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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.
Simon Hall is the BBC Crime Correspondent for the Devon and Cornwall area. His step up from the relative calm of environment correspondent to that of ‘home affairs’, or crime reporting, provided the catalyst for this dark and deadly novel. This is Simon’s second book. His first, ‘A Popular Murder’, was strongly commended and received widespread media coverage. Simon is 38 years old and lives with his wife in Plymouth.
Questions for Readers & Reading Groups.
1. A central theme running through The Death Pictures is justice - not society's definition of the word, but an individual's - or, rather than justice - should that be revenge? And what is the difference between the two?
2. Does Kid deserve the justice McCluskey seeks to inflict upon him? How would you describe McCluskey's character? Is he a hero in the book, or a villain?
3. Why is Dan so driven by the riddle of the Death Pictures? Because he wants to win the painting? Or is it something more?
4. Is Adam right or wrong in the way he pursues - and secures evidence against - the rapist?
5. Do you think the book gave you all the clues you needed to solve the riddle? How did you feel when the solution was revealed?
6. Rudyard Kipling wrote a famous poem, "I Keep Six Honest Serving Men". This is a fragment -
"I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who."
How does the poem relate to the job of the journalist and the detective? What are the similarities between the two roles? What is the particular importance of the questions why, how and who in both detective work and journalism?
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