Jonathan Argyll Series

Embark on a journey into the captivating world of art history, where the past intertwines with modern-day crime-solving. Follow the adventures of a passionate art historian and his sharp colleagues from Italy's elite Art Squad as they unravel mysteries hidden within famous masterpieces. Each investigation delves into elaborate art forgeries and deceptions, exposing the complex web of human ambition and intrigue that surrounds the art world.

Recommended Reading Order

1
The Raphael Affair
Iain Pears
208 pages
8 hours of reading
3.5(129)Add rating
English art scholar Jonathan Argyll was amazed to find himself arrested for vagrancy-while searching for a long-lost Raphael in a tiny Roman church. Although General Bottando of the Italian National Art Theft Squad has little confidence in Jonathan's theories, Bottando's lovely assistant, Flavia di Stefano, is intrigued by the idea of a lost classic, and by Jonathan himself. But in the midst of the painting's discovery and the resultant worldwide publicity, a new chain of events is set into action. First vandalism, then murder, surround the painting. And as new facts about its true nature emerge, Bottando sends Flavia and Jonathan to investigate--little knowing that the pair will be on the run for the truth... and for their very lives.
2
The Titian Committee
Art History Mystery
Iain Pears
240 pages
9 hours of reading
3.7(1513)Add rating
Flavia di Stefano of Rome's Art Theft Squad and art historian Jonathan Argyll have charmed mystery readers around the world. Their latest case is baffling to the extreme, when clues from a Titian researcher's death by mugging point to murder -- and a criminal conspiracy...
3
The Bernini Bust
Iain Pears
224 pages
8 hours of reading
4.0(10)Add rating
When art dealer Jonathan Argyll arrives in Los Angeles to drop off a painting, he discovers that there are a few devils loose in the City of Angels
4
The Last Judgement
Iain Pears
256 pages
9 hours of reading
3.7(54)Add rating
The attempted sale of an obscure 18th-century painting goes murderously awry in this newest mystery starring impoverished art-dealer sleuth Jonathan Argyll, from the bestselling author of The Raphael Affair and The Titian Committee.
5
Giotto's Hand
Iain Pears
224 pages
8 hours of reading
4.3(8)Add rating
Someone's planning to raid an ancient monastery in Rome. But why? And when? Enter art expert Jonathan Argyll...
6
Death and Restoration
Iain Pears
3.7(945)Add rating
Flavia di Stefano of Rome's Art Squad receives a tip-off that a raid is being planned on the monastery of San Giovanni. The raid takes place, but the thieves snatch the wrong painting, an unremarkable icon of the Madonna. Soon afterwards a French dealer is found murdered in the Tiber.
7
A Jonathan Argyll Mystery: The Immaculate Deception
Iain Pears
256 pages
9 hours of reading
3.6(68)Add rating
When an important, politically sensitive painting is kidnapped in Rome, Flavia di Stefano, acting head of the Italian Art Theft Squad, is told to get it back at all costs – without causing any embarrassment to the country and without paying the ransom. Put in an impossible position, she turns for help to her old mentor General Taddeo Bottando, who casts a wholly unexpected light on the crime. In the meantime, her husband, English art historian Jonathan Argyll, embarks on an investigation of his own. As a gift to Bottando, he decides to establish the provenance of a small Renaissance painting, an Immaculate Conception, currently hanging on the wall of the general's apartment. Absorbing and ingeniously plotted, The Immaculate Deception is both a fascinating art-history puzzle and a gripping murder mystery as the search for the truth uncovers shocking secrets from the past and leads Argyll and Flavia into the path of some very dangerous enemies indeed.

Recommended Reading Order

The Raphael Affair

The Titian Committee

The Bernini Bust

The Last Judgement

Giotto's Hand

Death and Restoration

A Jonathan Argyll Mystery: The Immaculate Deception