The Bernini Bust [Paperback]

‘An elegant and amusing book, perfect for those who love a clever puzzle’
– Frances Hegarty, Mail on Sunday

‘Iain Pears has a superior line in this kind of tale… A divertingly complex, often comic, story in which the art motif is ingeniously central to the solution’
Guardian

Witty art-history mystery from the author of the best-selling literary masterpiece, An Instance of the Fingerpost.

British art historian Jonathan Argyll has just sold a minor Titian to an American museum for a highly inflated price. But as he complacently awaits his cheque in the Californian sunshine, trouble erupts: the museum’s billionaire owner is murdered, a dubious art dealer disappears, and a Bernini bust, apparently smuggled out of Italy, is missing.

Things could hardly be worse, and the situation calls for assistance from his friends General Bottando and Flavia di Stefano of the Italian National Art Theft Squad…especially as things do get worse – the killer’s attention turns to Jonathan himself.

Cleverly mixing murder with art, The Bernini Bust is a witty and intriguing mystery from the bestselling author of An Instance of the Fingerpost.

British art historian Jonathan Argyll has just sold a minor Titian to an American museum for a highly inflated price. But as he complacently awaits his cheque in the Californian sunshine, trouble erupts: the museum's billionaire owner is murdered, a dubious art dealer disappears, and a Bernini bust, apparently smuggled out of Italy is missing.

Things could hardly get any worse, and the situation calls for assistance from his friends General Bottando and Flavia de Stefano of the Italian National Art Theft Squad . . . especially as things very definitely 'do' get worse when the killers attention turns to Jonathan himself.

Cleverly mixing murder with art, 'The Bernini Bust' is a witty and intriguing mystery from the bestselling author of 'An Instance of the Fingerpost.'

“Excellent”
Gerald Kaufman,
'Scotsman'

“Iain Pears has a superior line in this sort of tale”
Guardian

“Delightfully pursued and narrated puzzle with several prize sinuosities”
Sunday Times

Iain Pears won the Getty Scholarship to Yale University and worked for Reuters in Rome. He is the author of the bestseller An Instance of the Fingerpost. He lives with his wife and son in Oxford.