The Death Pictures: The TV Detective Series, Book 1
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AN eminent artist in Plymouth is found dead in his bath, his wrists slashed. Is it a suicide or could it have been murder? A local TV reporter, a friend of the dead man, is determined to find out, and is guided by a trail of puzzles which the artist is left to solve, within a given timeframe. Prime suspect is a jealous artist-protégé, but there are others who might have wanted the victim out of the way. The outcome is fiendishly clever. --The Scotsman
Product Description
A dying artist creates a series of ten paintings - The Death Pictures - which contain a mysterious riddle, leading the way to a unique and highly valuable prize. Thousands attempt to solve it. But before the answer can be revealed, the painter is murdered. A serial rapist is working through a series of attacks. He isn't shy to make clear his hatred of women, and taunting of the police. He leaves his calling card, a witch's hat at the houses he breaks into, each numbered from a pack of six.The detectives face baffling questions. Why kill the artist when he would die naturally in just a few weeks time? What to make of the attempted break in at his house just before his death? Could it be connected with the rapes, all of which have been carried out in the area around his home? The media interest in the cases is intense, and Detective Chief Inspector Adam Breen again turns to his friend, TV Crime reporter Dan Groves to help him handle it. Dan does - at the price of some great scoops, and an involvement in the case that eventually leads him to effectively talk to the rapist, using the stories he broadcasts to lure him into a trap, and finally, discover the extraordinary solution to the riddle.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book on the strength of the fantastic reviews it got on Amazon. Yes, I know you have to be wary of reviews (one man's meat, and all that ...), but this had eighteen, sixteen of which awarded 5-stars and the other two 4-stars; how could I go wrong? Quite easily, it would appear, this book is just awful. Call me an old cynic, but is it just coincidence that at least eleven of the reviewers live in the West Country, as does Mr Hall?
I read a lot of crime novels (William Lashner is my current favourite), and Simon Hall is not a 4-star writer, let alone a 5-star one: his plotting is simplistic, his storyline is ludicrous, and his characterisation is lamentable. Our dashing hero, Dan the TV journalist, has an unfeasible relationship with Adam, the Detective Inspector in charge of serious crimes in these parts. Dan is constantly updated on the current state of enquiries by Adam, and is even invited to sit in on police meetings, interrogations and crime scenes. Strangely, he doesn't take much advantage of this unprecedented access to proceedings; rather he runs around from one outside broadcast to another, constantly looking at his watch and telling us it's such and such a time, but really it's about ten minutes later because his watch runs slow. At first you wonder if this fact is going to be ingeniously interwoven into the plot as a clever denouement device. Eventually you realise this is just one of his little `quirks' --- he wears a cheap watch!
Dan is a tedious character who's a bit too pleased with himself, but Adam scales the rock-face of blandness to reach a peak of vapidness rarely achieved in literature. Don't expect him to use his deductive powers to go chasing after leads; things just fall into place around him, while poor Adam mopes about worrying about his relationship with his wife, who we barely get to know. This is another aspect of Simon Hall's characterisation --- he doesn't do women: Dan's love-interest is Claire, a beautiful young policewoman, and she gets about half a dozen lines and two short phone texts in the whole book.
Misleading as the reviews for this book are, they did at least get two things right: it's described as a page-turner and I've rarely turned pages faster to get to the end of a stupid book. It's also praised for the surprise ending --- I began to suspect how the pieces might fall together, well before the end, but I just couldn't believe we were really heading for such a crass finale. Big surprise .... we were.
Please don't fall for the rapturous acclaim surrounding this book. It really is bad.
I read a lot of crime novels (William Lashner is my current favourite), and Simon Hall is not a 4-star writer, let alone a 5-star one: his plotting is simplistic, his storyline is ludicrous, and his characterisation is lamentable. Our dashing hero, Dan the TV journalist, has an unfeasible relationship with Adam, the Detective Inspector in charge of serious crimes in these parts. Dan is constantly updated on the current state of enquiries by Adam, and is even invited to sit in on police meetings, interrogations and crime scenes. Strangely, he doesn't take much advantage of this unprecedented access to proceedings; rather he runs around from one outside broadcast to another, constantly looking at his watch and telling us it's such and such a time, but really it's about ten minutes later because his watch runs slow. At first you wonder if this fact is going to be ingeniously interwoven into the plot as a clever denouement device. Eventually you realise this is just one of his little `quirks' --- he wears a cheap watch!
Dan is a tedious character who's a bit too pleased with himself, but Adam scales the rock-face of blandness to reach a peak of vapidness rarely achieved in literature. Don't expect him to use his deductive powers to go chasing after leads; things just fall into place around him, while poor Adam mopes about worrying about his relationship with his wife, who we barely get to know. This is another aspect of Simon Hall's characterisation --- he doesn't do women: Dan's love-interest is Claire, a beautiful young policewoman, and she gets about half a dozen lines and two short phone texts in the whole book.
Misleading as the reviews for this book are, they did at least get two things right: it's described as a page-turner and I've rarely turned pages faster to get to the end of a stupid book. It's also praised for the surprise ending --- I began to suspect how the pieces might fall together, well before the end, but I just couldn't believe we were really heading for such a crass finale. Big surprise .... we were.
Please don't fall for the rapturous acclaim surrounding this book. It really is bad.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Evil ValleyThe Death Pictures
What a surprise to see Simon Hall actually in my local Waterstones signing his books! I am so glad i have discovered this author and rate him as entertaining and spell-binding as my other two favourites - Patricia Cornwell and Michael Connolly.
Reading about the intertwining lives and careers of Dan (the journalist) and Adam (the detective) will keep you engrossed page after page - i could not put the books down! Simon offers an intimate insight into the daily routines of journalism and police work. You will find yourself so tense wondering if you can take anymore suspense when you are gifted with light relief of the wonderful Rutherford and the colourful 'Loud'. Reading about my own area added another quality to the stories - so much so you will want to trek along the moors and find the areas Simon decribes so vividly. Can't wait for the third novel due out in September!
Victoria
What a surprise to see Simon Hall actually in my local Waterstones signing his books! I am so glad i have discovered this author and rate him as entertaining and spell-binding as my other two favourites - Patricia Cornwell and Michael Connolly.
Reading about the intertwining lives and careers of Dan (the journalist) and Adam (the detective) will keep you engrossed page after page - i could not put the books down! Simon offers an intimate insight into the daily routines of journalism and police work. You will find yourself so tense wondering if you can take anymore suspense when you are gifted with light relief of the wonderful Rutherford and the colourful 'Loud'. Reading about my own area added another quality to the stories - so much so you will want to trek along the moors and find the areas Simon decribes so vividly. Can't wait for the third novel due out in September!
Victoria
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book because I had read and enjoyed 'The TV Detective', which is the re-written start of this series. The story itself is quite good, but the book has a number of significant flaws, many of which become increasingly irritating as the book progresses. Some of these were present to some extent in the first book and I think it's a case them wearing a bit thin in a second book. It is certainly not a 'gripping psychological thriller' as billed on the front cover; at best it is a decent story that chugs along slowly.
The main character is Dan, a TV reporter. He just grated with me more and more as this book progressed. I think the author is trying to portray him as an unlikely hero or an 'ordinary man in the street', but he actually comes across as a sad, inadequate loner. In reality he wouldn't last 5 minutes as a crime reporter and he certainly wouldn't be able to solve crimes that the police are struggling with.
The writing style is quite poor. For instance, there are constant references to Dan's watch, which is permanently 10 minutes slow. At least once in each chapter Dan will look at his watch and think something like 'the watch said 9 o'clock so it must be 10 past'. This wore thin with me after the first dozen or so times I read it.
Similarly, every time Dan's female boss speaks to him we get a description of her grinding the heel of her stiletto into the carpet. Again, this wore thin after the first dozen or so repetitions.
The book is padded out with far too many asides, which just detract from the storyline (and the storyline itself is the best thing about this book). For instance, whenever there is a dialogue between two people each line of dialogue is followed by 1-2 paragraphs of filler - inconsequential text that could and should have been left out. The result is that the pace of the book is slowed down and the impact of the dialogue is lost. These fillers do not add to the drama, they detract from it.
The basic premise of this series of books is flawed and the standard of writing is not good enough to distract the reader from this. The idea of a TV reporter being invited into the core of major police investigations stretches credibility to breaking point. The detective feeds key facts about ongoing cases to the reporter for broadcast and at one point, when the detective is interviewing a murder suspect he takes the reporter in with him instead of a second police officer. Totally ridiculous.
I can accept some 'poetic licence' in a book, but this one goes way beyond credibility and claiming it is a 'gripping psychological thriller' is a joke.
The main character is Dan, a TV reporter. He just grated with me more and more as this book progressed. I think the author is trying to portray him as an unlikely hero or an 'ordinary man in the street', but he actually comes across as a sad, inadequate loner. In reality he wouldn't last 5 minutes as a crime reporter and he certainly wouldn't be able to solve crimes that the police are struggling with.
The writing style is quite poor. For instance, there are constant references to Dan's watch, which is permanently 10 minutes slow. At least once in each chapter Dan will look at his watch and think something like 'the watch said 9 o'clock so it must be 10 past'. This wore thin with me after the first dozen or so times I read it.
Similarly, every time Dan's female boss speaks to him we get a description of her grinding the heel of her stiletto into the carpet. Again, this wore thin after the first dozen or so repetitions.
The book is padded out with far too many asides, which just detract from the storyline (and the storyline itself is the best thing about this book). For instance, whenever there is a dialogue between two people each line of dialogue is followed by 1-2 paragraphs of filler - inconsequential text that could and should have been left out. The result is that the pace of the book is slowed down and the impact of the dialogue is lost. These fillers do not add to the drama, they detract from it.
The basic premise of this series of books is flawed and the standard of writing is not good enough to distract the reader from this. The idea of a TV reporter being invited into the core of major police investigations stretches credibility to breaking point. The detective feeds key facts about ongoing cases to the reporter for broadcast and at one point, when the detective is interviewing a murder suspect he takes the reporter in with him instead of a second police officer. Totally ridiculous.
I can accept some 'poetic licence' in a book, but this one goes way beyond credibility and claiming it is a 'gripping psychological thriller' is a joke.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Entertaining, but in the end very irritating . . .
I had not read this author before, nor known his background. I found the book entertaining to start with and I liked his west country setting, but as the story went on I found... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Penny Waugh
Un-put downable!!!!
Wow!! What a story!
This was the second of Simon Hall's books that I picked up, and once I started it, I couldn't put it down! Read more
This was the second of Simon Hall's books that I picked up, and once I started it, I couldn't put it down! Read more
Published 22 months ago by Tiger
Can't put it down...
I picked this book on the basis of the synopsis (and the front cover!). It has to be the best read I've had for a long time. Read more
Published on 14 Oct 2009 by Mr. Jon Goddard
THE DEATH PICTURES...........YES!
I actually read the next in the series first ("Evil Valley") and this prompted me to read "The Death Pictures". Read more
Published on 24 Feb 2009 by L. Hay
The Death Pictures
Fantastic. My second Simon Hall and a brilliant read. Found it hard to put down and absolutely love the way Simon Hall picks topics that really make you sit up and think. Read more
Published on 3 Feb 2009 by Diana - Cornish side of the Tamar
An entertaining puzzle
This is a brilliant read, with a gripping plot. You will want to try to solve the puzzle of the death pictures before the hero and must pick your way through the red herrings to... Read more
Published on 17 Dec 2008 by Geoff S
Brilliant!
Intriguing and intelligent with vividly drawn characters and a deviously clever plot. If you only have time to read one crime novel make time for it!
Published on 5 July 2008 by P. Masters
The Death Pictures
I don't get time to read as many books as I would like.
I quite often start one and do not finish it.
But once you have started this book you will want to finish it. Read more
I quite often start one and do not finish it.
But once you have started this book you will want to finish it. Read more
Published on 26 Jun 2008 by Mrs. Justine De Claire
Gripping - you won't put it down!
Believable characters with foibles and traits you can relate to, irony, humour, pathos, beautifully crafted descriptive passages and punchy dialogue. Read more
Published on 26 Jun 2008 by Hour Glass Linda
An enjoyable read
What can I add to what has already been said?
The book is a well-written, well paced detective story with the additional appeal of a riddle to solve. Read more
The book is a well-written, well paced detective story with the additional appeal of a riddle to solve. Read more
Published on 23 May 2008 by R. L. Travers
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