Death and Restoration (Art History Mystery) - Softcover

‘Iain Pears has a superior line in this kind of tale... A divertingly complex, often comic, story in which the art motif is ingeniously central to the solution’
Guardian (of The Titian Committee)

‘Delightfully pursued and narrated puzzle, with several prize sinuosities’
The Sunday Times (of The Bernini Bust)

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 ...

“Pears’s tremendous affection for Rome comes through strongly in the book, making the city one of the most engaging characters”
SUNDAY TIMES

“Pears is a delightful writer, with a light, ironic touch”
FRANCES HEGARTY, 'Mail on Sunday'