The Raphael Affair

By Iain Pears

Book Overview

"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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425178927
• ISBN13: 9780425178928
• Release Date: February 2001
• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

One of Pears' best

I have read most of the books in this series, and this is by far the best. The characters are well-developed, the plot is intriguing and the references to art, art history and the art dealing world are accurate and funny...

A recommendation for you. . .

To all lovers of Pears, let me recommend another sensational author you will love: Glenn Kleier. His novel, THE LAST DAY is nothing short of brilliant and I believe you will find it just as astounding as I have. It's become my all time favorite novel and I'd like to share the great enjoyment it gave me.

when a rapael comes to light...

When a young English art student stumbles over an old mystery of a missing masterpiece, the consequences are expensive and deadly.

a missing masterpiece is found,the consequences are deadly

When an English art student starts looking for a lost masterpiece, the consequences turn deadly.This book was a great book for a plane ride or long trip. It was quite interesting and it tought me plenty I did not know about Mantini and Raphael.

Absolute must for those who like mysteries involving art.

I'm delighted to see that this series is becoming available in the states in paperback; I used to have to search them out in London whenever I was on vacation. This is the first of the series, and it introduces the characters, who admittedly haven't progressed all that much as characters in the next 5 or so volumes. But they are appealing, and the plots are very clever, and you learn about art, Italy, and art fraud. The Raphael Affair ends with the absolute best conference paper on art history that I have ever "heard", and I've sat through a lot of academic conference sessions on medieval and Renaisance art. I think that this series is superior (because it's more fun) to the author's much reviewed and praised An Indication of the Fingerpost which is a stylistic tour-de-force but not very appealing to me.