as overcrowding, a decline in permanent residents corresponding to a rise in vacation rentals, and an increase in generated waste.{{cite news |last=Barry |first=Colleen |title=Venice Rethinks Its Future After Rare UNESCO Warning |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-25/venice-reinventing-itself-as-sustainable-tourism-capital |access-date=July 28, 2021 |publisher=Bloomberg News |location=Venice |date=June 25, 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629163012/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-25/venice-reinventing-itself-as-sustainable-tourism-capital |archive-date=June 29, 2021}}{{cite news |last=Horowitz |first=Jason |title=Venice, Invaded by Tourists, Risks Becoming 'Disneyland on the Sea' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/world/europe/venice-italy-tourist-invasion.html |access-date=July 28, 2021 |work=The New York Times |location=Venice |date=August 2, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723121748/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/world/europe/venice-italy-tourist-invasion.html |archive-date=July 23, 2021}} Bollen, who has called for the banning of cruise ships and Airbnb rentals from the city, wrote in an article for The Daily Beast that A Beautiful Crime depicts Venice as a city in crisis that is "caught in the jaws of a mighty shark".{{cite news |last=Bollen |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Bollen |title=Venice Is Brilliant Inspiration for Any Writer—and Also Hell |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/venice-is-brilliant-inspiration-for-any-writerand-also-hell |access-date=September 23, 2021 |work=The Daily Beast |date=January 28, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505222337/https://www.thedailybeast.com/venice-is-brilliant-inspiration-for-any-writerand-also-hell |archive-date=May 5, 2021}}

The book explores the city's overtourism and depopulation, negatively depicting the rise of Airbnb rentals in the city and including a scene of residents protesting against foreign investments and chanting "{{lang|it|Mi non vado via mi resto!}}" ("I do not go away, I stay!"). John Copenhaver, writing for the Lambda Literary Foundation, said the book's "central crime" is not Nick and Clay's schemes but Venice's "siege by tourism and foreign developers", and that the narrative's underlying mystery is the identity of those who are destroying the city, representing the destruction of Nick and Clay's vision for their future.

During a press interview for The Destroyers, Bollen said he wanted to create gay characters who are "complicated in a different and new way" for his next work. Though Nick is introduced as a charming, naïve Midwesterner, his greed leads to disastrous consequences, including the murder of Dulles. Brian Alessandro of Newsday described Bollen's casting of Nick and Clay as morally ambiguous criminals as "plucking gay characters out of the ghettos of victimhood or sainthood", and that they are ultimately forced to face the consequences of their actions. Even as Nick and Clay commit crimes for money and revenge, they are portrayed in a sympathetic light.

Issues of social class recur throughout the novel; Nick and Clay's scheme to sell forgeries to Richard is rooted in a desire for "upward social mobility in this materialistic milieu". In their interactions with Richard, other characters, and each other, Bollen highlights the effects of social inequality on the characters' decisions and senses of identity. In pursuit of financial security, Nick and Clay seek to reinvent themselves in Venice, at the price of their criminal actions.

File:Highsmith_on_After_Dark.JPG

Literary critics have compared A Beautiful Crime to Patricia Highsmith's novels—particularly The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955)—citing similar characteristics such as criminal protagonists and moral ambiguity. The book has also been compared to works by Alan Hollinghurst, including his 1988 novel The Swimming-Pool Library. A Beautiful Crime was one of five finalists for the 2020 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the mystery/thriller category and was listed by O, The Oprah Magazine as one of the top 20 books of 2020.{{cite news |last=Pineda |first=Dorany |title=Isabel Wilkerson, Jacob Soboroff, Akwaeke Emezi among L.A. Times Book Prize finalists |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2021-03-02/lat-book-prizes-finalists-2020-wilkerson-emezi-et-al |access-date=July 28, 2021 |work=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles, California |date=March 2, 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522030735/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2021-03-02/lat-book-prizes-finalists-2020-wilkerson-emezi-et-al |archive-date=May 22, 2021}}{{cite news |last1=Haber |first1=Leigh |last2=Hart |first2=Michelle |last3=Cain |first3=Hamilton |name-list-style=amp |title=These Are the Best Books of 2020, According to O, The Oprah Magazine |url=https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/books/a34659750/best-books-of-2020/ |access-date=July 29, 2021 |work=O, The Oprah Magazine |date=November 19, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613232953/https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/books/a34659750/best-books-of-2020/ |archive-date=June 13, 2021}} The New York Times described the book as an "elegant crime thriller",{{cite news |last=Wakabayashi |first=Daisuke |title=New & Noteworthy, From Beautiful Crime to Essays on Identity |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/books/review/new-this-week.html |access-date=October 13, 2021 |work=The New York Times |location=New York |date=February 18, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319192348/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/books/review/new-this-week.html |archive-date=March 19, 2021}} and it received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and BookPage.{{cite news |title=A Beautiful Crime |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/christopher-bollen/a-beautiful-crime/ |access-date=July 28, 2021 |work=Kirkus Reviews |date=January 28, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203020347/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/christopher-bollen/a-beautiful-crime/ |archive-date=December 3, 2020}}{{cite news |last=Gujarathi |first=Chika |title=Book Review – A Beautiful Crime by Christopher Bollen |url=https://bookpage.com/reviews/24800-christopher-bollen-beautiful-crime |access-date=October 2, 2021 |work=BookPage |date=February 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200409004053/https://bookpage.com/reviews/24800-christopher-bollen-beautiful-crime |archive-date=April 9, 2020}}

Several reviewers praised the sympathetic characterization of Bollen's protagonists and his examination of Clay's Black identity in the context of racism in the LGBT community. In his review, Alessandro described the novel's exploration of Nick and Clay's relationship, especially as it is tested by the obstacles they encounter, as "sincere and deep". A reviewer for Publishers Weekly concurred, writing that while the titular crime is the focus of the plot, "the story gains its strength from its look at gay romance". Patrick Sullivan, writing for Library Journal, also commended the depictions of Clay's relationships with Freddy and Nick.{{cite news |last=Sullivan |first=Patrick |title=A Beautiful Crime |url=https://www.libraryjournal.com/?reviewDetail=a-beautiful-crime |access-date=September 23, 2021 |work=Library Journal |date=February 1, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923143105/https://www.libraryjournal.com/?reviewDetail=a-beautiful-crime |archive-date=September 23, 2021}}

Michael Cart of Booklist described A Beautiful Crime as "deftly paced and plotted",{{cite news |last=Cart |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Cart |title=A Beautiful Crime |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/A-Beautiful-Crime/pid=9726868 |access-date=July 30, 2021 |work=Booklist |date=December 1, 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210904225656/https://www.booklistonline.com/A-Beautiful-Crime/pid=9726868 |archive-date=September 4, 2021}} but Randy Rosenthal wrote in the Los Angeles Review of Books it "not only lacks literary artistry, but it also lacks the thrill of a thriller".{{cite news |last=Rosenthal |first=Randy |title=A Love Letter to Venice |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-love-letter-to-venice/ |access-date=July 29, 2021 |work=Los Angeles Review of Books |location=Los Angeles, California |date=March 11, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118095140/https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-love-letter-to-venice/ |archive-date=January 18, 2021}} Rosenthal criticized the pace of the beginning of the novel as too slow, and said the plot, characters, and language are not realistic. He found the plot toward the end more engaging and applauded Bollen's examination of overtourism in Venice. In a review for The Washington Post, Dennis Drabelle questioned Bollen's optimistic portrayal of Nick's and Clay's relationship in "the dishonest and brutal world [they] inhabit" but praised the novel's suspense and its depiction of Venice.{{cite news |last=Drabelle |first=Dennis |title='A Beautiful Crime' is a deliciously diabolical suspense tale a la Patricia Highsmith |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/a-beautiful-crime-is-a-deliciously-diabolical-suspense-tale-a-la-patricia-highsmith/2020/01/23/5346384a-3626-11ea-bf30-ad313e4ec754_story.html |access-date=July 28, 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post |location=Washington, D.C. |date=January 23, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125124912/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/a-beautiful-crime-is-a-deliciously-diabolical-suspense-tale-a-la-patricia-highsmith/2020/01/23/5346384a-3626-11ea-bf30-ad313e4ec754_story.html |archive-date=January 25, 2020}} Katherine B. Weissman of Bookreporter found secondary characters such as Battista and Dulles to be more interesting than Nick and Clay, praised the level of suspense and the setting, and described Bollen's characterization of Venice as "both accurate and eloquent".{{cite news |last=Weissman |first=Katherine B. |title=A Beautiful Crime |url=https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/a-beautiful-crime |access-date=October 3, 2021 |work=Bookreporter |date=January 31, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002085351/https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/a-beautiful-crime |archive-date=October 2, 2021}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.christopherbollen.com/novels/a-beautiful-crime Official website]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beautiful Crime, A}}

Category:2020 American novels

Category:2020s LGBTQ novels

Category:2020 LGBTQ-related literary works

Category:American crime novels

Category:American LGBTQ novels

Category:Fiction about fraud

Category:HarperCollins books

Category:Novels by Christopher Bollen

Category:Novels set in Venice

Category:Novels about gay topics