In his most dazzling novel since the groundbreaking "New York Times" bestseller "An Instance of the Fingerpost," Pears presents a vast historical mystery, marvelous in its ambition and ingenious in its complexity.

Iain Pears is the author of the bestsellers An Instance of the Fingerpost and The Dream of Scipio and a novella, The Portrait, as well as a series of acclaimed detective novels, a book of art history and countless articles on artistic, financial and historical subjects. He lives in Oxford, England.