EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY

The same evening that enterprising artist-forger Martin Phipps meets Venetian reporter Toni Sambon at a gallery opening, he saves Toni from muggers and glimpses a stolen canvas by Cima da Conegliano in his bag, and the following night, two men break into Martin's flat and burn all his own paintings when he won't (can't) tell them where Toni is. His own opening ruined by the holocaust, Martin takes off for Venice to track down the Cima—and tumbles into a frothy stew of art theft to finance a crew of murderous terrorists who leave their victims fingerless, and who have their sights on Martin. Not to worry, though—the slapstick edge to Martin's face-offs with the bad guys and his reunion with his old flame Lucy Althwaite keep his spirits high for the first two thirds of this buoyant tale, until the multiple threats, kidnappings, Rube Goldberg escapes, and revelations of guilt become too silly to be amusing. This lighthearted romp from Dowling (Double Take, See Naples and Kill) would be just about perfect if it ended a hundred pages earlier.