Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
When art dealer 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 a 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 the 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 the Author
Iain Pears was born in 1955. Educated at Wadham College, Oxford, he has worked as a journalist, an art historian, and a television consultant in England, France, Italy, and the United States. He is the author of seven highly praised detective novels, a book of art history, and countless articles on artistic, financial, and historical subjects, as well as the international bestseller An Instance of the Fingerpost He lives in Oxford, England.