The Titian Committee

Jonathan Argyll #2

by Iain Pears

Flavia di Stefano of Rome's Art Theft Squad and art historian Jonathan Argyll have charmed mystery readers around the world. Their latest case is baffling to the extreme, when clues from a Titian researcher's death by mugging point to murder -- and a criminal conspiracy...

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Art, Italy, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Art History

230 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 21, 1991

About the author

Iain Pears is an English art historian, novelist and journalist. He was educated at Warwick School, Warwick, Wadham College and Wolfson College, Oxford. Before writing, he worked as a reporter for the BBC, Channel 4 (UK) and ZDF (Germany) and correspondent for Reuters from 1982 to 1990 in Italy, France, UK and US. In 1987 he became a Getty Fellow in the Arts and Humanities at Yale University. His well-known novel series features Jonathan Argyll, art historian, though international fame first arrived with his best selling book An Instance of the Fingerpost (1998), which was translated into several languages. Pears currently lives with his wife and children in Oxford.

Reviews

[Elizabeth (Alaska) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few years ago there was a radio program called "The Car Guys" where the hosts would take live call-ins and try to solve car problems by listening to owner/driver descriptions. The hosts, who were brothers, were extremely knowledgeable and also very funny. They also somewhat regularly made fun of people who got degrees in art history for having gotten educated in something that has no practical value. I freely admit I saw their point.

And then I discovered Iain Pears. My goodness! There are people who take art very seriously - some even willing to commit murder in its name. OK, the murder part might be a real life exaggeration. The Titian Committee opens with the discovery of a body in a city garden. The gardener has spent months cultivating the lilies which are destined to festoon dining tables of the committee. He discovers that one of the committee members has had the bad taste to have been murdered and found lying in this flower bed, destroying his work.

I know little to nothing about art. So far in this series I have recognized the names of the artists, but probably have never seen any of their work. So why do I keep reading them? Pears writes wonderfully well and wittily. If that were not enough, his characters are believable, but perhaps with one characteristic that he plays to the hilt. Flavia di Stefano has an unparalleled appetite and Jonathan Argyll is an acute observer, but gathers what appears to be extraneous information. While Jonathan is the art historian, Flavia is the brains.

The other interesting - to me - side of these is the art history. In this, part of the mystery involves a love triangle of the 16th Century painter, Titian. I have no idea whether there was an actual love triangle. I think Pears definitely uses his imagination to make a good novel, but I also suspect not everything in this novel (or series) is fabricated. Pears certainly uses all of his resources, historical and otherwise, to give us a good plot. Part of my 4-star rating for this one may be that I like the series so much.

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bettie's Books

The rating, any status updates, and those bookshelves, indicate my feelings for this book.

[Kathryn Bashaar · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t usually read mysteries, but I picked this one up because I’ve enjoyed some of Pears’ other work, and it takes place in Venice, where Al and I will be travelling next year.

Well, I shouldn’t have bothered. One positive thing I will say about this book: there is some wit in the dialog and other language. Otherwise, this I did not enjoy it.

First, the characters showed very little emotion. I didn’t know what they wanted (other than to solve the mystery) or what they really cared about, so it was hard to root for them. I couldn’t even tell if Jonathan and Flavia were crushing on each other or just friends. The book was written in third person and in an extremely cerebral tone. The reader is never inside anyone’s head.

Second, it felt to me like there was a lot of activity without much solving of the mystery, just kind of random running around that didn’t advance the plot. The reader never gets the satisfaction of slowly figuring things out. The tension didn’t build for me. The number of murders piled up, but I kind of didn’t care. Then, when Flavia does figure out what happened, it is such an unbelievable Rube-Goldberg kind of solution that I was left scratching my head.

Possibly the problem is more with me than with the book. I just don’t care for mysteries, and I should quit thinking “oh this one will be different” and picking them up.

Like my reviews? Check out my blog at http://www.kathrynbashaar.com/blog/
Author of The Saint's Mistress: https://www.bing.com/search?q=amazon....

[Hana · Rating 3 out of 5]

We can no longer use our little joke that campus politics are so nasty because the stakes are so small. They are now so nasty because the stakes are so large.
Syracuse University political scientist, Dwight Waldo

A group of academic experts on Titian get some government money for their catalog project and suddenly the stakes get a lot higher. Quite deadly, in fact.



One of the Titian experts attending a conference in Venice has been found stabbed to death in a bed of lilies. Can Titian himself provide the clue?



This is the second of Ian Pears' clever and erudite art crime novels. As always, I love his characters: the bumbling art historian and dealer, Jonathan Argyll, and Flavia di Stephano and Geneeral Taddeo Bottando of the Italian National Art Theft Squad. This isn't quite as strong a novel as the later books in the series, but the Venetian setting is glorious, the plot is twisty and the denouement satisfying. A fun light read. Three and a half stars.

Content rating G.

[Alexander Mansilya-kruz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The artistic whodunit has its own rules, and "The Titian Committee" is an example of how it should be done. Admittedly my expectations were not too high as I opened it, counting merely on a sequel of 'The Raphaël Affair', and we all know what sequels usually are. This one, however, is better - it seems that Iain Pears was gradually improving his hand, just like the celebrated painter at the centre of the story.

We see the same familiar characters (not much development here) plus a range of well-formed suspects. The style is neat and enjoyable, the setting is, well, Venice, and the plot is excellent - not too complex, not too obvious, with just the right amount of history mixed in. All in all, a pleasure.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is written in a distinct style, and with a subtle sense of humor. If you love this sort of understated British prose, this book is for you. If you are not quite sure, read the first sentence:
"The initial discovery was made by the gardener of the Giardinetti Reali, an old and stooped figure whose labors generally pass unnoticed by the millions of tourists who come to Venice every year, even by those who eat their sandwiches amidst his creation as they get their breath back from overdosing on architectural splendour."
If, like me, you find this sentence deliciously funny, read on!
And yes, the mystery takes place in Venice. (well, mostly) Murders. Art theft. A dash of art history. What's not to love?

[Jean Hontz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: Enjoyable and fun

I really enjoy Iain Pears, how he writes, what he writes. His titular hero Jonathan Argyll is a slightly distractible, mild art historian who tends to lose the thread periodically, not to mention manage to fall into a lagoon. The heroine of the series, Flavia, is a lovely Italian woman who is far more focused and determined to solve art related crimes, and who rather intimidates Jonathan who clearly doesn't see himself in her class. So they are friends, and part-time colleagues. And her boss is a hoot.

The mysteries themselves generally ramble, much like Jonathan, but the hints are there if you can pick them out from the distractions a bit quicker than can Jonathan.

[Old Man JP · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little murder mystery in the art world. Two ongoing characters in Pears series of books, Jonathan Argyll and Flavia, become entangled in solving the mystery. A fun read but not comparable to his great "An Instance of the Fingerpost".

[Rachel (Sfogs) · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable book! Not as funny as the first though.

[Gintautas Ivanickas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Viena iš prestižinio Ticiano komiteto narių randama nužudyta. Flavia di Stefano atvyksta į Veneciją padėti (iš tikrųjų tai labiau nesipainioti po kojomis) vietos policijai ir netikėtai sutinka mieste Jonathaną Argyllą. Šis čia rengia sandorį – ketina nupirkti paveikslą iš markizės di MUlino. Tačiau netikėtai markizės kolekcija pavagiama, o Ticiano komiteto narius toliau persekioja mirtis. Ar gali būti kad Argyllo ir Flavios tyrimai kažkaip susiję?
Dar vienas „meno detektyvas“, antras serijoje. Detektyvinė intriga nebloga, personažai gal labiau primena comedia dell‘arte personažus. Bet parašyta labai lengvai, skaitosi smagiai. Karštai vasarai – pats tas.

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked book 1 in the series, but mostly for the setting: art in Italy. Initially, I thought this had promise (Venice!), but the mystery was fairly uninteresting, and the setting couldn't carry the book.

[Ligita Dykumų Ugnis · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a very but very slow start this turned out to be a pretty cute mistery-cum-art-history with a pinch of power/money struggles in academia.

Not great, not very bad. The witty text made for a pleasant read.
A good random pick in a second-hand bookshop.

[Susan in NC]

I don’t know if it’s me, or the book, but gave it to almost chapter 11 (gave up on page 124), but finally gave it up. I’ll try book 3 if I can get it, because I like the characters, but it’s just slow and meandering, and I went to last chapter to try and figure out whodunnit, but they babble on so long, couldn’t tell and lost patience. I simply don’t care, and life is too short to waste time on a boring book when so many good ones are out there!

[David Schwan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read, lots of what I would call academic politics. Outcome interesting and fair but slightly not representive of the truth. There are 7 books on the series this is the second but for me the 6 book read. The characters are engaging and otherall it is worth reading.

[John Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coincidentally this and the last book I read, started with an arrival by boat at St Marks Square in Venice.  Flavia's arrival in this book being about 450 years after that of Bruno in The Midwinter Martyr by SJ Parris.

This is my second book in this series. After reading the first, I was left confused both about the actual crime and the people involved. I thought that there was potential in the three main characters and that I thought that could well be developed to the advantage of the series.

In this book Flavia and Jonathon meet up again after following their own career paths since the last and join forces when what seems like an 'art' involved murder is discovered.

Once again I felt that the story had lots of potential but once again all my feelings in the first story returned. Again I felt like ditching it as I was reading to get to the end rather than because I was enjoying it.  This time I tried to work out why. Story set mainly in Venice which I know and could picture -no, not that. Characters, again, I didn't feel that I got to know them each well enough and therefore they got muddled and I had no empathy for any of them apart from the main three. The Crime, as before, I felt it became too complicated and muddled.

I think that my opinions about the infighting in the  Italian law enforcement agencies was reinforced here.

The interaction between the main three characters is coming along very nicely but, am I alone in thinking that the rest is too cmplex to make an enjoyable read? I would acknowledge that the problem could be me if I had read this over lots more sessions but from start to finish in just over 48 hours, I think not.

Will I bother with the next?  Time will tell.

24th November 2025

[Carol Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mysteries I love tend to have one thing in common- great characters. Flavia di Stefano of Rome's Art Theft Squad and Jonathon Argyll, art dealer/historian fit the bill. I have a fondness for couples in mysteries, and even though these two are not actually together yet, you know they will be. She's beautiful, smart, decisive, blunt. He's bumbling and endearing. While she sticks with the case, he tends to get lost in the art. I like how they interact with each other, how their differences fit together so well.

The Titian Committee is actually a reread for me. I didn't remember the plot at all. I just remembered that I enjoyed it, and I did this time too.

I'm not an art history buff; you don't have to be to enjoy this mystery. Pears tells you everything you need to know, not in a pedantic way. He makes it interesting, he pulls me into the art world, into the jealousies and rivalries, the ins and outs of dealing in paintings, even the drama in the long-dead painters' lives.

The book ends with a traditional denouement. All the suspects are gathered in one room as Flavia's boss explains the sequence of events, or at least the version of events he and Flavia have decided should be the official version. I like that Flavia and her boss are willing to overlook certain details, that justice is not always black and white.

[Blaine DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this book hit all the right buttons for me. I enjoy the author, love mysteries, the setting is Italy and deals with Art, along with art theft and art history and features the Italian National Art Theft Squad.
A good book that is a fast read, and touches on the Italians love of bureaucracy, the Italians frustration with bureaucracy, the Italians regional dislike of each other, each Italian character making sure they have time to eat huge meals and one character who gets his undies in an uproar when he misses a meal - yes, the author has the Italians down pat.
Pears brings us murder, intrigue, missing (and assumed stolen) artwork, and takes us inside a fictitious art committee and all the foibles and intrigue that they entail, as well as the process of authentication of art works as original masterpieces by known art masters.
We have multiple murders, multiple suspects and Pears is able to wrap this all up in 262 pages of very fine writing, with the last chapter being Agatha Christie-esque, as everyone is gathered in a large room to find out who killed who, who robbed whom and what is the significance of these allegedly minor pieces of art that cause people associated with the Titian Committee to turn up dead.
A good read and one I recommend to all fans of mysteries and those who are intrigued with the machinations of the art world.

[Leanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Venice in the rain; a cabal of petty art historians: a lost Titian (maybe?): and a murder (or two? Or three?) Doesn’t it sound like the perfect recipe for a delicious murder mystery? This book is so light-hearted and probably entirely dashed-off that it is hard to recognize that the writer of such masterpieces as Fingerpost and Scipio’s Dream wrote this series earlier in his career. His great wit is there though throughout. The descriptions of Venice and the petty workings of the committee members are great fun to read. I like how reviewer Hana below says

We can no longer use our little joke that campus politics are so nasty because the stakes are so small. They are now so nasty because the stakes are so large.
Syracuse University political scientist, Dwight Waldo

And wonderful she tracked down the painting, Miracle of the Jealous Husband.

The denouement.. what to say? Classic Agatha Christie, where all is explained in front of the many suspects in high dramatic style on a day so rainy that the detective's shoes fall apart. There was a surprise at the end of the book, which I loved so much that I am giving this book 3 stars even though it was not a great book. Don't worry, I won’t tell the surprise.

[Marsha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the first Art Mystery that I'd read by Iain Pears. It was well researched and although I couldn't find fault with anything specific, the overall impression I got was that his characters were too superficial. I couldn't connect with them at all. Perhaps it was an Italian setting that reflected the complicated politics of the country. I just didn't care about the two main characters - they seemed cold and too breezy. He described the woman as fiery and volatile in places, but I didn't see her that way in dialogue. And speaking of - there was a lot of description that I felt was unnecessarily lengthy.

That being said, the plotting was pretty good but again, I wasn't sad to see the murdered men go away. They all seemed repellent to me. I doubt that I'll read anything else by Pears although I hear that his stand-alones are good. Feeling the way I do about his style, however, I'll be reluctant to invest my time in them.

[Althea Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Titian Committee, the junior, female member of a group of art historians is found murdered in a Venice botanical garden. Local police suspect that it’s a mugging gone wrong – but when Flavia makes an appearance on the scene, she suspects a more malicious intent. Soon, interviews with the surviving members of the committee reveal a web of personal rivalries, dislikes, and unethical doings. And when the surviving members become not-all-still-surviving, it becomes clear that at least one murderer is at work. Jonathan Argyll, coincidentally, travels to Venice to pick up a group of unimportant paintings from an elderly Marchesa… and discovers that some unguessed connections between these minor works and the great Titian may exist – and may have gotten someone killed.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the first book in the series, this was a quick, intelligent and enjoyable read.
I really like the art background of these mysteries, and how pieces of art are relevant to the plot. The cast of characters continue to be extremely likeable, and I am curious to see them again in the future books.

[Whitaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really great book shows us how everything is great and worth to die for

[kostas vamvoukakis · Rating 4 out of 5]

καλό με καλή σειρά γεγονότων και λίγο μπερδεμένο τέλος

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Descoperirea a fost făcută de grădinarul de la Giardinetti Reali, un bătrân adus de spate, a cărui activitate trece în general neobservată de milioanele de turişti care vin în fiecare an la Veneţia, chiar şi de cei care îşi mănâncă sandviciurile în mijlocul creaţiilor sale în timp ce-şi trag sufletul după o supradoză de splendoare arhitecturală.
În ciuda lipsei unanime de apreciere, bătrânul era obsedat de munca sa, iar din acest punct de vedere putea fi considerat o raritate. Veneţia nu este celebră pentru entuziasmul cu care se apleacă asupra naturii; dimpotrivă, întreaga sa istorie a fost dominată de nevoia de a împiedica forţele acesteia să se amestece în treburile ei. Un ghiveci în faţa ferestrei este, pentru localnici, cel mai apropiat echivalent al sălbăticiei naturii. Cei mai mulţi dintre ei nici măcar nu pot privi un colţ de oraş fără să şi-l imagineze plin de beton şi de asfalt. Dacă vrei să creşti plante, du-te pe continent. Veneţienii veritabili nu sapă pământul.
De aceea, bătrânul grădinar simţea că face parte dintr-o restrânsă şi oarecum persecutată minoritate. Câţiva acri de grădină înghesuiţi între Piazza San Marco şi Canal Grande. Straturi de flori de plivit, iarbă de tăiat, copaci de îngrijit, apa mării de ţinut în frâu. Şi toate acestea, cu prea puţin ajutor, şi bani nici atât. Dar astăzi, sâmbătă, era o zi mare. Primăria îi solicitase în mod special să furnizeze florile pentru un banchet ce urma să fie organizat în seara aceea pe Isola San Giorgio. Avea să le ofere cei mai frumoşi treizeci şi cinci de crini pe care îi creştea de luni întregi într-una dintre serele lui prea puţin încăpătoare. Crinii vor fi admiraţi, iar el va fi lăudat. Într-adevăr, o zi mare!
Dar mai erau multe de făcut. Să taie florile, să le pregătească, să le aranjeze, să împacheteze fiecare fir separat, cu grijă, şi apoi să le trimită pentru a-şi ocupa locul în splendidele aranjamente care – bătrânul nu se îndoia de acest lucru – aveau să fie senzaţia serii. Aşa că s-a trezit devreme, imediat ce a bătut de ora şase, a dat repede pe gât o cană de cafea şi un pahar cu acqua vita, ca să-şi pună sângele în mişcare, şi a ieşit la treabă în aerul rece şi umed al sfârşitului de toamnă. Deşi îi era frig şi încă nu se trezise bine, simţea în suflet un mic tremur de plăcere anticipativă în vreme ce se apropia de sera ale cărei contururi se întrezăreau în ceaţa ce acoperea laguna în fiecare dimineaţă, în această perioadă a anului.

[Chazzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A woman is found face down in a flower bed by the gardener of the Giardinetti Reali in Venice. Bad enough the gardener was to supply flowers for the city banquet that night, from the flower bed. Worse that it was a foreigner. But when it turns out to be a member of the Titian Committee, an organization funded by the Italian Arts Ministry and is to study and catalogue all works produced by Tiziano Vecelli (1486 – 1576); then the Italian National Art Theft Squad, in Rome, is called in.

Flavia de Stefano is assigned the case. Off to Venice she is sent — with an expense account. It should be a fairly simple case…but it’s not.

Excessive quarrelling among the committee members makes for many suspects. The clues seem to be a rats’ nest with no obvious links. And each time Flavia thinks she’s close, another member is murdered! Oh, there’s also the matter of a missing portrait.

To assist, Flavia calls in Jonathan Argyll, a noted art historian she has worked with in the past. Hmmm….interesting guy…

The characters are fun, the pace good and I enjoyed the humour running thorough the book.

[Fran Hawthorne · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a wonderful treat to find a page-turning, intelligent mystery that also brings in something meatier -- history, science, or, in the case of "The Titian Committee," the medieval artist Titian. Starting with a dead body discovered in a garden in Venice, the novel gallops through Titian's life and painting style, some of the intricacies of the art business and Italian bureaucracy, and the canals of Venice in all their pungency.

(The inside accounts of Italian bureaucracy are particularly fun: For instance, the best way for the Roman police chief to retain his job is to use his expense account lavishly.)

But for those of us who were awestruck by the richness of author Iain Pears' 1998 historical-mystery masterpiece "An Instance of the Fingerpost," subsequent works like "The Titian Committee" are just -- well, just another Perry Mason. Good genre pieces. Not masterpieces.

[Karen Bartlett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Number 2 in the series featuring art historian Johnathan Argyll and Flavia De Stefano, of the Italian national Art Theft Squad. The first I've read of this series, and I'll be looking out for more now.
A clever, witty and fun little mystery - Louise Masterson, a member of the International Titian committee, is found dead in a greenhouse in Venice and Argyll and De Stefano are reunited as they are called to investigate. As they navigate the twists and turns of Venice and their own simmering relationship, more members of the committee are found dead.
Murky canals and dodgy art dealings add to the atmosphere in this clever mystery which also takes the reader to Milan, Padua and southern France - littered with references and details of some wonderful works of art, this is a really great fun read.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second of the Jonathan Argyll and Flavia di Stefano Italian Art Theft Squad mysteries. They are beautifully written with humor, a great deal of art history, well researched, good stories, humanity and are a treat.
The Titian Committee is meeting in Venice to authenticate paintings by the Venetian master Tiziano. One of their members is found murdered in a greenhouse in front of the Marciana library which makes up the south side of Piazza San Marco. Although the murder is in the jurisdiction of the Venentian carabinieri, Flavia is dispatched to Venice by her superior, General Bottano, make an appearance. He is as usual trying to protect his department of Art Theft police from being broken up by the powers that be.

[Marty · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Venice, Louise Masterson, member of a prestigious art historical committee of the Italian Arts Ministry, was found murdered near the Grand Canal. Other members of the committee which was meeting in Venice, all had good alibis. The Italian National Arts Theft Squad decided to send a representative to help solve the crime –not to do any actual work, but to look good for their budget requests. Flavia da Stefano was sent to “help.” … Flavia, however, was opposed to just running up a big bill, and actually knew something about the Titian paintings the Arts committee was studying. She and became interested in helping to solve the case. – Confusing lines of power, control, and interests simply weigh the story down. … I never really had any sympathy for anyone in the book

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could remember very little of the previous book I'd read from this series (over a decade ago) other than that it had enough about it I'd like to read more.

I very much enjoyed this bit of fun: the travelogue element (mostly Venice), the interpersonal relationships of academics, police politics... I always find books on art difficult, translating a visual medium via print into my own mind's eye but Iain Pears does a really splendid job with this one and not solely because he does it with a large helping of dry humour.

The 'solution', delivered mostly but not entirely by General Bottando to a gathered audience of interested parties before dashing back to Rome to try to keep his art squad afloat, is like a Rubik's cube.