The Immaculate Deception

Iain Pears


When a politically sensitive painting is kidnapped in Rome, the Prime Minister orders Flavia di Stefano of the Art Theft Squad to retrieve the picture without paying a ransom and without causing embarrassment to the country. She turns for help to her old mentor, General Taddeo Bottando, who warns Flavia that the case may prove perilous both to her professional and personal health. Meantime, Flavia's husband, art historian Jonathan Argyll, embarks on an investigation of his own, researching the history of a small Renaissance painting, An Immaculate Conception, hanging in Bottando's apartment. For both Jonathan and Flavia, the search reveals shocking secrets from the past and leads them into the path of some dangerous and unexpected enemies.


This summary is courtesy of McNaughton Books