Death Of A Painter (Poynter and Perry Book One) by Matthew Ross

 

Death of a Painter by Matthew Ross.

Published 4th May by Curlew Crescent.

From the cover of the book: 

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

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…

***********

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.

Death of a Painter is the first book in the Poynter and Perry mystery series about 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 Brush Srokes 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, of both friends and enemies, who are 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 - mostly slackers, idlers and gossips - to try to get himself out of the pickle he finds himself in. 

You soon come to learn that Mark, while a bit of a wheeler and dealer, is a thoroughly decent sort attempting to keep (mostly) on the right side of the law. However, desperation leads him to the door of some very dodgy types who he is under no illusion that it is not a good idea to owe a favour to. It takes all of Mark's wits to see a way out of his sticky situation - wits he seems in real danger of losing, judging by the number of beatings he seems to be habitually in line for. Real danger abounds and he needs to move fast to save himself.

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. Mark begins to see the genuine merits of the 'friends' he has dismissed as losers, and there are heart warming moments as they all pull together to get him out of a tight spot. There are lashings of delicious laugh-out-loud scenes too.

This is a darkly comic adventure, set against a real air of gritty danger, with an intriguing mystery to be solved. It all rounds off in a most satisfying way, with a nice little twist and a slick denouement. There are still questions to be answered about Mark's personal life, which makes for an attractive little hook to draw you into the next adventure. The setting of the peculiar claustrophobic atmosphere of the Medway Towns, where everybody seems to know everybody else, is just perfect too!

Death of a Painter is available to buy now in ebook and paperback. Buy link HERE.

Thank you to Matthew Ross for asking me to reshare my thoughts on this little gem as part of the relaunch for this series, and to Zooloo's Book Tours for inviting me to join this blog tour.

About the author:

Matthew Ross is the author of 3 published novels to date. His first novel, Death Of A Painter was selected by The Sun newspaper as one of its picks of the week. Matthew wrote his first novel after undertaking the prestigious Faber Academy 6-month novel writing course under the tutelage of Richard Skinner.

Prior to that Matthew wrote material for a leading British stand-up comedian for their live performances, corporate bookings, national theatre tours and their appearances on tv and radio shows such as "Have I Got News For You", "Mock The Week" and "The News Quiz".

In addition, he was commissioned to provide material and sketches for several comedy series that were broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

Matthew lives in Kent with his family and pets.

You can find out more about Matthew Ross here:

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