Artcore

by Roger Hardy

Tim Mitchell has moved from Brighton to Amsterdam to escape a destructive relationship with unstable artist, Karl, whose only ambition in life is to die. In the new city, Tim finds a painting in a nearby gallery that disturbs him; the face staring at him from the canvas is that of Karl. Tim starts to feel that he is being watched. A few weeks later, his new love interest, a young racist film director, is beheaded. The painting in the gallery has changed to Salome. Although the evidence is tenuous, Tim and Dutch-Moroccan detective, Hassan, start to believe that the killer may be targeting Tim’s lovers and is signalling his intentions by the paintings placed in the gallery. To test the theory, Hassan poses as Tim’s boyfriend but, after a week, all is still quiet. A new painting of a poppy field appears in the gallery. That night, Hassan’s fiancée is killed with a heroin overdose.Bizarrely, all the signs are now pointing towards Karl as the killer. Tim makes a surprise visit to Brighton to confront him but is devastated to find that he too has been murdered. Or could it have been an elaborate suicide? An old friend, Brian, reveals that Karl had been having an affair with an artist called Michael. In Amsterdam, Tim is lonely and feels under threat. At his lowest ebb, he meets new lover, Rui Fernandes, in the sauna. Rui is intrigued by a possible link between Michael and the S&M world. An old friend of his, Zwarte Piet, tells them that he knew Michael years before. He is a psychopathic sadist. The next day, Piet is found dead; the killing foretold by yet another painting.Tim decides to do a painting to provoke Michael. It goes in the gallery window and they set off for Brighton for Karl’s funeral. They meet an old friend of Tim’s who tells them more about Michael, who was once imprisoned for killing his brother but released due to an unsafe conviction. At the funeral, Tim has a terrifying confrontation with Michael, who is posing as a reporter. Back in Amsterdam, Tim and Rui go to a club where they have a drug-fuelled surreal sexual encounter with Michael who accuses Tim of killing his brother. The following night, they wake to find that they are not alone; Michael has broken in. Deranged, he toys with Tim and Rui. In the ensuing fight, Tim kills Michael with a painter’s mahl stick. As Michael gasps his last breath, it becomes clear that he saw Karl as his brother and Tim as his father.Tim and Rui go back to Brighton to scatter Karl’s ashes. While they are there, a parcel arrives for Tim. He doesn’t need to open it to know that it’s another painting.

232 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2010

About the author

Roger Hardy is an aviation man, pilot, designer and latterly, safety regulator. He was born into a Royal Air Force family just before our noble Monarch ascended the throne and has worked in the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany before finally settling in Portugal. He is European by instinct and inclination and currently runs his guesthouse business in Carvoeiro in the Algarve (www.casaluiz.com). He has two grown-up children and, having completed five novels, has set sail into eBook waters. Outside of writing, he can get a trifle boring on the subject of the operas of Richard Strauss, given half a chance. In addition (and we don't mention this in polite company) he restores old Dinky toy aircraft from the 1930s and 40s.

I have been writing novels for some years now and have seen the seismic changes to the book publishing industry with the introduction of eReaders and eBooks. Not one to buck a trend and conscious of the parlous state of traditional Dickensian publishing, I decided to publish my novels as eBooks and they are all now available from Amazon for the Kindle eReader.

My novels are in a variety of genres, sometimes mixed, from light to heavy, and I write what I want to write rather than what the market demands or what is trendy. Each one has been edited by professional editor and published novelist, Debi Alper. I write because I enjoy it. I hope you do as well.

Reviews

[Luis Da · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. It's a gay novel but don't let that put you off; it's basically a serial killer story with a difference and that's the best way to think about it. Its rattles along at a good pace and crashes to a conclusion. A great read!

[Luis Da · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a terrific book. It had me glued to my seat. Kept thinking to myself...what a wonderful movie this would make.