The Immaculate Deception [Import] [Hardcover]

Iain Pears (Author)

Book Description

Series: A Jonathan Argyll Mystery | Publication Date: 2000

First edition. Hard cover. HarperCollins, London (2000) New in new dust jacket. Signed by author. book in new condition and has a band around it stating "signed copy" 273 p.; 23 cm. Collins crime.. Signed by Author, this is a 'gripping murder mystery combined with a fascinating art history puzzle. ' As new, in Brodart non-glare cover.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 273 pages
• Publisher: Harper Collins; 1ST edition (2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0002326604
• ISBN-13: 978-0002326605
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,949,441 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Art Mystery, October 18, 2000

By 

Artbooklover "ML" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Immaculate Deception (Hardcover)

I've read all Iain Pears's Jonathan Argyll art mysteries (although why poor Flavia doesn't get equal billing, I don't know), and I have to say I find them a flat-out delight. Smart, funny, well-written. They're not as profound as, say, his INSTANCE OF THE FINGERPOST (which I rate as 5 stars, so I can't rate this any higher than 4, no disrespect intended), but they're not as long, either. I think the characters, the central character' "real-life" situations, the mysteries (art thefts and murders) are cleverly plotted, the dialogue excellent. I just wish he could write books as fast as I can read them.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Enjoyable Page-Turner from Pears, November 24, 2000

By 

S. Sokoll (Manassas, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Immaculate Deception (Hardcover)

Iain Pears' mystery series is a delight from start to finish. This latest book is no exception with our heroine, Flavia diStefano, fighting her way through the confusion brought about by the theft and ransom of a painting from the local museum. The political ramifications of the recovery of the painting are a maze through which Flavia (with the help of her newly-minted husband, Joanthan Argyll, our hero) must make her way. Complicating the recovery process is the involvement of Flavia's former superior, Taddeo Bottando, and art-thief extraordinaire, Mary Verney.

This book is a delightful addition to the previous entries in this series, although at time the action becomes a little to convoluted for belief. A heartily enjoyable book in a wonderful series. Deduct one star for the small amount of interaction between the main characters (Flavia & Jonathan)- they are a riot when they are detecting together. In this book they spend most of their time jaunting about independently, only meeting up again briefly for the conclusion.

Pears has left himself an opening with the end of this book to either end the series or to proceed with it in a slightly new direction. One can only hope that he is currently working on the next Flavia-Jonathan mystery....

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy reading, intelligently written, May 17, 2002

By 

J. Marren "jtm497" (Glen Ridge, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Immaculate Deception (Mass Market Paperback)

There are times when even the most sophisticated readers need a break and want to read what I call an "airplane" book--"beach" book would also be a good description--at the same time it's hard not to get annoyed with poor writing, unbelievable dialogue and dumb plots. If you've had this problem, try Pears' books. This is the first of the series I've read, and found a good plot with an interesting smidgen of art history and modern Italian culture woven in. I had the added bonus of reading it during a flight home from a 2-1/2 week sojourn in Tuscany and Umbria! This book bears no resemblance to "Instance of the Fingerpost," which was a serious literary work; this is for fun!