Theodore Carter takes art theft to new heights with a creative plot an a host of highly original characters in Stealing the Scream.

Inspired by the 2004 theft from an Oslo museum of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream,” Carter offers a fictional version of what led to that theft by introducing a most unusual character to lead.

Percival Davenport has decided to retire. He has more money than he can spend, and tired of the whole corporate world, he moves house to London to explore art and study painting, which he does with a vengence while mastering different schools of art.

He brings his house manager, Lucinda, an attractive woman who keeps him sane, and his personal cook and sets off on an adventure that will have readers smiling at the same time they admire Percival’s schemes.

For scheming is what Percival comes up with, and he carries his idea off with panache and with the help of someone he pays well to carry out his ideas. Only Leonard, a security guard at the Smithsonian’s National Gallery, figures out what Percival is up to.

With a startling climax, readers will be amused by Percival’s antics, the museum bureaucrats who pepper the plot, and the way Carter wraps it all up.