Customer Reviews

The Titian Committee

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I think I'd read anything set in Italy, and Iain Pears does a wonderful job conveying its charms in this series. This particular book is set in Venice, which is really brought to life (I got rather excited when the body of a victim was found in a canal that was down the street from a hotel where I once stayed.)

This is my first of Pear's 'art history mysteries,' however, and the characters and the plot have yet to grow on me. Flavia diStefano, an Italian detective, is energetically drawn, but Jonathan Argyll, the art expert who tags along with her, is an enigma. Perhaps he is more colorful in other stories in this series. The plot is pretty tortured and difficult to retain if you are not an art history export. There is rather a lot of detail conveyed third-hand (scenes in which two characters sit in a cafe talking about what a third character said to a fourth character).

Nevertheless, every time I want a 'hit' of Italy, I'm likely to go back to this series for a quick fix!

Don't Drink the Water

An Ian Pears' view of ever-romantic Venice never lets readers forget they are in a watery wasteland. However appealing visually, the downside is very dirty water, water everywhere. You can't get "there" from "here" without crossing the canals, and God forbid you should ever, ever fall in!
The protagonists fall in the canals, suffer from seasickness, and root around in sub-basements never meant to be seen by the tourists.

The plot is secondary to the fun and the easy-to-digest art history that author Pears provides. Gorgeous, volatile Flavia and diffident Jonathan (think Hugh Grant) team up to investigate the endangered members of the prestigious Titian Committee, who are being picked off one-by-one. Their directive is to bring the investigation to a speedy, expedient closure that will make the various Italian bureaucracies look good. Solving the crime is secondary. As Flavia's marvelous superior General Bottando informs her when she triumphantly states she has found another body in France, "But you're not meant to be finding more," he said grumpily, "You're meant to be dealing with the more than adequate supply we have already."

It is hard to pigeonhole Pears' Art Mysteries as to type. The satire is good humored, but nevertheless has a bite. The protagonists are made far too uncomfortable and the action too graphic to be a "cozy," and the lack of dedication to task make it impossible to label the stories "hard boiled." If you adore things Italian and have more than a passing interest in art history, I highly recommend this series.
-sweetmolly-Amazon Reviewer

Iain Pears lives up to his modern day Agatha Christie title with a particular twist on writing about beautiful places. In fact, great places are the focus of his Art History Mystieries series, like Paris, London, Rome, and lots more of Rome, Los Angeles and other five star places like that. As far as the murder mystery in each book's plot, like "The Titian Committee", the story is as much about Venice (place) and how this high brow Titian committee credentials master works than it is about the dead body discovered in the first chapter. Reading a Pears novel is
worth challenging a few college credits in art history, only tons more fun. Still, even with the "opposites attract" characters of the often morose Jonathon Argyle, who lives up to his very predictable last name, and his risk taking love Gloria Di Stafano, "The Titian Committee" isn't quite as memorable as the other books in this effervecent mystery series. Sometimes, the plot becomes just too cumbersome to make sense. Nevertheless, I wouldn't want to miss reading it, if only to keep up with the lively antics of the hero and heroine- especially, to find out if they ever plan on taking their relationship beyond the Panda bear dance they play out in their comic/drama experiences. Overall, "The Titian Committee" does not stand alone in The Art History Mysteries, but it's a good link with the others. "The Raphael Affair" is still the best in the series with "Death and Restoration" a close second. Of course, it will likely be a long time before another book will compare with the intellectual stimulation of "An Instance of the Fingerpost", a first rate Pears mystery, but not in the line up of the Art History Mysteries series.

This is the second book in this series of art mysteries (Raphael Affair was first). The series need not be read in order as I found when I read this one out of order.

Pears' ironic humor is abundant and his main characters all so human. The cultural aspects always add to the plot and Pears' writing style also adds.

The plot of Titian Committee is good. The author presents the reader with members of a research committee who are all - at some time or other - suspects, prime suspects or murder victims.

Like some of Pears' other books, there is a moral decision/question that throws an extra twist. Are the good guys always good? Or is it good to be a good guy and not so good?

Somehow the reader gets the warm feeling throughout this book that Mr. Pears writes with a constant grin on his face. This is an enjoyable light read.

Just as enjoyable as the first of the Art History Mysteries ( The Raphael Affair), this book has convinced me to read the rest of the series. The author has an excellent sense of place (in this case Venice), character and storyline. I thought the conclusion a tad muddled, but I really like the art history that forms the backbone of the tale. Those with strong medieval/Renaissance history will have a better chance than I did at guessing the ending.

Iain Pears delivers yet again a positive and entertaining reading material in THE TITIAN COMMITEE,surely most readers will feel the need to

review TITIAN paintings as I did to embrace closely with the plot.

Framed with simplicity and easily accesible by all readers it builds up to a great finale almost as a 1950 novel bringing together most of the players in a final deliverance.

Always with the necessary descriptions but not overwhelmly leaves room for the reader to recreate the images.

Hopefully we will continue to receive new art mystery proposals such as this one from the author,Pablo More-Uruguay-South America

The second in the Jonathan Argyll series is dissimilar from the first in that it is set in one location (I prefer books that wander across Europe), but has more enough mystery to keep anyone guessing as suspects come in and out of reasonable suspicion. Not much detail is given to the secondary characters, so it allows for a really quick read with a satisfactory ending that explained why my choice of murder was wrong. As usual with Pears there is historical accuracy, as well as plenty of humor. All in all, a great weekend read when you do not wish to dive into a larger book.

Pardon me for disagreeing with the other reviewers. The plot actually was interestesting with promising but not fully developed complexities. The correlation of modern and ancient events is pleasing. On the negative side, there are some odd inconsistencies such as Flavia getting seasick on the Grand Canal one minute and having a strong stomach a few pages later. I found the characters a bit shallow. And most disappointing, all the characters, whether Italian, Dutch, American or English all spoke the same unmistakeably English idiom even though the description of the characters tries to give them varied language abilities. Even though the setting is Venice this is a thoroughly English cozy.

While not the last novel in Pears' art history mystery series, this is the last of the series that I had to read. I must grant that reading them out of order was a tad confusing at times, but the nice thing about Pears's works is that they do not have to be read in order to be enjoyed. In fact, knowing how things eventually wind up for the main characters made me enjoy their 'current' situation in "The Titian Committee" a mystery set in the watery streets and canals of Venice.

In the midst of a budget and political crisis, the Art Theft Squad sends Flavia di Stefano to Venice to investigate the murder of Louise Masterson, an art professor and member of the prestigious Titian Committee - a group of elite scholars who study and authenticate the great artist's paintings. Something about the crime sticks with Flavia, especially the image of the corpse clutching a bunch of lilies and a crucifix, and she refuses to stop investigating the case. When a second member of the Titian Committee is found drowned in a canal, the authorities are eager to cry accidental drowning, but Flavia knows there is too much coincidence for it to be an accident. Someone committed two murders, but why? With the help of the somewhat bumbling, uncertain art dealer Jonathan Argyll, Flavia and her boss help unearth a series of mystifying clues. Why was there so much infighting among the committee members? Why was Masterson also interested in a portrait that Argyll was trying to attain for his boss? What does Titian's real life story have to do with that of the characters? There are many threads to weave together, yet Pears manages to do so in a satisfying and somwhat surprising manner.

Pears' art history mysteries have been a delight to read, his knowledge of art flows seamlessly with his narratives and never seems bulky or intrusive. Argyll, Flavia and Bottando are likable and fully-rounded characters. There is a lot going on in "The Titian Committee" - perhaps almost too much at times - but it is a fitting piece to the series and its many puzzles.

Having first read Iain Pears's "An Instance of the Finger Post," I must confess I was disappointed by "The Titian Committee." I found "An Instance" superbly written, well researched, and brilliantly composed, as if Pears had spent years alone on the outline. And while I would have preferred writing a review of "An Instance," I see that more than a few individuals sharing my opinion have already done so, and with greater scholarship and mastery than this starving artist could ever muster. So I return to "The Titian Committee" which I must have read with over-inflated expectations since I kept checking to see if the same Pears wrote both books. While it held my interest, there was something missing, perhaps that "spark of genius" that sets a Titian painting apart from the High Renaissance herd. At times I couldn't help thinking that this was the perfect book some middle-aged Inspector Morse fan would take with her on a group excursion to Tuscany. Despite the disappointment, there is no denying that Pears is skillful with character development. In fact, the charm of this book lies in the idiosyncratic nature of the two main characters. The relationship between Flavia di Stefano and Jonathan Argyll is in "The Avengers" tradition pleasantly puzzling, although the comparison stops there. Argyll is hardly a John Steed: off balanced, shabbily dressed, weak of stomach, and indecisive-- qualities not conducive to a passionate encounter with the headstrong Flavia, even in the heat of the investigation. Perhaps he fears Flavia, with her ravenous appetite, will swell into Mama Celeste proportions in ten years hence. Pears paints deftly the Titian Committee members as well-- not gentlemen you would feel comfortable with handling your art investment portfolio. The description of Italian bureaucracy is quite humorous. I read recently that Ingres did portrait drawings, albeit reluctantly, to tide him over while working on the large scale paintings. Pears probably knocks off these "vacation" books to finance the projects which really interest him, like "An Instance." I've noticed that the title he uses is a clue to the quality of his work: If a new one comes out entitled "The Caravaggio Papers," then expect more of the same. Finally, let me conclude this odd review using the language of the coffee bean, so vital to the enjoyment of such a book. If you're used to Illy expresso, this book is the literary equivalent of Folgers freeze-dried. You might enjoy it on a cold and rainy day, but you won't remember the taste long after.