Landscape of Lies

by Peter Watson

Book Overview

Isobel Sadler is dead broke. The only thing she's got that might bring in any money is a stupendously bad painting that's been in her family for generations. It's so ugly she can't imagine it would be worth much, but the other night someone tried to steal it. Mystified, she turns to art dealer Michael Whiting, who identifies the painting as a 16th-centurytreasure map, pointing the way to a cache of priceless religious artifacts that were hidden by...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689120834
• ISBN13: 9780689120831
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 315 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Book includes very-cool pull-out painting that you can reference as you read the mystery

I love books with art-themes, so I was excited when I found out that this book was about following the clues in a painting. And it didn't let me down. The plot is exciting, with a couple of really appealing people (an art dealer and a young woman who owns the painting) trying to solve the riddle, and a really bad guy who is also trying to solve it for his own evil ends! The author clearly knows his stuff (he's written some non-fiction, too, about the art market), and the information about 16th-century painting is fascinating. And it's really cool that the book includes an insert of the "Landscape of Lies" painting itself, so readers can "play along at home."

great mystery/thriller

I was not familiar with this title but noticed it was a new Felony & Mayhem reprint, which means it's supposed to be a good quality but overlooked mystery. I thought I'd give it a try and just loved it. Great depictions of the English countryside and an intriguing mystery - but you do very much need the dust jacket depiction of the painting to follow the story. The book reminded me very much of the Iain Pears' mysteries.

One of my favorite books ever!

I picked this book up at random off of a library shelf about 10 years ago and it turned out to be one of the best books I've ever read. A great mix of intrigue, mystery, history and art, this book should have been a best-seller! I highly recommend it! Theives try to steal an old, worthless painting which turns out to be a treasure map - if deciephered correctly, it will show the location of the treasures of one of the most wealthy monasteries in England, hidden during Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries and never found since. There is a race between the lead characters and the "bad guy" to see who can figure out the historical clues in the map and get to the treasure first! This is a first-rate, fascinating tale. Pick up a copy!It's a must to have the dust jacket though - it is a copy of the painting that turns out to be a treasure map. Without it, the book wouldn't be half as fun as you wouldn't have a clear reference of the compents of the painting. I referred to the dust jacket many times for clarification of what each clue really looked like.

Unexcelled!

"Landscape of Lies" is Peter Watson`s best novel. The reader learns a lot about Fine Arts and East Anglia. It`s a real cliff hanger with neverending twists and an unpredictable ending. I read it several times, it`s one of my favorite books and I recommend it to everybody. It`s a shame, that the real good books(like this one and for instance Laird Koenig`s "The little Girl who lives down the Lane") are very soon out of print. There are so many boring books that you can still buy after 10 years...why not this one?

A Treasure and a Treasure Hunt!

One of my favorite books of all time, it's amazing this bookwas not a bestseller! The cover is a medieval painting, is intrinsicto the story: a painting is discovered which turns out to be a medieval treasure map. Racing against rivals, the characters must unravel the secrets and medieval symbolism in the painting in order to find the treasure first. A first rate mix of mystery, history, suspense, research and intellect, this is an amazing book for anyone with an interest in medieval history, art, archaeology, or just fantastic books with unique, interesting story lines.