Iain Pears: Death and Restoration

Iain Pears: Death and Restoration (UK 2007)

From the Publisher:
Clever and witty art history-mystery featuring scholar and sleuth Jonathon Argyll, from the author of the bestselling masterpiece An Instance of the Fingerpost.

A tip-off without any names and a theft with no obvious motive -- these are the apparently innocuous matters currently in the hands of Flavia di Stefano of Rome's Art Theft Squad. Flavia is able to disturb the looters of the monastery in San Giovanni but not catch them. And it's a good thing that nothing valuable was stolen because neither she nor art dealer Jonathan Argyll have a clue who the culprits were.

Maybe the truth lies with the item they did get away with -- not the disputed Caravaggio the monastery is known for, but a curious icon of the Madonna that is said to have strange powers. Such claims are pure folklore, surely... but then a connection is made to a French dealer found floating in the Tiber a few days later and suddenly things don't seem so frivolous. Perhaps the icon was what the thieves wanted -- and is it possible that its powers are miraculous enough to kill for?

Iain Pears: Death and Restoration. A Jonathan Argyll Art Mystery. Harper, ISBN: 0007229216 (July, 2007), 279 p., £7.99.

Iain Pears: Death and Restoration (USA 2003)

From the Publisher:
General Bottando can't believe his rotten luck. He has just been promoted--to a position that's heavy on bureaucratic duties-but disturbingly light on investigative responsibilities. As if that wasn't annoying enough, he's received a tip about a planned raid at a nearby monastery. He's relying on his colleague Flavia di Stefano and her art-expert fiancé, Jonathan Argyll, to thwart the plot-but both are beyond baffled. The only valuable item in the monastery's art collection is a supposed Caravaggio that's currently being restored. There are no solid suspects-unless you count the endearing art thief, the flagrantly flamboyant "Rottweiler of Restoration," and the strangely shady icon expert. And there's really no reason to cause an unholy uproar-until someone commits an unconscionable crime...

Iain Pears: Death and Restoration. Berkley, ISBN: 0425190420 (August, 2003), 320 p., $15.00.

Iain Pears: Death and Restoration (USA 2000)

Iain Pears: Death and Restoration. An Art History Mystery. Berkley Prime Crime, ISBN: 0425177424 (November, 2000), 273 p., $6.50.

Iain Pears: Death and Restoration (UK 1999)

From the Publisher:
The monastery of San Giovanni has few treasures - only a painting doubtfully attributed to Caravaggio. So Flavia di Stefano of Rome's Art Squad is surprised to receive a tip-off that a raid is being planned on the building.

When the raid takes place, the thieves are disturbed and snatch the wrong painting, a curious icon of the Madonna, remarkable only for the affection in which it is held by the local population. Or is this what they wanted all along? Does the legend of the icon's miraculous powers hold any clue? And who murdered the French dealer found in the Tiber soon afterwards?

Flavia, with the help of English art dealer Jonathan Argyll, immerses herself in the intrigues of monastic and police politics in an attempt to solve the double mystery, but the solution is murkier and more complex than anyone could have known...

Iain Pears: Death and Restoration. HarperCollins, ISBN: 0006498752 (April, 1999), 224 p., £5.99.

Iain Pears: Death and Restoration (USA 1998)

From the Publisher:
From the author of the internationally bestselling literary sensation An Instance of the Fingerpost comes Death and Restoration, the sixth in Iain Pears' much-loved Jonathan Argyll art-mystery novels.

The monastery of San Giovanni on Rome's Aventine Hill has no real treasures, except for one huge and disturbing painting, dubiously attributed to Caravaggio, of the breaking of Saint Catherine on the wheel. It's not a subject likely to appeal to many buyers of stolen art. But a Caravaggio is a Caravaggio -- or is it?

Following a recent burglary at the monastery's chapel, there's little left to steal, so Flavia di Stefano of Rome's Art Theft Squad is particularly puzzled when she receives a tip that thieves plan to raid the building. What is there, except perhaps the Caravaggio, that professionals could covet? Even stranger is the sudden arrival in Italy of Mary Verney, an Englishwoman and thief whom Flavia and her art-expert fiance;, Jonathan Argyll, have encountered before. She may be there as a tourist, but it's unlikely. Is Mary after personal riches, or is her trip, and her possible involvement in a theft, inspired by more terrifying circumstances?

Jonathan also wonders about the intentions of Daniel Menzies, the "Rottweiler of Restoration," who is restoring the supposed Caravaggio in the disused monastery chapel where even the candles in front of a nearby icon of the Virgin and Child, long venerated by the local population for its special protection of those who offered prayers, have been extinguished.

Something strange and threatening is occurring both inside and outside the monastery, and Jonathan and Flavia feel powerless when they fail either to stop a theft or a murder. As the two search for answers through the maze of monastic and police bureaucracy, they gradually reveal a surprise more shocking than even they had imagined.

Rome is ancient and full of secrets, some of which never should be revealed, and Iain Pears is at the peak of his powers in this exquisitely rendered crime novel in which the Roman setting plays as memorable a role as any of the players.

Iain Pears: Death and Restoration. A Jonathan Argyll Mystery. Scribner's, ISBN: 0684814617 (October, 1998), 223 p., $22.00.