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Shop nowThe Raphael Affair
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Learn moreSet in Rome, The Raphael Affair features the perpetually beset General Bottando of the Italian National Art Theft Squad; his glamorous assistant, Flavia di Stefano; and Jonathan Argyll, a British art historian. When Jonathan is arrested for breaking into an obscure church in Rome, he claims that it contains a long-lost Raphael hidden under a painting by Mantini. The painting disappears—then reappears in the hands of the top British art dealer, Edward Byrnes. How has Byrnes found out about the hidden masterpiece, and whom is he acting for? There is also the curious matter of the safety-deposit box full of sketches closely resembling features of the newly discovered painting. A hideous act of vandalism occurs, then murder. Bottando faces the most critical challenge of his career, and Jonathan and Flavia find themselves in unexpected danger.
Iain Pears is a journalist and art historian with a doctorate in art history from Oxford. He is the author of numerous works, including seven detective novels in the Jonathan Argyll series, a book of art history, and the New York Times bestselling historical novel An Instance of the Fingerpost. He lives in Oxford, England.
Geoffrey Howard (a.k.a. Ralph Cosham) (1936–2014) was a British journalist who changed careers to become a narrator and screen and stage actor. He performed in more than one hundred professional theatrical roles. His audiobook narrations were named “Audio Best of the Year” by Publishers Weekly, and he won seven AudioFile Earphones Awards, and in 2013 he won the coveted Audie Award for Best Mystery Narration for his reading of Louise Penny’s The Beautiful Mystery.
Reviews
“A clever thriller…Pears balances politics, love, and danger nicely in a plot that has a cunning and satisfactory outcome.”
“Presents a world the author knows well in the satisfying way Margaret Truman and Dick Francis set their mysteries in milieus they know.”
“Masterful and calls for an encore.”
“A better debut could hardly have been made.”
“[As] mystery, The Raphael Affair is very good; as cultural explication, it is superlative.”
“[Ralph Cosham] has an excellent voice for the different characters, both British and Italian…Howard’s delivery mirrors the increasing tension in the story right up to the denouement and then relaxes the pace so the listener can enjoy the puzzle’s solution.”
“Clever research, museum politics, and foreign setting add to the story’s interest, especially for those who enjoy art and art history.”
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