Iain Pears

Iain Pears was born in Coventry, England, in 1955. He studied at Wadham College, Oxford, and subsequently worked as a journalist, art historian, and television consultant. He has written crime novels that have received critical acclaim, a book on art history, and numerous articles on art, economics, and history. He gained particular fame with his historical novel "An Instance of the Fingerpost" (1998), which achieved worldwide success. The detective novel series featuring art historian-detective Jonathan Argyll includes seven books: "The Raphael Affair" (1991), "The Titian Committee" (1992), "The Bernini Bust" (1993), "The Last Judgement" (1994), "Giotto's Hand" (1995), "Death and Restoration" (1996), and "The Immaculate Deception" (2000). These were followed by the novels "The Dream of Scipio" (2002), "The Portrait" (2005), and "Stone's Fall" (2009).