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Death of a Painter (Poynter + Perry Book 1): The laugh out loud dark comedy British murder mystery
“A chaotic comic caper that’s as funny as it is brutal” – The Sun
DEATH OF A THE FIRST BOOK IN NEW SERIES OF DARKLY COMIC CRIME FICTION NOVELS FEATURING THE BELEAGUERED BUILDER MARK POYNTER, AIDED AND HINDERED IN EQUAL MEASURE BY HIS TRUSTED CREW OF SLACKERS, IDLERS AND GOSSIPS, AND THE LENGTHS THEY GO TO JUST TO EARN A LIVING.
IN THE BUILDING GAME TIME IS MONEY AND MONEY IS EVERYTHING. UNFORTUNATELY FOR MARK POYNTER, HE’S RUN OUT OF MONEY AND HE’S FAST RUNNING OUT OF TIME.
When Mark Poynter discovers a murder on his worksite all of his financial problems suddenly seem a lot closer to was this a warning his debts are overdue?
Suspected of being the killer and worried at being the intended victim, the murder only makes Mark’s money problems worse, leading him to turn to the local villain, Hamlet, who has his own unique repayment plan in mind for Mark.
When two more deaths plunge him even further into debt, Mark finds himself faced with a choice – help the police and clear his name or help the villain and clear his debt.
Set in the Medway Towns on the grey margins of criminality, where no job’s too big, no dodge’s too small …
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT DEATH OF A
The National
“A chaotic comic caper that’s as funny as it is brutal” – The Sun
The Writing
“With a cast of colourful characters and a riveting plot, Ross breathes new life into a classic genre.”
– Julie Wassmer, author of The Whitstable Pearl series of mysteries, now a hit tv show produced by Acorn TV
“A unique and darkly comic thriller. Read it, love it!” - Keith Nixon, bestselling author of the Solomon Gray series
“A rip-roaring blackly comic crime caper that had me turning the pages extra-sharpish” - Rob Parker, author of the Audible best-selling Far From the Tree trilogy
“I was humbled, honoured and above all else flabbergasted (in the nicest possible way) to be asked to provide an author quote for ‘Death Of A Painter’ but it’s easy when you’re reading something as funny, dark and touching as this. Enjoy!” - Jonathan Whitelaw, author of best selling The Bingo Hall Detectives.
“Addictive, funny, clever and brilliantly plotted. I raced through it in no time” - Lisa Cutts, author of the DC Nina Foster series
“The story has everything – excitement, edge of your seat action and a lot of humour. It is fantastically well written, definitely a ‘just one more chapter’ type of book… It is darkly comic and thrilling to the last page... Death of a Painter is a fantastic read from an author who is going places.” - Chris McDonald, author of the D.I. Erika Piper mysteries
“Do yourselves a favour and buy this book!” – Evan Baldock, author of Bang, Bang, You’re Dead!
The Book
“Death of a Painter is intelligent, funny when it should be, hilarious when it shouldn’t
DEATH OF A THE FIRST BOOK IN NEW SERIES OF DARKLY COMIC CRIME FICTION NOVELS FEATURING THE BELEAGUERED BUILDER MARK POYNTER, AIDED AND HINDERED IN EQUAL MEASURE BY HIS TRUSTED CREW OF SLACKERS, IDLERS AND GOSSIPS, AND THE LENGTHS THEY GO TO JUST TO EARN A LIVING.
IN THE BUILDING GAME TIME IS MONEY AND MONEY IS EVERYTHING. UNFORTUNATELY FOR MARK POYNTER, HE’S RUN OUT OF MONEY AND HE’S FAST RUNNING OUT OF TIME.
When Mark Poynter discovers a murder on his worksite all of his financial problems suddenly seem a lot closer to was this a warning his debts are overdue?
Suspected of being the killer and worried at being the intended victim, the murder only makes Mark’s money problems worse, leading him to turn to the local villain, Hamlet, who has his own unique repayment plan in mind for Mark.
When two more deaths plunge him even further into debt, Mark finds himself faced with a choice – help the police and clear his name or help the villain and clear his debt.
Set in the Medway Towns on the grey margins of criminality, where no job’s too big, no dodge’s too small …
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT DEATH OF A
The National
“A chaotic comic caper that’s as funny as it is brutal” – The Sun
The Writing
“With a cast of colourful characters and a riveting plot, Ross breathes new life into a classic genre.”
– Julie Wassmer, author of The Whitstable Pearl series of mysteries, now a hit tv show produced by Acorn TV
“A unique and darkly comic thriller. Read it, love it!” - Keith Nixon, bestselling author of the Solomon Gray series
“A rip-roaring blackly comic crime caper that had me turning the pages extra-sharpish” - Rob Parker, author of the Audible best-selling Far From the Tree trilogy
“I was humbled, honoured and above all else flabbergasted (in the nicest possible way) to be asked to provide an author quote for ‘Death Of A Painter’ but it’s easy when you’re reading something as funny, dark and touching as this. Enjoy!” - Jonathan Whitelaw, author of best selling The Bingo Hall Detectives.
“Addictive, funny, clever and brilliantly plotted. I raced through it in no time” - Lisa Cutts, author of the DC Nina Foster series
“The story has everything – excitement, edge of your seat action and a lot of humour. It is fantastically well written, definitely a ‘just one more chapter’ type of book… It is darkly comic and thrilling to the last page... Death of a Painter is a fantastic read from an author who is going places.” - Chris McDonald, author of the D.I. Erika Piper mysteries
“Do yourselves a favour and buy this book!” – Evan Baldock, author of Bang, Bang, You’re Dead!
The Book
“Death of a Painter is intelligent, funny when it should be, hilarious when it shouldn’t
348 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 4, 2023
45 people are currently reading
10 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Ross
40 books6 followersLibrarian note: There are more authors with this name in this data base.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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May 23, 2025Very unfair to class this as read as it’s more of a DNS (did not start). I made it almost all the way to half way down the second page.
Not for me. Unfair to grade it.
Not for me. Unfair to grade it.
August 27, 2024
This book delivers exactly what the title promises
I chose this book because the title promised laugh out loud dark comedy. It certainly is pretty dark, but don't let that put you off. It's a great story and actually does keep you guessing up to the final chapters.
And the characters, that's where the humour really is. Aside from the murderers and psycho builders. If these characters are based on real builders the choose yours very, very carefully.
Well worth a read. I'm already onto the second book and hope there are more in the series coming soon.
I chose this book because the title promised laugh out loud dark comedy. It certainly is pretty dark, but don't let that put you off. It's a great story and actually does keep you guessing up to the final chapters.
And the characters, that's where the humour really is. Aside from the murderers and psycho builders. If these characters are based on real builders the choose yours very, very carefully.
Well worth a read. I'm already onto the second book and hope there are more in the series coming soon.
September 15, 2023
Needs editing
Parts of this story about Mark Poynter, a contractor who investigates a couple of murders, were very funny. The writing style was rather stream of consciousness with a lot of run-on sentences and it annoyed me. There were a lot of characters and at times it was hard for me to remember who was who. Still, it’s a decent read if you enjoy British humor and murder mysteries in general.
Parts of this story about Mark Poynter, a contractor who investigates a couple of murders, were very funny. The writing style was rather stream of consciousness with a lot of run-on sentences and it annoyed me. There were a lot of characters and at times it was hard for me to remember who was who. Still, it’s a decent read if you enjoy British humor and murder mysteries in general.
November 6, 2023
Rip roaring with a lot going on
Really enjoyed this slightly if the wall crime drama laced with dark humour, lot of characters made it to tricky to follow
Really enjoyed this slightly if the wall crime drama laced with dark humour, lot of characters made it to tricky to follow
January 13, 2026
I enjoyed it, it was a funny read.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews