The Last Judgement - Softcover

Pears, Iain

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007121253 ISBN 13: 9780007121250

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2001

Synopsis

Witty art-history-mystery featuring English dealer and sleuth Jonathan Argyll, from the author of the best-selling literary masterpiece, ‘An Instance of the Fingerpost’.

When Jonathan Argyll agreed to transport the Death of Socrates from a gallery in Paris to its new owner in Rome, he had no idea that such a worthless, nondescript painting would cause such as stir. First someone tries to steal it from him in a train station. Then the man he’s delivering it to decides he doesn’t want it – and is brutally murdered a few hours later.

Now Argyll is stuck with a painting that only the most tasteless collector could love... and he finds himself right in the middle of a murder investigation. With bodies piling up, he must investigate the dark secrets in the painting’s past – before someone with truly horrible taste decides to put him out of the picture for good...

About this title

Review:

Praise for The Immaculate Deception:
‘The writing is graceful, the characters are people in whose company it would be a delight to pass an evening. And Pears gives a rich sense of what it is to live in raddled, ever-glorious Rome’ Donna Leon, Sunday Times

‘With his attractive evocation of Berenson-type connoisseurs in crumbling Italian villas, Pears is that rare bird: a crime writer who can grip without gore’ Jane Jakeman, Independent

‘An intricately plotted, entertaining murder mystery’ Observer Review

‘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’ Elizabeth Buchan, Times

From the Back Cover:

When Jonathan Argyll agreed to transport The Death of Socrates from a gallery in Paris to its new owner in Rome, he had no idea that such a worthless, nondescript painting would cause such as stir. First someone tries to steal it from him in a train station. Then the man he's delivering it to decides he doesn't want it and is brutally murdered a few hours later.

Now Argyll is stuck with a painting that only the most tasteless collector could love, and he finds himself right in the middle of a murder investigation. With bodies piling up, he must delve into the dark secrets in the painting's past – before someone with truly horrible taste decides to put him out of the picture for good.

'Pears writes with such wit and a deep knowledge of art and art history that as entertainment his series has few rivals'
PETER GUTTRIDGE, 'Observer'

'Pears is that rare bird: a crime writer who can grip without gore.'
JANE JAKEMAN, 'Independent'

'A witty, exceptionally brilliant puzzler.'
JOHN COLEMAN, 'Sunday Times'

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0007121253
• ISBN 13: 9780007121250
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256