Fast-paced and entertaining. A recommended purchase for collections where crime and thrillers are popular.

This novel is set in Edinburgh. An art expert with the government is assigned the task of authenticating the last painting by MacIntosh. He is getting the run around from the owners of the Goldenacre. There are a couple of murders and a journalist also thrown into the mix. I didn’t particularly like the art expert or the journalist, however I thought this was a good mystery and I hope to read more by this author.

Edinburg is a very old, very Scottish city. Each city corner has a pub and each pub it’s own brew. Men in kilts walk the narrow stone walkways on their way to work. Edinburg is a calm peaceful place. Hopefully this is the exact workplace where a recently disgraced employee of the Civic Gallery of London can restore his reputation.
Thomas Tallis left the Civic Gallery under a cloud. His reputation was suspect, he was forced to sign a non disclosure agreement and he was dismissed from his position. He has been sent to authenticate the provenance of a watercolor that will be donated to the Guild, the art museum in West End Edinburg. This is an effort to remove him from public scrutiny and to avoid further investigations.
The assignment may be just what Tallis , the son of Sir Raymond Tallis, Deputy director of MI6, needs. Along with the job upheaval, is the upheaval in his personal life. Tallis and his wife are involved in acrimonious divorce negotiations and a hostile child custody battle.
However, the job at hand is one that Tallis can certainly handle.
Upon arriving at the Guild, Thomas is greeted by the director, Sir Dennis Carter. Carter clearly outlines Thomas’s duties. He is to certify the provenance of the painting and quickly go back to London. This strikes Thomas as a bit of an odd request. He hasn’t even unpacked or seen the painting yet.
The other issue Sir Dennis raises is the importance of Thomas’s job at the Guild. The painting Thomas is to authenticate is “Goldenacre”, a much praised watercolor by Charles Rennie Mackintosh of Edinburg. It must be authenticated before it can be donated to the Guild. The donation, according to Sir Dennis, is not a “ mere acquisition”, it is a milestone. It is historic. It is a watershed in the Guilds collection. Sir Dennis needs and wants Tallis to get this job done very quickly, very smoothly, very quietly.
Some odd things have recently occurred. Noted Glasgow artist Robert Love has been brutally murdered in his studio. No suspects. No motive. Any ties to the “Goldenacre “?
Tallis arranged to see “Goldenacre” in order to authenticate the painting. Of course, the question is who is donating “Goldenacre” and why are they?
“Goldenacre” is the property of the late Lord Melrose who died eighteen months ago. His estate passed to his two adult children Olivia and Felix.
Lord Melrose willed them Denholm House, the family home, the surrounding property including the Sunken Garden and all the house furnishings. “Goldenacre” hangs on the bedroom wall of the late Lady of the house. The inheritance also comes with a massive tax bill. Olivia and Felix wish to take advantage of the “Acceptance Instead of Tax” provision of inheritance laws. They stand to receive a credit if 12 Million pounds against their tax bill in return for Goldenacre. This painting is important to many people. Olivia and Felix have plans.
All Tallis wants to do is physically see the painting, authenticate the provenance, sign the documents and return to London to see his son. Strangely various excuses and reasons for not being allowed to see the painting pop up.
The quick easy authentication becomes a negotiation, a missed meeting, a postponement. Why? Are there issues?
A city councellor who blocked the errection of a film studio is murdered. Then there is a strange cocktail party. Sir Dennis keeps insisting that Thomas get on with the task. Is the painting real?
How will this end? Poor Thomas Tallis. So many roadblocks. So many people murdered. So many questions. What will be the answer?
Philip Miller’s book is a literary masterpiece. So many layers to peel back in this mystery.

Edinburgh is dreary and cold. The climate mirrors Thomas Tallis’s mindset when he arrives to authenticate the provenance of a newly discovered painting from a well-regarded Scottish artist. This painting is to be a focal point of an exhibition, as well as a vehicle for his heirs to limit their tax debts. Moreover, there is a problem in Tallis’s background that speaks to personal and professional problems that relentlessly dog his intent. Mr. Tallis is under an enormous amount of pressure.

At the same time a Scottish newspaper reporter, Shona Sandison, is also experiencing pressure. Her problems stem from her newspaper’s likely demise, new and thick management, her father’s health, and her own physical problems. When a series of gruesome events occur, she thinks that they may be connected to the painting and the mission of Thomas Tallis.

What makes this mystery most intriguing is the descriptions of Edinburgh, the climate, the melancholy of Tallis and the determination of Sandison. It also gives a thoughtful look at the seamy side of the art world and the ongoing demise of newspapers. Best read while wearing a sweater and sipping tea! Highly recommended. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this title.

There was a lot going on here. For some reason I am always interested in novels about art investigations. In addition to that plot line, there are a series of murders being investigated by the "last of a dying breed" type of print journalist. Different from anything I have read before.

A complex, difficult to describe Scottish noir that pulls the reader into the worlds of art, journalism, and murder. Thomas Tallis is adrift- his marriage has disintegrated, he's lost his job, his father is a lost case- but he's pleased to be asked to authenticate The Goldenacre because there shouldn't be a problem with it. Turns out things are more complicated and there are murders. Journalist Shona Sanderson is a crime reporter who is investigating the murders of an artist and a politician who seemingly have no connection but are killed the same way. The two threads pull together. There are terrific Edinburgh atmospherics and the writing is great. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A very good read.

Pros: This book has several of my favorite elements in a book—a story about a piece of art, a Scottish setting, a stately home, a murder, etc.

Cons: I liked the set up more than the execution.

Thank you to NetGalley and Soho Press for the opportunity to read this book.

Happy to include this title in the June edition of Novel Encounters, my regular column highlighting the month’s most anticipated fiction for the Books section of Zoomer magazine. (see review at link)

Lovely writing that was impossible to rush through. The story was sprinkled throughout with some excellent phrasing that demanded one back up and reread at least once! I rarely mark a book.with phrases to savor but this one demanded it over and over and each added to the richness of the story. Without sharing anything to give the plot away I will say that if you are a fan of fine art, true journalism, or dislike of dishonesty, give this new novel a try.

My thanks to both Soho Press and NetGallery for an advanced copy of this art based mystery set in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Art has a history, not only in how and the why the art was created, but who or what possessed the work. Single ownership or popular ownership makes the are easy to declare real, not forged or faked. Interesting owners add a mystique to the art, and that can also add value. Deciding ownership can sometimes be an art form in itself. In The Goldenacre by art journalist, writer and poet Philip Miller, provenance might be worth killing for.

The Goldenacre is both a part of Edinburgh, Scotland, and the name of the painting which is the focus of this story. Thomas Tallis, has been commissioned by a museum to trace the ownership of the portrait, a job he thinks should be easy, as the painting has been in the same family for years. Tallis needs this as problems in London have forced him away, and things look good, until a package arrives, and things start to go wrong. At the same time the city is rocked by a series of murders and Shona Sandison, a local reporter trying to keep her beat as papers pivot to digital, and other buzzwords, begins to find ties between the victims and the painting. Soon they are both drawn into a case which is about the city of Edinburgh as much as it is about art and vengeance.
The characters are very good, well developed with plenty of backstory to keep the reader interested. Sandison is an reporter of the old school, trapped in the newspaper trade that is changing, not for the good, with plenty of doubts and problems. Tallis, has problems in London with a minor scandal, his relationship with his son and his father. The mystery is good, but it really is the characters who do the heavy lifting here. Getting into the story can be a problem, the beginning is a little odd writing style, but soon levels itself out. In addition the art discussion was quite intriguing, and keep the story moving.

Recommended for people interested in art or books about art and crime. Readers of the book The Lady in Gold by Ann- Marie O'Connor or readers of Iain Pears art mysteries, or Aaron Elkins will enjoy this also.

An art appraiser, disgraced for reasons unknown, has been sent by the government from London to Edinburgh to assess the authenticity of a painting which a wealthy family plans to give to a public art museum in exchange for a multi-million pound tax break. Oddly enough, the family keeps making it difficult for him to actually see the work in question. Meanwhile, an artist has been gruesomely murdered, and an old-school reporter for a broadsheet that is on the ropes is pursuing the story.

Thomas Tallis, the art specialist (whose father also works for the government as a spook) is a troubled man who would like to be with his young son but keeps doing self-destructive things while leaving unanswered messages on his father's phone. The reader wants to grab him by the lapels and give him a good shake. Shona, the reporter (and her elderly father, retired from the paper and spending his days mucking in an allotment) is a grumpy, dogged, also somewhat self-destructive but much more appealing protagonist. There's a detective who is smart and interesting, but we're never let in on why he wears a lot of makeup.

I have mixed feelings about this book. The solution to the mystery is fairly obvious, the metaphors and descriptions are a bit of a muddle, but there are some striking aspects to the ways the story unfolds, the Edinburgh setting (the Goldenacre is a neighborhood of the city), and the cheering way that both main characters stand up for their professional judgment in spite of the obstacles in front of them. Three stars for the labored adjectives and descriptions and the imbalance of style over plot, four for Shona and the discussions of art when Tallis can be bothered.