The world is coming out of lockdown. Smith is bored and not had any murders to investigate for months as criminals stay indoors. Now a clever killer is on the loose, murdering women and leaving their portraits behind…
The Painter is the 28th book in the DS Jason Smith series set in York.
A woman is killed in her own home and her blood is used to add the final brushstrokes to her portrait. More women are murdered and Smith is sure that the paintings contain a clue about the next victim so there is a frantic hunt to work out their identity before they can be harmed.
Once again there is a personal element in the case and Smith’s relationships with his family, neighbours and colleages are crucial to the plot development. I love Smith’s character and the way he is passionate about catching the killer. His boredom at the beginning made me smile as did his emotional attachment to his old banger of a car.
The plot races along and is dialogue driven so the interactions spring to life. There are plenty of twists and lots of victims so the police have their work cut out for them. Chapters are short so it is tempting to read just one more and as always the book finishes too soon: I want more!
The Painter is another briliant instalment in this series.
THE PAINTER (Detective Jason Smith #28) by Stewart Giles
From bestselling author: Stewart Giles comes another brilliant addition to the Detective Jason Smith series.
The Painter is the weirdest serial killer Smith has ever come across.
Detective Smith is bored. Lockdown has kept crime at bay, so when a call comes in about a brutal murder in a house not far from where he lives, he’s wide awake.
A woman has been brutally murdered – she has been left on display with a portrait of the scene on her lap.
Two days later, Smith receives an email telling him him the details of the next victim were in the painting.
When two more women are killed and the emails keep coming, Smith is running out of ideas.
The Painter has promised to keep on killing until Smith wakes up enough to see what has been staring him in the face the whole time.
It’s a case that Smith will have nightmares about for the rest of his life.
What readers are saying about THE PAINTER:
I loved all the action packed drama which is gripping and also liked how the killer communicated with Smith during the investigation. – CAROL
I adore this series. Stewart has the knack of grabbing the reader from the very beginning and not letting go. Jason has a wry sense of humour about him which eases the tension in a murder investigation and makes for a more light-hearted read. It’s twisty, it’s clever and it’s captivating. – MISFITS FARM
Stewart is a prolific writer and his books are always gripping, fascinating and a little dark, although with traces of humour. He has a very active imagination. Despite being dark, I find them easy reads and really enjoyable. – MAUREEN
A very intriguing read with many things going on one of which is a locked room which all adds interest and intrigue to the story. Many red herrings and curve balls certainly kept my brain ticking over. – AMAZON REVIEWER
Stewart Giles – Author Bio
After reading English at 3 Universities and graduating from none of them, I set off travelling around the world with my wife, Ann, finally settling in South Africa, where we still live.
In 2014 Ann dropped a rather large speaker on my head and I came up with the idea for a detective series. DS Jason Smith was born. Smith, the first in the series was finished a few months later.
3 years and 8 DS Smith books later, Joffe Books wondered if I would be interested in working with them. As a self-published author, I agreed. However, we decided on a new series – the DC Harriet Taylor: Cornwall series.
The Beekeeper was published and soon hit the number one spot in Australia. The second in the series, The Perfect Murder did just as well.
I continued to self-publish the Smith series and Unworthy hit the shelves in 2018 with amazing results. I therefore made the decision to self-publish The Backpacker which is book 3 in the Detective Harriet Taylor series which was published in July 2018.
After The Backpacker I had an idea for a totally new start to a series – a collaboration between the Smith and Harriet thrillers and The Enigma was born. It brought together the broody, enigmatic Jason Smith and the more level-headed Harriet Taylor.
The Miranda trilogy is something totally different. A psychological thriller trilogy. It is a real departure from anything else I’ve written before.
The Detective Jason Smith series continues to grow. I also have another series featuring an Irish detective who relocated to Guernsey, the Detective Liam O’Reilly series. There are also 3 stand alone novels.
