The second book in author, Michael Jecks Art of Murder series is a real step forward. I enjoyed the first book in the series, but things really picked up in the second book. we follow the exploits of artist Nick Morris, whose fame in London is for his drawings of cats. You gotta love this! He is well known for drawing all these cats, yet he dislikes, cats immensely. So when his friend Geoff gives him a lead to do a painting for wealthy computer mogul, Derek Swann, dear old Nick is off to Tissington where he will be doing a painting of a house and landscape for Swann before Swann departs the country. Once he arrives nothing quite goes according to plan. This book is filled with many memorable characters, and Morris gets himself in more predicaments, all of which make this highly enjoyable book. Yes we have a murder, a young boy, approximately 18 years of age is killed and we need to find out who has done this dastardly deed, but what makes this book so interesting is that once the murder is discovered, Jecks then writes about all the other criminal activities that are going on beneath the surface. You almost forget that there's a murder that has to be solved because we are so wrapped up in nitrous oxide, drug deals, along with two men who are constantly hounding Morris, Morris's own broken down automobile, and all in all somehow the painting of the landscape and house never quite comes to fruition. Not that he doesn't try, but for one reason or the other, he has once again not gotten paid for hisnwork. This is a theme of these books, since in the end Morris is always back in London painting cats! Morris is an interesting character, the supporting characters are believable, the plot is very well done, and we learn all about Tissington, including their well dressing ceremonies, and the rumors of hidden gold or coins from ancient times. All in all this series is progressing beautifully and I look forward to more books in this series.

Michael Jecks can write excellent mystery set in any age. This one is well plotted and very entertaining.
The second in a series tha that promises to be excellent.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Overall, a decent mystery with some pluses and minuses. The main character, Nick, was an artist and I liked the way he looked at the world though his gripping about his lack of money was a bit annoying--I know how worrying about money can dominated your life, but I get tired of my own moans and groans about it, never mind how often it comes up in this character's thought train. There were some other good characters and plenty of twists along the way.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Nick Morris, local artist and painter of cats, receives a commission to paint the country house of a businessman in the Peak District, so he sets off in his Morgan (which he irritatingly refers to as 'migmog').

However, he is drawn to a youngster, Rick Parrow, who seems thoroughly unhappy. Then he discovers Rick's body and certain thugs start to threaten those around him. Suddenly doing a pleasant watercolour is far from his mind as he finds out more about his new boss and his housekeeper, Adele. Will he complete his commission and be paid and will it have been worthwhile?

An interesting read. Thank you to NetGalley and Severn House for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A painter and a murder!

Nick Morris is a portrait painter who seems to paint more cats than people. He’s driven his Morgan (I’m in love already!) up to Devon to do a water color of a house before it’s sold. It’s owner, Derek Swann has an AI business. The house is a Georgian place in the Peak District. Derek wants a painting of the property before the sale’s finalized. Nick’s banker mate got him the job.
(I feel even warmer towards Nick when it’s revealed he always takes his Aeropress to make his coffee. Snap, so do I.) I’m loving this guy twice over.
Anyway, things of course aren’t kosher, either at the house or in the town of Ashbourne nearby. Nick meets a varied group of people from Derek’s glamorous, yet guarded assistant, to a couple of bikers, and flamboyant woman Megan who’s staying in one of the holiday chalets he’s booked into. It’s when he’s walking with Megan that they discover the body of a young man. Now Nick’s unfortunately involved in another murder.
Nick does spend his time sketching everything as he walks around, people and places.
Ok, it seems to me that writing about an unlikely sleuth gives Michael Jecks a playful way to incorporate some of his own passions and foibles into the story. What fun!
I loved every word of this cosy mystery and now have to backtrack and read the previous title in this series.

A Severn House ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

This is the first .Michael Jecks historical murder book I have read. The setting of the Peak District is familiar to me having spent many happy hours walking and cycling in the area including the often mentioned Tissington Trail. Overall I enjoyed the book with its artist and drones featuring but I agree with other reviewers the later stages of the book felt a little rushed almost as if a writing deadline had to be achieved.

So, book 2 from friend of the blog Michael Jecks in this series. You will remember his work from the Templar series, the Jack Blackjack series, and the recently started Shanghailanders series, all of which have something in common, namely the vivid historical background to set the story against. So I find it very interesting to look at the work of an author when one of his strengths is deliberately stripped away – because, to me at least, the 21st century Peak District does not hold a candle to 14th Century Devon. On the other hand, I understand that for a lot of readers, they wouldn’t touch an historical mystery, so here’s a chance to read Mike’s work without have to expand their horizons.
Ooh, that sounded a bit snotty, didn’t it? But hey, most of my favourite authors write historical mysteries, so you really ought to try them…
Anyway, enough with offending my loyal readers and anyone passing by. How is this one?
Obviously, it’s a good read. Nick is an interesting narrator. I’m not completely sure why he isn’t dead, or at least suffering a serious brain injury, by the end of the book, but the idea of a non-detective trying to solve a crime works well. There’s a decent set of support characters, most of which have rounded back-stories that contribute to the story rather than just get in the way.
That’s a good point actually, one that I’ve not considered before. When good authors (as in this case) drop a chunk of backstory, a) it doesn’t feel like exposition and b) it’s there to service the story. Aspiring authors could take lessons here – don’t give a five page flashback to someone losing their favourite teddy bear when they were six just to pad the page count.
As is the case with Mike’s books, almost everyone is up to something and you only see what at the end, despite a clue or two that you probably missed. There is a really nice double-bluff at one point, although that had nothing really to do with the murder, and the reveal is handled very nicely.
Niggles? Well, I prefer a more competent henchman, and I’m not sure how much money there is in a certain enterprise on the scale we see here, but as I said, those are niggles.

Thanks to Severn House and NetGalley for ARC.

This writer was new to me, and is the second in a series. That didn't matter at all.
Nick Morris, struggling commission artist, goes to a delightful tourist area to paint the house of a rich businessman. He sets up camp in a holiday chalet and sketches local scenes and people as well, hoping to sell some ad hoc work. As the title might indicate, it's not an idyllic spot at all - there's a dark underbelly to rural life and when a young man's body is discovered, Morris is right in the thick of things, trying to work out how all the curious happenings are related. This brings him danger, as well as social awkwardness.
This is a very traditional kid of novel I think, despite some modern themes, and it didn't quite hang together for me. Good reading for a wet afternoon by the fire.

I missed the first book- but this was fine as a standalone cozy of sorts. Jecks packs a lot into a slim volume. Nick's meant to be painting but he finds himself investigating a murder- the murder of young Rick- instead. And he's got a love interest brewing Fairly standard stuff but nicely done. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's entertaining.

Enjoyable Mystery..
The second outing in The Art of Murder series of mysteries finds sometime amateur sleuth Nick with a new commission. The chance to paint a stunning Georgian house in the Peaks is too good to pass up for Nick but his plans are soon to take an alarming turn as murder rears its ugly head. Another pacy mystery with a credible and well drawn cast of characters, an engaging plot with an edge of wry humour as well as a well imagined backdrop. Enjoyable and entertaining.

As a fan of Michael Jecks’ historical mysteries, I was intrigued to see he had written one set in modern times. The amateur detective, Nick Morris, is an artist who has been commissioned to paint a country house in an idyllic landscape. He is soon confronted with a boozy mystery-author neighbor, simmering local resentments, road rage incidents, and a death. Jecks packs plenty of twists into the plot. I particularly enjoyed the artist’s first-person descriptions of the setting—by which I don’t mean pages of flowery prose. Nick is more inclined to describe the scene before him in terms of light and shadow and which paint colors he would use to paint it—and how much he could sell a few of these pictures for to pay his bills. His ‘everyman’ artist-detective is an entertaining narrator. All in all, an enjoyable read.

Landscape of Murder is a rather complicated story with lots of characters that muddy the water. Hired to paint a house, Nick Morris has a lot to keep going including a dead body whose killer he seeks to find.
I found the killer to be easy to guess and not very satisfying. The end of the book felt rushed.
The first book in the series was enjoyable so I look forward to his next one.

I chose this book on the basis of the blurb and the excellent front cover, having not read anything by this author before. It should have been a novel I enjoyed but unfortunately I didn't like the author's style of writing. I found, through his main character, he was constantly telling us what to think and what was going on and there was little for the reader to determine themselves. I also found the constant moaning about how hard up the main character was as a painter annoying - once would have been fine but it was a continuing theme. I read for enjoyment and escape and don't want to be constantly reminded of real life.
I wasn't swept away by the plot either - as I had to suspend belief with the details of business shenanigans - and would the main character really be quite adept at fighting off thugs?
All in all, I wanted to like this book but was sadly disappointed. Hopefully it will connect better with other readers as I do admire the ability of an author who can weave so many apparently unconnected strands together into a story.
With thanks to Netgalley and Severn House books for an early copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This had everything that I was hoping for in a sequel to the Art of Murder series, it had a great overall feel to the genre. The characters were everything that I was hoping for and thought the characters were strongly written and worked in this time-period. Michael Jecks has a great writing style and I'm glad this series worked overall.

I enjoyed this novel, I was really engaged and I liked the characters. Will be looking out for more by this author.

This was first time reading from this author. The cover is stunning!

I looked forward to this book since it was the first in a series but the last portion of the book fell flat and rushed. I felt like the storyline fell flat as well. The ending felt rushed.

Not sure i will read the rest of the series.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

I was looking forward to reading this book as I enjoyed the first in this series and for three quarters of the book, I was enjoying it immensely. However the last third felt rushed and the murderer not a credible suspect. I do like the authors other work but I just wish he would stop going on about how little money an author makes from writing as this is a favourite topic of his that has now made its way into his books.
A good book let down by a sloppy ending.