#BlogTour No Oil Painting by Genevieve Marenghi

I'm delighetd to be taking part in the Blog Tour for No Oil Painting by Genevieve Marenghi. Read on for details of a competion connected with the tour.

Synopsis

A respectable septuagenarian steals a valuable painting and later tries to return it, with a little help from her friends.

Bored National Trust volunteer, Maureen, steals an obscure still life as a giant up-yours to all those who’ve discounted her. The novice fine art thief is rumbled by some fellow room guides, but snitches get stitches, camaraderie wins out and instead of grassing her up, they decide to help.

Often written off as an insipid old fart, Maureen has a darker side, challenging ingrained ideas of how senior citizens should behave. Her new set of friends make her feel alive again. No longer quite so invisible, can this unlikely pensioner gang return the now infamous painting without being caught by the Feds?

I wrote this after hearing a radio interview in which an art detective revealed how a stolen Titian was dumped at a bus stop outside Richmond station. In a red, white and blue plastic bag! I just couldn’t shake such a compelling image. I volunteered at Ham House for many years, and my passion for this Jacobean gem, together with the volunteers’ indomitable spirit, gave birth to my unlikely anti-hero.

With over five million members, the National Trust is a huge British institution. Yet, next to nothing has been written about it in terms of contemporary fiction. Until now.

While No Oil Painting explores themes of insignificance and loneliness in older age, particularly for women, it is mainly intended to entertain and offer a small haven in dark, uncertain times.

My Review

I do enjoy a cosy crime, particularity if it involves an older protagonist. No Oil Painting by Genevieve Marenghi fits the bill perfectly. 

Maureen is in her seventies and is a trusted volunteer at Ham House, a National Trust property. The other volunteers, along with the paid staff, are a very mixed bunch of characters. I was shocked at the amount of pettiness and jealousy that existed amongst the genteel volunteers. You can probably spot people who have similar character traits to individuals you may have worked with.

A hypothetical conversation is the trigger for what follows. Maureen asks which item everyone would save should a fire break out. Shortly after this conversation, Maureen decides to see if she can actually steal her favorite work of art. Not only is Maureen extremely resourceful, but she also plans to make use of one important skill she possesses - the art of invisibility! Maureen knows that the elderly are frequently overlooked and ignored, and she plans to take full advantage of this. There's no maliciousness in Maureen's actions, it's more a case of trying to see what is possible. She certainly doesn't think through the consequences if she's caught.

There are some funny scenes, as Maureen's plan doesn't always go as she'd hoped, and added to this is the question about what to actually do with the picture once she has it. Alongside the humour, there is some vividly descriptive writing which really brings Ham House to life. The details of the ghost walk left me feeling terrified. There are also some poignant moments, reflecting the nature of growing old, with family and friends no longer around. 

I certainly don't feel as if we've seen the last of Maureen; she strikes me as one of those characters who can set her mind to anything and cause trouble while doing so.

No Oil Painting by Genevieve Marenghi is available in paperback and ebook format. My thanks to Burton Mayers Books and Rachel's Random Resources for a review copy.

Purchase Links

UK Kindle: https://www.amazon.co.uk/No-Oil-Painting-Genevieve-Marenghi-ebook/dp/B0FNLWTCBS/

UK Paperback: https://www.amazon.co.uk/No-Oil-Painting-Genevieve-Marenghi/dp/1917224125/

Giveaway to Win National Trust chocolate, and a Ham House towel and fridge magnet (Open to UK Only)

https://gleam.io/8q3jO/win-national-trust-chocolate-and-a-ham-house-towel-and-fridge-magnet-open-to-uk-only

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  Please enter using the Gleam box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Gleam from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

Author Details

With a BA in English and Philosophy, Genevieve worked for eleven years at the Weekend FT, where she helped create and launch How To Spend It magazine.

She volunteered for years as a National Trust guide at Ham House. This became the setting for her debut art heist novel, No Oil Painting, which was listed for the inaugural Women’s Prize Trust and Curtis Brown Discoveries, and was published by Burton Mayers Books on 10th October 2025.

Her writing uses dark humour to probe the difference between our perception of people and their true selves. The gulf between what is said and what is meant. She considers people watching an essential skill for any writer; overheard snippets of conversation or a bonkers exchange at a bus stop are like gold nuggets. She’s been known to follow people to catch the end of a juicy conversation or argument. Women aged over fifty are essentially invisible anyhow and she views this as a kind of superpower.

Unlike her protagonist Maureen, she hasn’t used this to commit art theft. Yet.