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The Immaculate Deception | 
 enlarge | Author: Iain Pears
Publisher: Scribner
Category: Book
List Price: $13.00
Buy Used: $1.48
You Save: $11.52 (89%)
New (36) Used (40) Collectible (3) from $1.48
Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 207903
Media: Paperback
Pages: 224
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8 x 4.9 x 0.6
ISBN: 0743272412
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780743272414
ASIN: 0743272412
Publication Date: May 3, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
From internationally bestselling author Iain Pears comes the seventh in his Jonathan Argyll series -- an intriguing mystery of love, loss, and artistic license.PFor newlywed and Italian art theft squad head Flavia di Stefano, the honeymoon is over when a painting, borrowed from the Louvre and en route to a celebratory exhibition, is stolen. Desperate to avoid public embarrassment -- and to avoid paying a ransom -- the Italian prime minister leans hard on Flavia to get it back quickly and quietly. PAcross town, her husband, art historian Jonathan Argyll, begins an investigation of his own, tracing the past of a small Renaissance painting -- an Immaculate Conception -- owned by Flavia's mentor, retired general Taddeo Bottando. Soon both husband and wife uncover astonishing and chilling secrets, and Flavia's investigation takes a sudden turn from the search for an art thief to the hunt for a murderer. P
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 What a Tangled Web We Weave April 17, 2007
R. Chaffey (Chicago)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Nowadays, it seems that there is a plethora of mystery writers who must use a particular gimmick to make their mystery work. Some of these writers are sucessful, such as Stephanie Barron and her Jane Austen mystery series, while others get too bogged down in the gimmick to focus on the story at hand. For Iain Pears, his gimmick is that of art history; his detective, a police officer who finds and returns stolen works of art. And it works time and time again. br / br /"The Immaculate Deception" is one of seven books Pears has written that center around his detective Flavia di Stefano and her long-time fiance, now husband, art history professor Jonathan Argyll. This story finds Flavia summoned by no less personage than the prime minister. In this meeting she is told that a painting that was to be borrowed and displayed as part of an exhibition has been stolen. She is to get it back as quickly as possible and to guarantee that no one hears anything about the theft. The recovery process seems just as much of a mystery as to who stole the picture, and for what purpose, in the first place. In the meantime, Jonathan finds himself drawn into a different mystery, concerning the unknown heritage of a small painting owned by Flavia's former boss, General Bottando, who is soon to retire. As each digs further into their own mysterious trails, they soon come to see that the two stories quite possibly are connected to one another. br / br /Iain Pears is an extremely intelligent writer, whose doctorate in art history is evident in the knowledge his characters have at their disposal. His descriptions of the world in which Jonathan and Flavia live are sometimes clipped, as though he expects readers to know as much as him. And even though these books are a series and therefore have some information recapped to the reader in each book, it never seems repetitive or second-hand. That is because the reader has come to know these characters, and smiles at these recaps in fond memory of those former stories. "The Immaculate Deception" is a fascinating web of art history, theft, high crimes and murder. It will keep readers guessing to the very end, when the loose ends are tied up, even if in an unconventional manner.
Fine Italian art world police procedural May 13, 2005
Harriet Klausner
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Prime Minister Antonio Sabauda guaranteed the safety of the Claude Lorraine masterpiece, on loan from the Louvre. Alas museum security and art thieves obviously misunderstood the PM as the painting is stolen. Desperate to recover the stolen painting, but without the media and consequently the public knowing, Sabauda assign acting chief of the Rome Police Department's art theft squad with recovering the lost art. br / br /The government cannot pay the ransom demands as that would break Italian law that is very clear that kidnappers are not to receive ransom money. Like magic an anonymous package containing the exact amount of Euros arrives. A bit surprised by the appearance of the cash, Flavia is further shocked to learn that the thief Maurizio Sabbatini drowned in a tub of plaster with the time of death occurring before he made the ransom demand. While Flavia struggles with her case wondering if the PM is pulling a stunt or perhaps her retired mentor General Taddeo Bottando, her spouse Jonathan Argyll looks into the stealing of the Immaculate Conception painting four decades ago. Neither realized the link between the thefts, but they better soon as more corpses follow the death of Sabbatini. br / br /IMMACULATE DECEPTION provides intriguing varying perspectives of the Italian art world especially from the husband-wife team, the PM, the museum that lost the painting, and the thief, etc. The who-done-it is somewhat convoluted and difficult to follow as the connections between the art thefts seem more like a nebulous version of the DNA helix. Still it is fun to follow Flavia and Jack struggle to solve art mysteries four decades apart and a murder too while their right and wrong morality is challenged as never before. br / br /Harriet Klausner br /
 Felt cheated July 26, 2004
Jim Beam (Wayward, Connecticut)
8 out of 12 found this review helpful
The strengths of this book have been covered in other reviews here and don't need to be repeated. It's a diverting book, and other than occasional stylistic missteps like amateurish shifts in point of view within scenes and italian characters who seem no more italian than the residents of Omaha, Nebraska, the book goes along okay. br / br /However, there's a major flaw in the book for a regular, mostly ignorant reader like me. br / br /The most compelling mystery in the novel is the identity of the unknown artist of a painting that hangs above a character's mantlepiece. Who painted it? I was dying to know. But Pears never answers that question explicitly. Instead he leaves clues scattered throughout the text, expecting the reader to figure the answer out on his own. Cute, buddy. Hide the dang ball on me. Remind me of my own ignorance. Ach! I wanted to throw the book across the room. br / br /I assume this is some kind of game for art history buffs to play, but would it hurt to have put some kind of warning on the front cover that a degree in renaissance painting is necessary to get full enjoyment from the book? br / br /
 The series just keeps on getting better and better August 10, 2002
alexliamw (London United Kingdom)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
The seventh and final book of the Jonathan Argyll series by Iain Pears comes after his success with the complex historical thriller 'An Instance Of The Fingerpost', a book totally different from these art mysteries, and far more ambitious. This is not to say that the Jonathan Argyll series is not excellent: it, in fact, keeps getting better and better. Weaving a traditional flair for crime writing with considerable knowledge of the history of art, Pears writes an effortlessly intriguing mystery. pThis particular volume takes a turn when it appears that Flavia's boss, General Bottando, may be involved in the latest art crime swindle himself. The book is not predictable and keeps you guessing and is very enjoyable if not as spellbindingly clever as 'An Instance of The Fingerpost'. Well worth as read.
Challenging mystery suggests change of direction for series. August 9, 2002
Mary Whipple (New England)
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
Like Graham Greene, Pears writes both serious, philosophical novels (The Dream of Scipio and An Instance of the Fingerpost) and entertainments--in this case, the fascinating art history mysteries which feature Flavia di Stefano and her boss, Gen. Taddeo Bottando of the Rome police. These quirky detectives from the Art Theft Squad are back in action here, though with changed roles. Bottando is now semi-retired and Flavia, newly married to former art dealer Jonathan Argyll, is acting head of the department. br / br /Life in Pears' Rome never pretends to be simple, and it's always loads of fun for the reader. Here the theft of a priceless painting on loan from the Louvre leads to the Italian prime minister's order to Flavia to find it, but she must not allow the public or the press to know about the theft, she must get it back no matter the cost, she must pay whatever ransom is demanded without using public funds, and she must do this knowing in advance that she will be a scapegoat--that the prime minister will publicly deny everything he's told her. As the search for the painting gets underway, further mysteries unfold, until even Bottando himself is implicated in an art theft. br / br /Influence peddling, payoffs, and old political rivalries are both accepted and taken for granted here as Flavia negotiates the minefields of art and politics. The satire is gentle, and the action is non-stop. The intricacies of the characters' relationships keep the reader constantly challenged and always thinking, and the art history angle, more about provenance than about painters, should appeal to readers with little art background. The surprising conclusion and the major changes resulting to the lives of the main characters are stunning. If Pears continues this series, it will undoubtedly be in new directions. Mary Whipple
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