Perspectives

<p><b>*SHORTLISTED FOR THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2026*</p><p>'There is no living writer whose new books I fall on with greater delight than Laurent Binet. . . <i>Perspectives</i> is a proper treat' Naomi Alderman</p><p>'A dazzling romp'</b> <b><i>Guardian</i></p><p>Florence,1557. As dawn breaks, a painter is discovered lying on the floor of a church, stabbed through the heart.</b></p><p>Above him, the paintings he laboured over for more than a decade. At his home, a hidden portrait scandalously depicting Maria de Medici, daughter of the Duke of Florence, as a naked Venus. Who is the murderer? Who made the painting? As the city erupts in chaos, Giorgio Vasari, the great art historian, is picked to lead the investigation.</p><p>Letters fly back and forth carrying news of plots and speculation about the killer’s identity – between Maria and her aunt Catherine de’ Medici, the queen of France; between Catherine and her secret agents; and between Vasari and his friend Michelangelo. And the truth, when it comes to light, is as shocking as the bold new artworks that have made Florence the red-hot centre of Europe.</p><p><b>Bursting with characters and colour, <i>Perspectives </i>is a mystery like no other that shows us Renaissance Florence as we’ve never seen it before – a dazzling, hugely entertaining novel of court machinations, murder and art.</p><p>'Doesn’t get much better than this' </b><i>Sunday Telegraph</i></p><p><b>'A racy and enjoyable detective story'</b> <i>The Times </i></p><p><b>'A dazzling romp'</b> <i>Guardian</p><p><b>'</b></i><b>Funny and very gripping'</b> <i>Financial Times </i></p>