Picture You Dead by Peter James

 

Harry and Freya Kipling love wandering around car boot sales looking for interesting items. One day Harry comes across a picture. The picture itself is hideous but the frame is perfect for something he has in mind. Once home the picture is put to one side and forgotten about until an accident damages the painting. Upon inspecting the damage they discover that there is another painting underneath. There is a possibility that the picture underneath is a long lost old master and worth millions. Unfortunately this attracts the attention of a collector who wants the painting but isn't prepared to pay millions for it.

This is book number 18 in the Roy Grace series. I've long been a fan of this series and eagerly await each new book in the series. Fans of the series will not be disappointed by the story line.

The book opens in 2015 with the murder of an antiques dealer, Charlie Porteous, a murder that has never been solved. We then jump to 2019 and Roy Grace is reviewing the cold case of the murder of Charlie Porteous. With ever improving scientific methods it's hoped that they may discover clues to help solve the murder.

We have the usual supporting characters working alongside Grace, including the totally un-PC Norman Potting. Since the events in this book take place almost immediately after the ending of book 17, Left You Dead, there is a subdued air to the characters as a result of events which happened in the previous book.

I am always amazed that Peter James still manages to come up with new story lines having written seventeen previous books in this series. The depth of research is astounding, however James writes so well that the reader gets a clear understanding. I almost feel like an expert myself on artists of the fete galante style of painting. The other really interesting aspect of this story though is the way in which almost any painting can be faked so well that it is virtually impossible to tell the difference.

As the story progresses we meet a range of criminals and discover that they fall in to two categories. Those who have a moral code and those who don't.  Those who have a moral code tend to be a dying breed; the old lags who hold their hands up when caught and avoid violence. Set alongside these are the newer breed of criminals, mainly involved in drugs or internet crime, who will do anything to get what they want. This story features a couple of particularity nasty versions of this new breed, they certainly made my skin crawl.

As we race towards the conclusion the sense of menace increases and you wonder if Grace and his team will be able to solve the crimes in time and protect the victims. At no point do you feel that everything is going to work out ok, the tension never lets up until the very end.

Picture You Dead by Peter James will be published on 29th September 2022 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGallay and Pan Macmillan for a review copy.