The Bernini Bust
Published on 1. May 2007
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-0-00-722919-2 (ISBN)
Description
Clever Italian art-history crime series featuring scholar and dealer Jonathon Argyll, from the author of the best-selling masterpiece 'An Instance of the Fingerpost'.
The hardest part of being an art dealer is having to sell your beloved works. For Jonathan Argyll, the pain is soothed when an American billionaire agrees to pay a vast sum for a relatively minor piece.
Arriving in the Californian sunshine eager to collect his cheque, Jonathan bumps into one of his less scrupulous colleagues, and discovers he is not the American's only seller. A bust of Pope Pius V is being smuggled out of Italy, and trouble is following in its wake.
Within hours, Jonathan's billionaire is dead and both the smuggler and his bust have gone missing. Thinking things can't get any worse, Jonathan calls for the help of the Italian Art Theft Squad - and instead finds himself the killer's next target...
The hardest part of being an art dealer is having to sell your beloved works. For Jonathan Argyll, the pain is soothed when an American billionaire agrees to pay a vast sum for a relatively minor piece.
Arriving in the Californian sunshine eager to collect his cheque, Jonathan bumps into one of his less scrupulous colleagues, and discovers he is not the American's only seller. A bust of Pope Pius V is being smuggled out of Italy, and trouble is following in its wake.
Within hours, Jonathan's billionaire is dead and both the smuggler and his bust have gone missing. Thinking things can't get any worse, Jonathan calls for the help of the Italian Art Theft Squad - and instead finds himself the killer's next target...
Reviews / Votes
Praise for 'The Bernini Bust':'An elegant and amusing book, perfect for those who love a clever puzzle.' Mail on Sunday
'Delightfully pursued and narrated puzzle.' Sunday Times
'Iain Pears get better and better...frothy, fun and nicely plotted.' Spectator
Praise for the Jonathan Argyll series:
'Superior entertainment.' Allan Massie, Scotsman
'There is nothing so satisfactory as the deconstruction of a puzzle in the hands of such an erudite and sure-footed author.' The Times
'Pears is a delightful writer, with a light, ironic touch.' Frances Fyfield, Mail on Sunday
'Iain Pears writes delightfully witty, elegant, well-informed crime novels.' The Times
'You don't have to know much about art to enjoy Iain Pears's Italian mysteries. Like a good teacher, he shares his passion unobtrusively and flavours his lessons with wit.' Val McDermid
'Pears is a delightful writer, with a light, ironic touch.' Mail on Sunday
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers
Product notice
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
158 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-00-722919-2 (9780007229192)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Iain Pears won the Getty Scholarship to Yale University and worked for Reuters in Rome. He is the author of the bestseller 'An Instance of the Fingerpost'. He lives with his wife and son in Oxford.