| An English art scholar believes he's uncovered evidence that a painting by Raphael was painted over by a second-rate 18th century artist, and that he has located the painting. This, of course, creates quite a stir in the art world, and the Italian art crime squad gets involved.
When the painting is located and uncovered, and a previously unknown Raphael painting revealed, the painting is bought for a huge amount of money at auction by the Italian government, and put on display in a museum in Rome. At a gala event, the painting is destroyed (by burning), and the head of the Italian art squad has to not only solve the mystery of who burned the painting, but find a way to withstand the political troubles accompanying the loss of the painting. When someone involved with the painting turns up dead, there is a murder to solve as well. Working together, the art squad and the English art scholar (who is a prime suspect himself) must solve the murders before they themselves become victims. | ||
|
Plot & Themes Tone of story - Dry-cynical How difficult to spot villain? - Moderately Challenging Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - nearly 100% Murder of certain profession? Misc. Murder Plotlets - Proving innocence of very obvious suspect - Big focus on forensic evidence Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 20 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 50 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 40's-50's Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: Motive of antagonist - money/treasure The antagonists are: - government bureaucracy How sensitive is this character? Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting Europe Yes European country: - England/UK - Italy City? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
||