The Titian Committee

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Witty Italian art-history crime series featuring English dealer Jonathan Argyll, from the author of the best-selling literary masterpiece, 'An Instance of the Fingerpost'.
Membership of the prestigious Titian Committee is normally considered a high honour. Normally, that is, until two of its members end up dead and someone seems to be taking the idea of backstabbing a little too far.

Flavia de Stefano of Rome's Art Theft Squad is sent to find out why. She calls upon the help of dealer Jonathan Argyll, in Venice to buy a picture from the Marchesa di Mulino. But the sudden theft of the Marchesa's collection sets Flavia and Jonathan on a tortuous trail to uncover the truth.

A further death threatens the very survival of the Committee itself, as well as offering the tantalizing possibility of an undiscovered Titian a mysterious composition that may have been suppressed for 'moral' reasons.

Reviews

Praise for 'The Titian Committee': 'An elegant and amusing book, perfect for those who love a clever puzzle.' Mail on Sunday 'The real work of art here is the plot, a piece of structural engineering any artist would envy.' New York Times Praise for the Jonathan Argyll series: 'Iain Pears has a superior line in this kind of tale!a divertingly complex, often comic, story in which the art motif is ingeniously central to the solution.' Guardian 'Superior entertainment.' Allan Massie, Scotsman 'There is nothing so satisfactory as the deconstruction of a puzzle in the hands of such an erudite and sure-footed author.' The Times 'Pears is a delightful writer, with a light, ironic touch.' Frances Fyfield, Mail on Sunday 'Iain Pears writes delightfully witty, elegant, well-informed crime novels.' The Times 'You don't have to know much about art to enjoy Iain Pears's Italian mysteries. Like a good teacher, he shares his passion unobtrusively and flavours his lessons with wit.' Val McDermid 'Pears is a delightful writer, with a light, ironic touch.' Mail on Sunday Praise for 'The Portrait': 'A wonderful, grimly entertaining novel.' Sunday Telegraph 'A revenge fantasy to relish.' Independent on Sunday 'Genuinely creepy.' The Times 'An exquisite miniature that explores the roles of artist and critic with wit and gore.' Evening Standard 'This is an atmospheric tour de force of historical writing, as it is of narrative skill.' Independent 'Taut, disturbing!full of interesting observations about the late nineteenth - and early twentieth-century art world!mesmerising.' Spectator

Author Bio

Iain Pears was born in 1955, educated at Wadham College, Oxford and won the Getty Scholarship to Yale University. He has worked as a journalist, an art historian and a television consultant. He is the author of many books, including the bestselling An Instance of the Fingerpost and The Dream Of Scipio.He lives with his wife and son in Oxford.