Portrait of a Murder
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Join this accidental sleuth, Nick Morris, in his first mystery in The Art of Murder series...
Nick Morris is your classic struggling artist. He paints pet portraits to pay the bills but is always just one big commission away from a more comfortable life. Which is why he agrees to paint the reluctant, hot-tempered hotelier, Jason Robart. But Nick gets more than he bargained for when he finds Jason dead from a shotgun blast to the head in an apparent suicide.
No one seems upset about his death except for his girlfriend Elizabeth, and Nick, who has lost the income from the commission. It turns out Jason owed money to everyone - including some unsavoury Russians.
When Elizabeth goes missing, Nick is concerned, but so is Jason's unpleasant business partner and those persuasive Russians who threaten Nick to reveal everything he knows . . . or else. Nick is knee deep in trouble and to escape he must find Elizabeth, uncover the truth of Jason's death, and stay alive! If only he had stuck to painting cats . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This promising series launch from Jecks (the Bloody Mary Tudor series) introduces a particularly unlikely amateur gumshoe: British portrait painter Nick Morris. After an opening tease in which Morris is stunned to find a man with his head blown off by a shotgun blast, flashbacks explain how Morris came to know the victim, Jason Robart, an affluent hotel owner. The artist is invited to attend Robart's birthday party by attorney Peter Thorogood, ostensibly to discuss painting Robart's portrait as a present from his wife, but learns later that the real reason for his presence is to give his impressions of his subject's integrity. Thorogood is considering partnering with Robart on a property deal in Colombia, but worries about Robart's possible involvement in shady business dealings, including money laundering. Those concerns prove to be justified, especially after Morris googles Robart and finds that the man, surprisingly, has no online presence. After Robart apparently kills himself while Morris is on his property to complete the portrait, the artist decides to investigate. The light tone is perfectly matched to the gripping plot. This contemporary mystery, Jecks's first non-historical, showcases his wide range.
