Painting In the Shadows by Katherine Kovacic

Publisher's Synopsis

For ex-detective Frank Swann, being on the outside of Western Australia's police force is the only way to get justice done. Perth in 1979 is a city of celebration and corruption. 

My Review of Painting In the Shadows by Katherine Kovacic

A cursed painting, intricate art conservation work, a possible murder and a deep dive into the works and style of Brett Whitely all play key roles in Painting In Shadows, the second book by Katherine Kovacic to feature art dealer Alex Clayton. This is a lively mystery set in what should be the sedate world of artistic masters but turns out to be filled with danger and criminal activity.

When first a packer has a heart attack while unpacking the painting, damaging it in the process, and then the chief conservator dies while working on it, there appears to be little doubt that the purported curse attached to it was true. So it’s with some trepidation that John Porter accepts the job to take over the conservator's work with the help of one of the museum’s assistants.

But while the work gets underway, Alex notes a weird anomaly that the police seemed to have missed. Why was a large pool of red paint spilled when the previous conservator died? The painting she was working on consists primarily of blues, whites and greys. No red apart from a tiny part of a red ensign.

It’s an inconsistency that starts out as a slight itch and then, when it’s dismissed by the police, develops into a full-blown ache. Alex and John, after a great deal of to-ing and fro-ing, decide maybe there’s more to the death than first meets the eye.

Once again I was hurled headlong into the Australian art world, a place I rarely venture and found myself learning much and enjoying the experience.

In Alex’s first outing we briefly met her friend and conservator John Porter, so it was very entertaining to get a far more complete look at the guy, not to mention the outrageous banter the pair of them enjoy. Between the pair of them, they took us on a roller-coaster ride as they discussed various artists’ lifestyles, John’s rocky marriage, the process of repairing a tear in a painting’s canvas, how to crack a mystery that takes place in a busy art museum. The last was more seat of the pants stuff, but there was never a dull moment and the witty repartee is quite the highlight with plenty of thrust and parry going on between the two.

This is a well constructed mystery set in an unusual location and boasting fascinating snippets of information of an artistic nature. It’s clear that Kovacic knows her stuff and succeeded in inserting tidbits that tantalised the mind and kept me slavering for more.

From a fairly sedate beginning, the action takes off and the danger mounts with both Alex and John becoming targets as they begin to uncover the true nature of what’s hiding within the walls of the museum. I appreciated the fact that, as pure amateur sleuths, the pair made the sorts of mistakes I’d expect them to make and still managed to stumble their way to a suitable conclusion.

More importantly, I was thoroughly entertained and looked forward to resuming each time I picked it up again and this was largely due to the expertise the principal characters displayed in their respective artistic fields. 

So…do ya wanna see a haunted painting? Check out Man Proposes, God Disposes by Edwin Landseer.