Art History Mystery Series

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…

General Bottando of Rome’s Art Theft Squad believes that a lone criminal mastermind—dubbed “Giotto”—has been stealing priceless Renaissance art for over thirty years. But his theory—prompted by a letter from an embittered, dying old woman—is scorned by archrival Corrado Argan, a bureaucrat more interested in politics than policing.Bottando’s right hand, the beautiful Flavia di Stefano, quickly locates a possible culprit—but he’s in England. Since the conniving Argan considers even a trip across town an unnecessary expense for Bottando’s squad, Flavia must rely on her fiancé, Jonathan Argyll. In England on business, he finds the suspect suspiciously dead. That’s a pity—especially for Jonathan. Were he not on the scene—raving about art thefts and coincidences—the police may have ruled that the deceased had a few too many and tripped on a loose stair. Now, Jonathan’s passport has been lifted until Her Majesty’s magistrate is satisfied that he has told all he knows…  

New York Times bestselling author Iain Pears—who “exhibits quite a masterful touch at suspenseful storytelling”*—has delighted fans and critics alike with his charming mystery series featuring art dealer Jonathan Argyll. In The Last Judgement, Argyll agrees to transport a decidedly nondescript painting from a gallery in Paris to its new owner in Rome. But when his mission is plagued by robbery and murder, Argyll must investigate the dark secrets in the painting’s past—before someone tries to put him out of the picture for good.

British art historian Jonathan Argyll is in sunny Los Angeles conducting some profitable business with the Moresby Museum. Then the museum’s owner is murdered and a Bernini bust disappears. And while awaiting the arrival of his friends from the Italian National Art Theft Squad, Jonathan finds himself targeted by the killer…

Iain Pears combines “articulate characters and erudite art commentary” (The New York Times Book Review) in this sophisticated, suspenseful series featuring art historian Jonathan Argyll and the delightfully clever Flavia di Stefano.In The Titian Committee, the two embark on a daring investigation after a member of a famous research committee is found dead in a Venetian public garden.

“Deliciously literate” (Kirkus Reviews) and filled with “articulate characters and erudite art commentary” (The New York Times Book Review), this acclaimed series of novels by Iain Pears combines art and history, literature and mystery fiction, with the same passion for detail he displayed in his New York Times bestseller An Instance of the Fingerpost. In The Raphael Affair, the first book in the series, we are introduced to Jonathan Argyll, an enthusiastic young art scholar from England who has followed his suspicions about a long-lost Raphael painting to a small church in Rome. Not only is the painting in question gone from the site, it has been swiftly purchased, restored, auctioned, and installed in Rome’s National Museum. But when the recovered Raphael is just as swiftly destroyed in a fire, Argyll begins to suspect its authenticity…and the innocence of every person in its path.