Series: Stand alone

Author: Guy Bolton

No. of books in the series: 1

Book order: The Pictures

Genre: Mystery, Historical, Fiction, Crime, Thriller, Mafia

Synopsis:   Hollywood 1939. The year that The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind were made. Detective Craine has spent his life working as a studio fixer, whitewashing the misdemeanors and crimes committed by the studio players and stars. But now he’s trying to turn his back on that life following the recent death of his wife as he’s determined to be a better parent to his young son.

But then Craine’s services are called upon one last time. MGM need him to smooth over the press coverage of the suicide of one of their producers. And soon, what should be a straightforward case proves anything but when connections are made between it and a brutal murder across town. And that’s just the start of the story.

It’s only a matter of time before Craine must decide whether to follow orders, or to attempt to redeem a career of concealment by going in search of the ugly truth. It’s a choice he knows that cannot end well.

Recently, I am into reading thrillers and crime fiction. I have quite some books in the pipeline to review, but I shall start off with "The Pictures", as its my recent read. Its a debut novel from Guy Bolton set in 1930's Hollywood. The story starts off with a gory murder scene of a female named, Florence Lloyd. Since the LAPD is more concerned about closing cases and reporting a good crime solving rate, that is how we are introduced to Jonathan Craine, detective at LAPD and also the lead of the book. He is known as "the fixer" for MGM studios, someone who closes cases without actually solving them, saving reputation of MGM each time from getting tarnished. The way the character is introduced, I felt zero sympathy and affiliation with the lead. His wife, a famous Hollywood actress, Celia Raymond committed suicide sometime back leaving Craine shattered and alone with their only child. The boy had actually discovered his mom dead, drowned in the bath tub. Craine doesn't know how to deal with his grief or how to deal with his boy, so he admits Micheal to a boarding school in order to avoid his son, leaves Hollywood for sometime to mourn the death of his wife and to get a break from things.

Its the murder of Florence Lloyd which brings Craine back to Hollywood. Being the fixer not only for MGM but also for LAPD, he is called back to solve and close the case as quickly as possible. As usual, he pins the charges of murder on a completely innocent black homeless man, who later commits suicide while in police custody because he refuses to admit murder charges. In the meanwhile, another murder takes place. Herbert Stanley, a Hollywood producer connected to MGM studios and husband of famous Hollywood celebrity, Gale Goodwin. Apparently it looks like a suicide but another detective, Patrick O' Neil keeps questioning Craine about things not making sense regarding the suicide. Patrick O Neil is another interesting character in this book. I immediately felt a liking towards Patrick because of his strong sense of duty, his keenness to solve cases and his honesty and loyalty towards his job. But anyhow being the loyal servant to MGM, Craine dismisses Patrick's concerns and to keep things smooth for MGM he brushes Patrick's logics under the rug.

Soon Craine realizes that things are not what they appear to be and there maybe a possible connection between the murder of Florence Lloyd and suicide of Herbert Stanley. Constant bickering from Patrick pushes him to investigate further which results in Craine being shot at and Micheal's life in danger. On the personal side of things, there seems to be a possibility of things getting romantic between Craine and Gale while relationship between Micheal and Craine remains strained. Craine is in a real fix as he discovers there is more than what meets the eye. He has to decide whether he should continue with the investigation and go against the wishes of his higher ups in the department and studio owners who run LA and Hollywood.

What I did not like about the book was that for two thirds it dragged in scene setting and lame details while all the action took place in last 60 to 80 pages. The book started off at slow pace, dragged and finally monkey jumped with all the action cramped into last few pages. The plot thickens when Craine discovers the treachery, black mail and big names involved. Murder of his co-worker is what really sets him in the right direction and the fact that his and his son's life maybe in danger.

Even as a debut novel, I found "The Pictures" to be a very well written book for a crime thriller. Guy Bolton has set his characters real well, showing their flaws and good aspects. His scene setting of 1930's Hollywood era when big studios held power over everything in LA is on spot. If you are into crime and thrillers along with historic fiction then this book may prove to be a good read for you. I purchased this book from The Last Word bookshop for Rs. 895.

Like me if you are looking to read interesting crime novels, then this may prove to be a good read. Its nothing exceptional just a good crime thriller but not in a over the top way. 

I hope you liked the book review. I like reviewing books on frequent basis as book reading is an integral part of who I am and how I happen to become a blogger. If you are a reader like me please drop in your comments and let me know if you have also read this book or would be willing to give it a go. Stay healthy and beautiful. xoxo!!!