The Last Judgement

An Art History Mystery

By: Iain Pears

Narrated by: Geoffrey Howard

In an exchange of favors with an art dealer colleague, Jonathan Argyll unluckily offers to transport a painting from Paris back to Rome. It seems routine work, and Jonathan gets to meet his girlfriend, Flavia, who works for Rome's Art Theft Squad.

But when a would-be thief tries to take the painting at the train station, and the art dealer seems less interested in his purchase once he sees it, Jonathan wonders why, as events unfold, someone is willing to kill for it. With customary wit and panache, Jonathan and Flavia embark on a breathless chase to capture a killer who has been refining his own particular art for many years.

©1993 Iain Pears (P)1997 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A witty, exceptionally brilliant puzzler." ( Sunday Times (London))
"A joy for readers who enjoy a complex plot set to clever dialogue with the often nefarious goings-on of the international art market as a backdrop." ( St. Petersburg Times)

solid

Good story, good narrator interesting characters. First t ik me listening to this author. I'll have to see what else is available.

Good mystery

I enjoyed this mystery. Lots of information about art originals and how others make money by forging artist's masterpieces. I enjoyed learning more about art history. It is a good story and well worth the read. Dialogue is clever and witty. I will be reading more of Mr. Pears books. Enjoy!

New author for me

It is a pleasure to recommend this book and the narrator. I always enjoy Mr Howard’s narration. For those of u who have enjoyed Mr pears work, I join you in appreciating his style. I will look forward to finding more of his work!

The Long and Winding Road to Truth

Once again Jonathan and Flavia tackle an almost unsurmountable task. This time I wasn't sure they would pull it off, but, lo and behold, they did! Filled with quirky wit and resilience, these two unraveled the mystery that went back so far that I was sure it was buried forever. This fictional story makes me wonder just how much bs our governments (around the world) have fed us and still are. Excellent listen.

Not fully satisfied.

I’m just commenting here on craft, not… opinions or ethics or whatnot, so I won’t go into the stereotypes and things like that that bothered me — honestly I’d say that’s part of the atmosphere of the European procedural, even if I find it distasteful.

What bothered me up until about halfway through was that there was just too much word of mouth — just about everything came from the testimony of some person who would never be heard from again, and any of it could be lies. It all depended on the author’s bent.

About halfway through, I figured out the solution, pretty much through that line— the author’s bent is anti-bureaucracy, I wouldn’t quite say anti-establishment, but at least, a view that governments, at least continental ones, are full of paper-pushers who don’t care, and higher-ups who cover up and smirk and say “well, you know how it is”. With that in mind, the “who” becomes obvious (since the author keeps beating you over the head with that one thing that, considering the bent, is clearly a sign of guilt), and the “why” falls into place from that.

I’m not enthralled, but it’s at least digestible, which is more than I can say for most of the other included books I’ve tried. Time to stop being stingy with credits.