The Raphael Affair

"The Raphael Affair" is the first book in a series having to do with art crimes. We are introduced to Jonathon Argyll, a hapless art history graduate student who discovers where a long-lost Raphael is located, only to have it disappear before he could verify it. Thus begins a tale of mysterious buyers, forgeries, arson and murders. It is an enjoyable mystery, especially if you are into the process of verifying Renaissance paintings and what goes into forging such a thing. It's not a particularly exciting story, but you can't help but root for the somewhat bumbling graduate student and the beautiful, but skeptical National Art Theft Squad assistant Flavia di Stefano.

Jonathan Argyll, an Englishman in Rome, is arrested for breaking into a church. But he makes some wild claims about why he was at the church so Flavia di Stefano of the Italian National Art Theft Squad is sent to interrogates him. He tells her that he was at the Church to look for a painting which he believes, due to his art history studies, is covering a previously unknown work by one of Italy’s 16thCentury Masters: Raphael. When the painting goes missing from the church and turns up as the property of an English art dealer the world becomes engrossed by the possibility of a ‘new’ Raphael painting.

This is a fairly simple story but it’s very well told. It’s full of wonderful detail about Italy, the art world and how forgery show more scams work but there’s a decent plot, containing the requisite amount of red herrings and wrong turns, too. As is the way with cosies, there’s not too much focus on the nastier elements of crime and, instead, the reader gets taken on a romp through the madness of Italian politics and the outrageous things people will do in the name of art (or love) (or money). Silly scenes, such as the one where Flavia and Jonathan hide in a toilet for several hours, could be trite if not done well but here it was amusing.

The characters are charming. As well as Argyll, something of a bumbling though clever Englishman, and the sometimes-sarcastic, mostly hard-working Flaviathere’s the ’shade overweight’, coffee-loving Generale Taddeo Bottandowho is in charge of the Art Theft Squad. All of them are people you’d like to sit in a café with while sipping an espresso and discussing the meaning of life.

As with most cosy mysteries the success factor lies in a combination of vaguely plausible story, fun characters and a back drop that interests the reader. One of the reason I struggle to find cosy books I like is that many of the backdrops don’t interest me that much (so many seem to involve anthropomorphised cats and/or cooking) whereas The Raphael Affair’s focus on art history and Italy was a winning combination for me. If Donna Leon and Alexander McCall Smith wrote together I think the product would be something like this delightful book. show less

i never thought an engaging and clever detective mystery (as opposed to a thriller) can be built around something other than a dead body. well, there were a couple of people who died, but their deaths were not the puzzle. of course, art scams and theft are pretty combustible topics in themselves.

i never imagined iain pears could write a humorous piece. as compared to his somber 'instance at the fingerpost', which also had a central mystery (murder that time), this was positively mirthful.

packed in a tight 246 pages, this was fun and brilliant!

Jonathan Argyll is an enthusiastic English graduate student working on his doctorate in art history; he has almost tracked down what may be an unknown Raphael painting when another man, art dealer Edward Byrnes, beats him to it. The painting is greeted with ecstasy in Italy, where the national gallery is empowered to spend as much money as it takes to acquire the masterpiece. However, Jonathan has doubts about the authenticity of the painting, and when a terrible art crime is perpetrated, the Italian Art Theft Squad begins to investigate, carrying Jonathan along with them…. This is the first in a series about art historian Jonathan Argyll and art theft squad member Flavia di Stefano written by a journalist and art historian himself; I show more have all seven of the books in the series, having read them some decades ago and now returning to them for an enjoyable re-read. Jonathan and Flavia are interesting characters, having great enthusiasm for (especially Italian) art but approaching the subject from completely different perspectives, and the milieu of the wealthy world of art connoisseurs is unfamiliar and engaging. I’m glad to reacquaint myself with these works; recommended! show less

Great fun!
The Raphael Affair is an audible freebie that is a cross between mystery and thriller. Set in Rome, the story revolves around the quest for a hidden Raphael painting. The protagonist, like the author, is an English art historian. In addition to an intriguing plot, Iain Pears entwines art history with a view of the machinations of Rome's art world. It's an edifying escape.

This was a fun, but not challenging mystery. Writing and pace are snappy. Love angle is cute.

This was a fun, but not challenging mystery. Writing and pace are snappy. Love angle is cute.