Arturo Perez-Reverte: "The Flanders Panel"
Hey, and I don't even play chess.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arturo_P%C3%A9rez-ReverteThere's all kinds of things I could say about this book, but I will not spoil your fun. The fun is in the discovery. The fun is in the language (although my US-copy was translated from the Spanish). The fun is in the characters. I am really impressed. If I did not have such a bad cold, I might type some more. But I do have this cold, and I hope it's not 'that' flu...
spoilers here:
http://www.amazon.com/Flanders-Panel-Arturo-Perez-Reverte/dp/0156029588