Metropolitan/Henry Holt, New York, 1999, 1^st American Ed/2^nd pr.  ISBN 0-8050-6285-8.  Hard cover, 342 pages followed by Author’s Note.  Like new; unread copy.  Dust jacket with price intact has just a touch of wear at spine head.  Interior clean and unmarked; binding tight; deckled fore-edge.  ‘Invited to dinner by the boorish local landowner, Martin Clay, an easily distracted philosopher, and his scrupulous art-historian wife find themselves enlisted to assess the value of three dusty paintings … one of the world’s lost treasures, camouflaged by misattribution and the grime of centuries. … So begins a wild trail of lies and concealments, soaring hopes and sudden panics as Martin embarks on an obsessive quest to prove his hunch, win over his wife, separate the painting from its owner, and resolve one of the great mysteries of European art.’ (from front flap)