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the_bfool's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
zantyu2's review against another edition
3.0
It was a quick book, I didn't like the characters all that much, I found them quite boring, and the story at times was hard to follow because of the quick pace. Overall, it is an enjoyable story.
aoosterwyk's review against another edition
5.0
I just had a major score at my local used book store and picked up the rest of this series AND An Instance of the Fingerpost (a title I don't understand, but plan to read this summer).
Death and Restoration continues our acquaintance with Mary Verney, the English art thief, who is brought out of retirement by the kidnapping of her grand daughter. The story weaves together history from the time of Constantine and the Crusades with a discussion of modern theology and the principals of art restoration. Lovely!
Death and Restoration continues our acquaintance with Mary Verney, the English art thief, who is brought out of retirement by the kidnapping of her grand daughter. The story weaves together history from the time of Constantine and the Crusades with a discussion of modern theology and the principals of art restoration. Lovely!
roshk99's review against another edition
4.0
Great book, imbibing art and the atmosphere of Rome with the air of mystery. Author has a fantastic and compelling style
ofthorondof's review against another edition
3.0
This was a fast-paced and entertaining read. I might find and read the rest of the series.
katherineep's review against another edition
2.0
Found this a slow and in some parts unengaging read. I may have enjoyed this more if I had read the other books in the series and had gotten more of a feel for the characters and their relationships. This is definitely not a series you can pick up in the middle and I wasn't intrigued enough to go back to the first book.
writerlibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
Sometimes an author falls in love with one of his characters and finds it hard to let him or her go. Such is the case in this second to last Flavia And Jonathan adventure. Pears brings back his master thief from The Giotto's Hand to support a somewhat good plot but unfortunately the character's presence only annoyed me instead of adding to the tale. And what a tale it is. A forgotten monastery in the heart of Rome, an obscure order with a dubious Caravaggio and a miraculous icon worshipped by the local people. Jonathan and Flavia unravel the different threads to a satisfying end if it wasn't for the intrusion of the master thief in the story.
threerings's review against another edition
3.0
Like all the books in this series, this is a well-written mystery. But there's not really anything to set it apart from the average decent mystery novel. I didn't notice anything wrong with it, but then again nothing really stood out. In short, it's forgettable.
pinknantucket's review against another edition
2.0
This is the second of these series of books that I have read, about the fictional adventures of the Art Theft department in Italy, and although it’s nice to read some crime novels about art for a change instead of all those ones about serial killers and autopsies and things, these are pretty light-weight books and not much to get excited about. Good for reading on the plane or the bus, or when you don’t want to tax yourself overly. I don’t think I need to tell you anything about the plot – a painting gets nicked and they get it back. (Oh damn, I just ruined the ending).
Also it bugs me that the heroine, Flavia, who works for this particular branch of the Police Department, never seems to solve a crime without the help of her bookish failed-art-dealer boyfriend, Jonathan. (He failed at the art dealer thing because he was too ethical and nice). Jonathan seems to be the author’s alter ego in this book in that he has the superior academic knowledge, lateral thinking skills, sensitivity and all that while Flavia tends to run around a lot being the tough cop chick. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all in favour of the tough chick and am very glad she’s been written about more in recent years, but now I would like to see more of the “genius chick”. Where are the books with incredibly clever sheilas in them, who solve mysteries with their smarts?? And don’t say, what about “Murder, she wrote” – that doesn’t count. I can only think of Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew and Elizabeth from “Pride and Prejudice” (and that’s not really a crime novel anyway). Any others you can think of? Are there even any female evil geniuses out there?
Also it bugs me that the heroine, Flavia, who works for this particular branch of the Police Department, never seems to solve a crime without the help of her bookish failed-art-dealer boyfriend, Jonathan. (He failed at the art dealer thing because he was too ethical and nice). Jonathan seems to be the author’s alter ego in this book in that he has the superior academic knowledge, lateral thinking skills, sensitivity and all that while Flavia tends to run around a lot being the tough cop chick. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all in favour of the tough chick and am very glad she’s been written about more in recent years, but now I would like to see more of the “genius chick”. Where are the books with incredibly clever sheilas in them, who solve mysteries with their smarts?? And don’t say, what about “Murder, she wrote” – that doesn’t count. I can only think of Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew and Elizabeth from “Pride and Prejudice” (and that’s not really a crime novel anyway). Any others you can think of? Are there even any female evil geniuses out there?
smcleish's review
4.0
Originally published on my blog here in May 1999.
One of Pears' series of art-related detective stories built round the character of art-dealer Jonathan Argyll, Death and Restoration is an extremely well put together crime novel. Argyll is taking a break from his profession to lecture students in Rome on the less well known art treasures of that city. His girlfriend, Flavia, works in the Italian police, in the department specialising in fine art crime. When she hears that an old acquaintance of the couple, charming thief Mary Verney, has returned to Rome, she is concerned to keep an eye on her. Before long, Mary is the chief suspect in a crime that doesn't quite add up. An ageing priest, head of an obscure order of monks, is seriously injured during a robbery at the church of the order; but not only is violence out o Mary's character, but the wrong picture seems to have been taken. The reputed Caravaggio, the order's main artistic treasure, has been ignored in favour of a small icon of the Virgin Mary, probably brought to the monastery hundreds of years before by a refugee from the Turkish conquest of Constantinople.
The story of Death and Restoration is quite ingenious, the novel falling into the category of crime novels where the identity of the villain is not difficult to work out, while the precise nature of the villainy and its motivation is kept obscure and provides the main interest of the plot.
One of Pears' series of art-related detective stories built round the character of art-dealer Jonathan Argyll, Death and Restoration is an extremely well put together crime novel. Argyll is taking a break from his profession to lecture students in Rome on the less well known art treasures of that city. His girlfriend, Flavia, works in the Italian police, in the department specialising in fine art crime. When she hears that an old acquaintance of the couple, charming thief Mary Verney, has returned to Rome, she is concerned to keep an eye on her. Before long, Mary is the chief suspect in a crime that doesn't quite add up. An ageing priest, head of an obscure order of monks, is seriously injured during a robbery at the church of the order; but not only is violence out o Mary's character, but the wrong picture seems to have been taken. The reputed Caravaggio, the order's main artistic treasure, has been ignored in favour of a small icon of the Virgin Mary, probably brought to the monastery hundreds of years before by a refugee from the Turkish conquest of Constantinople.
The story of Death and Restoration is quite ingenious, the novel falling into the category of crime novels where the identity of the villain is not difficult to work out, while the precise nature of the villainy and its motivation is kept obscure and provides the main interest of the plot.