Following a clue provided by a dying woman's confession, General Bottando of Rome's Art Theft Squad sets off on a world-wide search for the man he calls Giotto, whom he believes is responsible for a series of major heists."
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Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Art, crime, and Italy mix well. Following John Spencer Hill's Ghirlandaio's Daughter , about an art-fraud scheme, comes the latest in Pears' Jonathan Argyll series in which art dealer Argyll and his girlfriend, Flavia di Stefano of Rome's Art Theft Squad, track a consummate thief with a taste for old masters. Flavia's boss, General Bottando, is fighting the departmental bureaucrats, and his ability to produce the master thief, dubbed "Giotto," becomes the linchpin with which he will subdue his rival. Only one problem: as Flavia and Argyll traipse about the English countryside, following their only lead, it appears that Giotto may not exist. Pears masterfully juggles his plot elements while providing delightful diversion in the contrasting manners of his English and Italian characters. Best of all is the moral ambiguity at the heart of the story. As in Michael Dibdin's Aurelio Zen series, good and evil are inextricably blended, like the ingredients in a good risotto, and any attempt to break them apart can bring chaos rather than justice. Bill Ott
From Kirkus Reviews
Now that fledgling art dealer Jonathan Argyll has finally consummated his rather foolish romance with Flavia di Stefano, of Rome's Art Theft Department (The Last Judgment, 1996, etc.), the two of them can finally turn their full-time energies to tracking down stolen Italian masters. But this time they don't even need to nose out secrets; the secrets come to them. First there's a tearful confession from Maria Fancelli that 30 years ago she helped her seducer, shadowy English dealer Geoffrey Forster, steal an Uccello; then, after Jonathan flies to England and phones Forster, there's a grudging invitation to discuss the painting, which has to be canceled when Jonathan finds Forster dead; finally, there are statements by two independent witnesses that finger Forster for unsolved thefts of paintings by Fra Angelico and Pollaiulo--and strongly suggest he may have been the wily master thief Flavia's boss, General Taddeo Bottando, has dubbed Giotto. Can Jonathan, short of documentation when somebody breaks the police seals on Forster's house and burns his papers, tie Forster in to all of Giotto's 31 suspected thefts--and Pears's trademark, another sensational centuries-old art find--in time to save Bottando from the officious bureaucrat who's baying for his resignation? As a final twist makes clear, collecting all that evidence is easy compared to the climactic challenge Jonathan will have to meet. Urbane and amusing as ever, with surprising new depths of temptation for the hero--though series veterans won't be fooled. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It is okay but Pears has written better,
By A Customer
This review is from: GIOTTOS HAND: A Jonathan Argyll Mystery (Hardcover)
General Taddeo Bottando believes that the stealing of many of Europe's
priceless works of art since 1963 is the result of one person, an extremely
skillful thief, dubbed Giotto. The General assigns his brilliant team, the
Art Theft Squad, to investigate the possibility that one person is
responsible for numerous thefts. Private investigator Flavia di Stefano
and art dealer Jonathan Argyll begin the search for the elusive Giotto.
....... The first real clue is a letter from a dying woman who describes one
of the robberies. Using that as a lead, Stefano searches Florence for
follow-up information while Argyll travels all over England. Though they
begin to put together the pieces of a four decade old puzzle, General
Bottando's greatest opponent, Corrado Argan, raises a stink about the waste
of money in pursuit of a ridiculous objective. Corrado believes that no
one man could have committed all these crimes without a trace. It is up to
the Art Theft Squad to prove their leader is right and bring to justice a
grandmaster.
........ Though all three lead characters are charming and very endearing,
GIOTTO'S HAND seems a bit flat for mystery lovers since there is little
life threatening action confronting the squad. There is little doubt that
Iain Pears' love for art oozes off of the pages to reach out and touch
readers. In spite of this extra flavoring and great characterization, the
who-done-it remains a bit weak.
.......Harriet Klausner
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