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Summary
Summary
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.
Author Notes
Iain Pears was born in England in 1955. He has worked as an art historian, a TV consultant and a journalist. After several years working for Reuters, he went to Yale University to complete his book on eighteenth-century British art entitled The Discovery of Painting. He has written several novels include An Instance of the Fingerpost, The Dream of Scipio, Stone's Fall, Arcadia, and the Jonathan Argyll series.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Pears, an art historian and author of the acclaimed historical novel, An Instance of the Fingerpost (1997), imbues his light-hearted art-world mystery series set in Italy (Giotto's Hand, 1997) with an enthusiast's love of his subject. Here, Jonathan Argyll, art dealer and lecturer, and his lover, Flavia di Stefano, an officer with Rome's Art Theft Department, investigate the theft of an ancient, seemingly worthless iconic painting of the Madonna from the Monastery of San Giovanni and the apparently related attack on the head monk. As Flavia investigates the theft, she runs into legendary art thief Mary Verney, icon dealer Peter Burckhardt and Daniel Menzies, a hot-tempered art restorer who is cleaning the monastery's second-rate Caravaggio. We learn that Mikis Charanis, the power-hungry son of Mary's former lover, has kidnapped her granddaughter; release is contingent on Mary stealing the icon for him. Then Peter Burckhardt is murdered, and the police must scramble to find motive and killer. After Jonathan learns the stolen icon is "Our Lady," venerated by the people in the neighborhood for saving Rome from the plague long ago, he traces the icon's astonishing history and uncovers the monastery's unpleasant secrets. Although Flavia's suspects escape arrest, Jonathan fingers the real thiefand the motivein an amusing finale. Pears again achieves a delicate, sure balance with a book simultaneously witty and instructive. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Blissfully unaware of the splash her author made earlier this year with his monumental An Instance of the Fingerpost, Flavia di Stefano, of Italy's Art Theft Squad, can think only of what's going to become of her when her boss, Gen. Taddeo Bottando, gets kicked upstairs to a do-nothing Euro-administrative postuntil a phone call warning that somebody's going to steal something from the monastery of San Giovanni happens to coincide with the return to Rome of wily suspected art thief Mary Verney (Giotto's Hand, 1997). Figuring that the monastery's only treasure, an important Caravaggio, is probably safe from thieves as long as it's in the middle of a slash-and-burn restoration by ambitious American Daniel Menzies, Flavia elects instead to keep a close watch on Mary. Her instincts are rightMary, her granddaughter kidnaped to force her hand, is indeed bent on theftbut her precautions don't do a bit of good. A thief attacks old Fr. Xavier Münster, head of the resident Order of St. John the Pietist, and makes offnot with the half-restored Caravaggio, but with a neglected icon of the Blessed Virgin. How come? There's so much more to the generous plot, from the suavely handled obligatory rivalry between eminent art historians to the ravings of an elderly monk who thinks he's a thousand-years-dead Patriarch, that Jonathan Argyll, the nominal hero, can take scarcely a moment from his teaching duties to clear up a final mystery or two.
Booklist Review
This sixth in the fine Jonathan Argyll series may profit from the recent success of Pears' literary thriller, An Instance of the Fingerpost [BKL D 1 97]. The Argyll series, about art theft in Rome, is far more traditional genre fare than Fingerpost, but its mix of Italian ambience, art history, and Nick and Nora bantering between Argyll and Flavia di Stefano always delivers good fun. This time, Flavia, a member of the Rome police's art squad, is baffled when a madonna icon of no apparent value is stolen from a monastery. Art historian Argyll repairs to the library to research the madonna, while Flavia looks for connections between the icon and the murder of a shady art dealer. Surprisingly, Argyll's research proves the more fascinating of the two pursuits. As he interviews recalcitrant monks and stumbles through ancient Latin texts dealing with the fall of Constantinople, the remarkable provenance of the madonna gradually comes clear. Anyone who enjoys the Lovejoy antique mysteries is certain to like this equally witty melding of art and crime. --Bill Ott
Library Journal Review
Having triumphed with the best-selling An Instance of the Fingerpost, Pears returns with another Jonathan Argyll mystery. This time, Argyll investigates the theft of a seemingly worthless icon from a Roman monastery. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.