Death of a Painter by Matthew Ross

Death of a Painter by Matthew Ross.
Published 27th April 2020 by Red Dog Press.
Read April 2020.

Medway town electrician Mark Poynter is not having a fun time. He has just discovered that his friend, and sometime employee, Tommy the painter, has been murdered whilst on a job painting a kitchen.

Not only has Mark lost a friend, but said kitchen is now a crime scene and off limits, with no chance of the job being completed and paid for - not good since Mark was relying on that money to help get him out of a financial hole.

Who would want to kill Tommy? Was this a warning that Mark's debts are well and truly overdue?

With the police breathing down Mark's neck and trying to put him in the frame for Tommy's death, he has no choice but to turn to the local mobster, Hamlet, for a bit of financial assistance...and, in return, Hamlet has a few shady jobs for Mark that he cannot now refuse.

The plot thickens as Mark tries to find out what Tommy was up to when he was not working for him, and as two more bodies turn up, both also linked to Mark, it seems his options are slim - either help the police to clear his name or go along with Hamlet's schemes and pay off his mounting debts.

Stuck between rock and more than one hard case, Mark really needs to get up to speed fast, before time runs out.

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Death of a Painter is the first book in a new series about the hard-pressed electrician Marky Mark Poynter and the vaguaries of the building game, set in and around the Medway Towns - and its a corker (or should it be caulker?).

Imagine, if you will, a sort of Brushstrokes set-up (if you are old enough to remember the 80s TV show), with added menace. There is a wonderful cast of characters from Mark down, both friends and enemies, who it is so easy to picture. Everyone has a nickname, and an angle (angle grinder?) and Mark has to negotiate the close-knit network of fellow builders - slackers, idlers and gossips - to try to get himself out of the pickle he finds himself in. Real danger abounds and he needs to move fast to save himself, whilst avoiding those less than friendly members of the community he owes money to.

We soon come to learn that Mark, while a bit of a wheeler and dealer, is a thoroughly decent sort and it is only desperation that leads him to the door of Hamlet - someone he is under no illusions about due to past dealings, and is reluctant to be in the debt of. It is going to take all of Mark's wits to get out of this sticky situation - wits he seems in real danger of losing, judging by the number of beatings he seems to be habitually in line for.

I particularly enjoyed Mark's little gang of side-kicks, who at first sight (site?...Ok, I'll stop now..) are delightfully made up of the same calibre of slackers, idlers and gossips as the local building community. But we soon see that this little group are more than they first appear and they are just what Mark needs to get him out of a tight spot. Just as we learn more about his compadres, Mark also begins to see the genuine merits of the friends he has dismissed as losers, and that he does not really know as much about the people close to him as he thought - that in fact, he has been cutting himself off from those who could help him in his hour of need.

There are some delicious laugh out loud moments in this darkly comic adventure, set against a real air of gritty danger, with an intriguing mystery to be solved. I found the setting in the peculiar claustrophobic atmosphere of the Medway Towns, where everybody seems to know everybody else, is just perfect too (I have lots of family that live here and there is a weird Bermuda Triangle-esque feeling to the place).  

I loved that this story rounds off in a most satisfying way, with a nice little twist and a slick denouement, but there are still questions to be answered about Mark's personal life - this makes for an attractive little hook to draw us into the next adventure, and I am really looking forward to being along for the ride.

Death of a Painter is available to buy now from your favourite book retailer, or via the links below:

Red Dog Press Book Shop             Amazon

Thank you for Matthew Ross and Red Dog Press for providing me with a copy of this book, in return for an honest review.

From the cover of the book:

IN THE BUILDING GAME TIME IS MONEY AND MONEY IS EVERYTHING. 

UNFORTUNATELY FOR MARK POYNTER, HE’S RUN OUT OF MONEY 

AND HE’S FAST RUNNING OUT OF TIME.

When Mark Poynter discovers a murder on his worksite 

all of his financial problems suddenly seem a lot closer to home: 

was this a warning his debts are overdue?

Suspected of being the killer and worried at being the intended victim, 

the murder only makes Mark’s money problems worse, 

leading him to turn to the local villain, Hamlet, 

who has his own unique repayment plan in mind for Mark.

When two more deaths plunge him even further into debt, 

Mark finds himself faced with a choice – help the police and clear his name 

or help the villain and clear his debt.

Set in the Medway Towns on the grey margins of criminality, 

where no job’s too big, no dodge’s too small …

Death Of A Painter is the first in a new series of darkly comic crime fiction novels featuring the beleaguered builder Mark Poynter, aided and hindered in equal measure by his trusted crew of slackers, idlers and gossips, and the lengths they go to just to earn a living.

About the author:

Matthew Ross was born and raised in the Medway Towns, England. He still lives in Kent with his Kiwi wife, his children and a very old cat.

He was immersed in the building industry from a very early age helping out on his father’s sites during school holidays before launching into his own career at 17. He’s worked on projects ranging from the smallest domestic repair to £billion+ infrastructure, and probably everything in between.

A lifelong comedy nerd, he ticked off a bucket-list ambition and tried his hand at stand-up comedy. Whilst being an experience probably best forgotten (for both him and audiences alike) it ignited a love for writing, leading to various commissions including for material broadcast on BBC Radio 4 comedy shows.

Matthew moved into the longer format of novel writing after graduating from the Faber Academy in London in 2017.

‘Death Of A Painter’ is his first novel and the first in a planned series of stories featuring Mark Poynter and his associates. Matthew enjoys reading all manner of books - especially crime and mystery; 80s music; and travelling and can’t wait for the next trip to New Zealand to spend time with family and friends.