Iain Pears was born in England in 1955 and educated at Wadham College, Oxford. Pears has worked as an art historian, a TV consultant and a journalist for many countries. Pears combined his knowledge of art and his mystery writing technique in An Instance of the Fingerpost and other novels. He also wrote Stone's Fall. Pears is the author of the Jonathan Argyll series of art history mystery novels. The series includes The Raphael Affair, The Titian Committee, Giotto's Hand and The Immaculate Deception.