Review by Booklist Review
In this circuitous tale of the discovery (or is it a discovery?) of an unknown Raphael (or is it a Raphael?), journalist/art historian Pears introduces pudgy, middle-aged Generale Taddeo Bottando, who maneuvers among government ministries and cultural institutions as head of Italy's National Art Theft Squad, and his young civilian researcher Flavia di Stefano, who is smart, cynical, and silent only when she has to be. And then there's English doctoral candidate Jonathan Argyll, who first suggests that the Carlo Mantini altarpiece in an obscure Roman church may have been painted over a Raphael portrait to permit the Raphael to be sent out of Italy in the eighteenth century. When forgery, fraud, arson, and murder arise, Bottando and di Stefano must determine whether Argyll is part of the problem or part of the solution. Other suspects span the European art world: a British dealer, a French forger, and sundry Italian curators. Believable characters and a neatly layered plot make The Raphael Affair an entertaining opener for Pears' promising new series. ~--Mary Carroll
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Pity the rather overfed Gen. Bottando of the Italian National Art Theft Squad. An excellent, unknown Raphael was smuggled out of Rome hidden under a painting by the heroically second-rate artist Mantini. When it's eventually recovered at great cost by the Italian government and the Museo Nazionale, Bottando's peaceable existence in the Eternal City is further disturbed by forgery, arson, murder, government bureaucracy and the occasionally overzealous aid of his beautiful assistant, Flavia di Stefano, and British art historian Jonathan Argyll. Art historian Pears ( The Discovery of Painting ) provides one twist too many in his first novel, but presumably as this projected series continues his grasp of the genre will grow surer. His command of the intricacies of Italian life, art history and the licit and illicit trade in masterworks needs no improvement: although not all artists or organizations mentioned are real, none are improbable. Qua mystery, The Raphael Affair is very good; as cultural explication, it is superlative. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Thrills and excitement enter this first novel when a British art dealer discovers a Raphael portrait. After an astounding auction, the painting finds its way to a national museum in Rome, where its acquisition solidifies the director's reputation. Taddeo Bottando and his favorite assistant Flavia, both of the national art theft squad, become suspicious when a vagrant art student's story of fraud and the jottings of a famous forger come to their attention. Clever research, museum politics, and foreign setting add to the story's interest, especially for those who enjoy art and art history. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Fledgling British art historian Jonathan Argyll, picked up for vagrancy when he's found hanging around a pokey Roman church, tells a wild story: He's come to check on his hunch that an obscure Mantini canvas hanging in the church actually conceals a lost Raphael painted beneath. The Mantini is already gone, sold to questionable British art dealer Sir Edward Byrnes, who promptly cleans, exhibits, and auctions it--to Argyll's chagrin--as the Raphael. Or is it? When the heralded painting is torched soon after its installation in Rome's National Museum, General Taddeo Bottando and Falvia di Stefano of the National Art Theft Squad have to join forces with Argyll--an amusingly unreliable ally--to follow a twisted trail of forgery, fraud, and murder. Politely sordid art-dealing background is the highlight of this quietly lighthearted first novel by art-historian Pears (The Discovery of Painting, 1980).
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
