Some Novels of Ian Pears

I first encountered Ian Pears as a writer back in the very early 2000s.  He has written seven books in his Jonathan Argyll series (art history mysteries).  In addition he has a further five novels of which An Instance of the Fingerpost was the first, being published in 1997.  This was, I think, the second title that a group of us tackled under the banner of our recently formed Book Group in Godalming.  t The book had a mixed reception amongst our number: 
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Most of the characters are historical figures.  Set in Oxford in the 1660s - a time and place of great intellectual, religious, scientific and political ferment - the narrative centres around a young woman, Sarah Blundy, who stands accused of the murder of Robert Grove, a fellow of New College. Four witnesses describe the events surrounding his death: Marco da Cola, a Venetian Catholic intent on claiming credit for the invention of blood transfusion; Jack Prescott, the son of a supposed traitor to the Royalist cause, determined to vindicate his father; John Wallis, chief cryptographer to both Cromwell and Charles II, a mathematician, theologian and master spy; and Anthony Wood, the famous Oxford antiquary.

Each one tells their version of what happened and these are contradictory accounts.  But only one reveals the extraordinary truth.


The Bernini Bust by Ian Pears

Published in 1993 this is the third title in Pears' series centring on a team consisting of detective art historian Jonathan Argyll who works with two members of the (fictitious) Italian Art Squad: Flavia di Stefano (deputy) and General Bottando (head of the squad).

Argyll is also a dealer and the hardest part of being an art dealer is having to sell your beloved works. For Jonathan Argyll, the pain is soothed when an American billionaire agrees to pay a vast sum for a relatively minor piece.

Arriving in the Californian sunshine eager to collect his cheque, Jonathan bumps into one of his less scrupulous colleagues, and discovers he is not the American's only seller. A bust of Pope Pius V is being smuggled out of Italy, and trouble is following in its wake.

Within hours, Jonathan's billionaire is dead and both the smuggler and his bust have gone missing. Thinking things can't get any worse, Jonathan calls for the help of the Italian Art Theft Squad – and instead finds himself the killer's next target…

The plotting is convoluted; you have to concentrate and juggle the twists and turns and the machinations of the players in your mind.  There is a final surprising turn in the final pages.  A classic whodunit.