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The Art of the Assassin: The compelling historical whodunnit
1899, Glasgow. A man is stabbed to death in a tenement courtyard, and Juan Camar�n, photographer-cum-sleuth, is enlisted to assist the police investigation. Perhaps his innovative photographic method can bring to light what the eye may have overlooked.
Yet Juan has problems of his own. His late father's legacy, a monumental photographic record of the architecture of colonial Cuba, is threatened by a charge of plagiarism from a mysterious se�ora. Meanwhile, Juan's hoped-for happiness with his fianc�e, Jane, might be over before it's even begun, and even more so when a visiting professor is murdered and Jane is witnessed fleeing the scene. Juan is torn between finding the killer and finding Jane, but are they one and the same? The truth may be hidden in the photographs.
Yet Juan has problems of his own. His late father's legacy, a monumental photographic record of the architecture of colonial Cuba, is threatened by a charge of plagiarism from a mysterious se�ora. Meanwhile, Juan's hoped-for happiness with his fianc�e, Jane, might be over before it's even begun, and even more so when a visiting professor is murdered and Jane is witnessed fleeing the scene. Juan is torn between finding the killer and finding Jane, but are they one and the same? The truth may be hidden in the photographs.
- GenresCrimeHistorical Fiction
352 pages, Hardcover
First published February 18, 2021
23 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Sullivan
111 books60 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 23, 2021
As in The Figure in the Photograph, Juan’s skill as a photographer and his keen eye for detail play an important role in the unfolding of the story. As he notes, the camera sees more than the naked eye since it records everything. “The camera does not distinguish; does not judge, it does not jump to conclusions. Details missed by the brain are preserved by the machine.” Whereas in The Figure in the Photograph Juan’s application of his serial photography technique – the taking of multiple images of the same scene over a long time period – was the key to solving the mystery, this time it’s his careful and systematic analysis of photographs taken at the crime scene that provide the first clues.
Even when not directly engaged in crime solving, I liked the way Juan responds to people, objects and places with the instincts of a photographer. For instance, noticing how the light falls on a surface or how he might compose a portrait so as to soften the lines on a woman’s face. And he reacts with annoyance when shown a photograph of a scene because he feels the person wielding the camera has created an image open to misinterpretation, dismissing it as “a photograph that recorded an event without conveying its unique meaning”.
The book is set in a period of technological development such as the first moving pictures (although Juan doubts whether these will catch on) and the emergence of the science of psychology, innovative theories about the personality and the first use of talking therapies.
Although the book sees Juan and Jane once again working together to investigate a murder and a possible abduction, there are strains apparent in their relationship. Whereas Juan should admire Jane’s independence of spirit, at times he almost seems to resent her willingness to take the lead, displaying a rather disappointing touch of chauvinism. At one point he reflects, “I should have been proud of her investigative acumen, her keen intelligence. Instead, I felt that my position was being undermined.” As it turns out, Jane’s resourcefulness is sorely needed.
At one point, it seems possible that Jane may have a rival for Juan’s affections when a glamorous figure from the world of the theatre makes an entrance into the story. I loved how the author described the atmosphere of a 19th century theatre before a performance: the spell cast by a full auditorium, the smell of tobacco smoke in the air, the patrons in evening dress and the ‘rising, falling hum of human voices’.
With a plot that encompasses murder, abduction, fortuitous escapes from captivity, agents of a foreign power and industrial espionage, the book has many of the ingredients of a John Buchan adventure novel. Indeed, the dramatic events at the Theatre Royal towards the end of The Art of the Assassin recalled for me the music hall scene at the conclusion of Alfred Hitchcock’s film adaptation of John Buchan’s The Thirty-Nine Steps.
Like its predecessor, The Art of the Assassin is an absorbing historical crime mystery with plenty of twists and turns, great period detail and many colourful characters.
Even when not directly engaged in crime solving, I liked the way Juan responds to people, objects and places with the instincts of a photographer. For instance, noticing how the light falls on a surface or how he might compose a portrait so as to soften the lines on a woman’s face. And he reacts with annoyance when shown a photograph of a scene because he feels the person wielding the camera has created an image open to misinterpretation, dismissing it as “a photograph that recorded an event without conveying its unique meaning”.
The book is set in a period of technological development such as the first moving pictures (although Juan doubts whether these will catch on) and the emergence of the science of psychology, innovative theories about the personality and the first use of talking therapies.
Although the book sees Juan and Jane once again working together to investigate a murder and a possible abduction, there are strains apparent in their relationship. Whereas Juan should admire Jane’s independence of spirit, at times he almost seems to resent her willingness to take the lead, displaying a rather disappointing touch of chauvinism. At one point he reflects, “I should have been proud of her investigative acumen, her keen intelligence. Instead, I felt that my position was being undermined.” As it turns out, Jane’s resourcefulness is sorely needed.
At one point, it seems possible that Jane may have a rival for Juan’s affections when a glamorous figure from the world of the theatre makes an entrance into the story. I loved how the author described the atmosphere of a 19th century theatre before a performance: the spell cast by a full auditorium, the smell of tobacco smoke in the air, the patrons in evening dress and the ‘rising, falling hum of human voices’.
With a plot that encompasses murder, abduction, fortuitous escapes from captivity, agents of a foreign power and industrial espionage, the book has many of the ingredients of a John Buchan adventure novel. Indeed, the dramatic events at the Theatre Royal towards the end of The Art of the Assassin recalled for me the music hall scene at the conclusion of Alfred Hitchcock’s film adaptation of John Buchan’s The Thirty-Nine Steps.
Like its predecessor, The Art of the Assassin is an absorbing historical crime mystery with plenty of twists and turns, great period detail and many colourful characters.
February 25, 2021
The Art of the assassin is set in Glasgow around 1899. Juan Camarón, a genial Spanish photographer is called upon by the police to take pictures of a murder scene because of his pioneering skills in forensic photography. Camarón, who was previously introduced to us in Sullivan's novel "The figure in the photograph", is also in Scotland wrapping up personal business and woeing is fiancee Jane.
But it's 1899 and unfortunately in 1899 Europe is anything but peaceful, so pretty soon Juan has the misfortune to stumble upon & get embroiled with a vast and nebulous political & military conspiracy that will keep him running for his life all over Glasgow during the entire novel, fending off German villains, Central European anarchists, disguised spies & the usual shenanigans from the usual suspect, the Balkans and their operatic and idiotic princlings.
I really enjoyed this novel even if I found it a bit rushed & confusing at times as if Tintin in the Castafiore Emerald and Joseph Cotten in the Third Man were desperately trying to locate Doris Day in The Man who knew too much in order to prevent something too dangerous and too blurry for the reader to grasp.....But times were also very confusing in Europe at the end of the 19th century....
The plot and some of its characters could have benefited from further development, even if the final chapters had somehow a definite cinematic quality to them, an palpable hitchcockian touch. Kevin Sullivan knows how to build & keep the tension going. The scenes inside the Scottish Royal Theater were highly entertaining and left me a bit breathless...
The descriptions of "fin de siècle" Glasgow are wonderful & I found Juan's musings on photography and its philosophy quite compelling. Overall it was a lot of fun & I'm looking forward to another encounter with Juan Camarón!
Many thanks to Netgalley and Allison&Busby for the opportunity to read this wonderful novel prior to its release date
But it's 1899 and unfortunately in 1899 Europe is anything but peaceful, so pretty soon Juan has the misfortune to stumble upon & get embroiled with a vast and nebulous political & military conspiracy that will keep him running for his life all over Glasgow during the entire novel, fending off German villains, Central European anarchists, disguised spies & the usual shenanigans from the usual suspect, the Balkans and their operatic and idiotic princlings.
I really enjoyed this novel even if I found it a bit rushed & confusing at times as if Tintin in the Castafiore Emerald and Joseph Cotten in the Third Man were desperately trying to locate Doris Day in The Man who knew too much in order to prevent something too dangerous and too blurry for the reader to grasp.....But times were also very confusing in Europe at the end of the 19th century....
The plot and some of its characters could have benefited from further development, even if the final chapters had somehow a definite cinematic quality to them, an palpable hitchcockian touch. Kevin Sullivan knows how to build & keep the tension going. The scenes inside the Scottish Royal Theater were highly entertaining and left me a bit breathless...
The descriptions of "fin de siècle" Glasgow are wonderful & I found Juan's musings on photography and its philosophy quite compelling. Overall it was a lot of fun & I'm looking forward to another encounter with Juan Camarón!
Many thanks to Netgalley and Allison&Busby for the opportunity to read this wonderful novel prior to its release date
February 3, 2021
My thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication. It is currently scheduled to be published in the UK on 18th February 2021.
Juan Cameron's second adventure sees him photographing another murder scene and getting even more involved than he intended when a second murder occurs and his fiancee Jane goes missing.
I didn't realise this was a sequel when I requested it but on reading this I don't think it mattered much. The first novel is referred to fairly often but I didn't find it too distracting. The premise is intriguing and the explanations of early photography processes was probably the bits I found the most interesting. The setting of Glasgow was fun at times and the accent was represented pretty well, occasionally to humorous effect. The plot is well thought out and put together.
My biggest issue is probably only a personal feeling, but I found the writing style a little flat and clinical. This may have been a deliberate choice, since the narrator Juan is a logical and systematic person so it reflects him very well, but I wasn't fond of it. The frequent uses of things like "I waited for them to reply, which they did." then the actual reply was irritating to me and it detracted a lot from my enjoyment of the novel.
I think readers' opinion of this book will be quite dependent on how they take to the style. There's nothing wrong with it by any means, and the thought into the story and research into photography is commendable. For me, this side of it was more interesting than the murder mystery aspects. I also think the blurb mentioning the second murder and Jane disappearing was a mistake because this happens half way through. You're waiting for it to happen, and this makes the plot feel like it drags more than it does. If this was left out it would be a surprise.
Juan Cameron's second adventure sees him photographing another murder scene and getting even more involved than he intended when a second murder occurs and his fiancee Jane goes missing.
I didn't realise this was a sequel when I requested it but on reading this I don't think it mattered much. The first novel is referred to fairly often but I didn't find it too distracting. The premise is intriguing and the explanations of early photography processes was probably the bits I found the most interesting. The setting of Glasgow was fun at times and the accent was represented pretty well, occasionally to humorous effect. The plot is well thought out and put together.
My biggest issue is probably only a personal feeling, but I found the writing style a little flat and clinical. This may have been a deliberate choice, since the narrator Juan is a logical and systematic person so it reflects him very well, but I wasn't fond of it. The frequent uses of things like "I waited for them to reply, which they did." then the actual reply was irritating to me and it detracted a lot from my enjoyment of the novel.
I think readers' opinion of this book will be quite dependent on how they take to the style. There's nothing wrong with it by any means, and the thought into the story and research into photography is commendable. For me, this side of it was more interesting than the murder mystery aspects. I also think the blurb mentioning the second murder and Jane disappearing was a mistake because this happens half way through. You're waiting for it to happen, and this makes the plot feel like it drags more than it does. If this was left out it would be a surprise.
January 21, 2021
I was into chapter two before I realised "The Art of the Assassin" was Kevin Sullivan's second novel about Juan Camarón, the Spanish-born photographer. But thanks to some timely and brief background scenes, I was soon up to speed and ready to carry on.
"The Art of the Assassin" picks up not long after the end of "The Figure in the Photograph" and Juan is still in 1899 Glasgow. With a new fiancée and his father's affairs to tie up, he isn't really happy when an Inspector from the newly-formed Special Branch asks him to view the scene of a recent murder. Apparently the process of photographing crime scenes he developed in book one has earned him some fame, and his expertise is already being called on. However once he visits the scene, and takes some intriguing photos, he is overwhelmed with the need to make his own investigations, especially when it turns out his new fiancée and her family could be involved.
What follows is a marvelous romp across late nineteenth century Glasgow (with a trip to Edinburgh). For those who know Glasgow, there's lots of lovely name-dropping and scene-setting, enough even, for me, who does know the City, to reach for the street map and follow along. Some light-hearted jokes at the expense of the broad Glaswegian accent also made me chuckle. Insights into the early days of photography and how it was viewed as an artform are welcome too. There's a definite nod to The 39 Steps in here, with action in music halls, an opera singer, spies and assassins and heroes on the run. Lovely stuff.
Readers of Ambrose Parry, Oscar De Muriel and ES Thomson will love this book, and like me will probably track down the first in the series. I was lucky to received a Netgalley ARC, but will definitely be investing in a print copy.
"The Art of the Assassin" picks up not long after the end of "The Figure in the Photograph" and Juan is still in 1899 Glasgow. With a new fiancée and his father's affairs to tie up, he isn't really happy when an Inspector from the newly-formed Special Branch asks him to view the scene of a recent murder. Apparently the process of photographing crime scenes he developed in book one has earned him some fame, and his expertise is already being called on. However once he visits the scene, and takes some intriguing photos, he is overwhelmed with the need to make his own investigations, especially when it turns out his new fiancée and her family could be involved.
What follows is a marvelous romp across late nineteenth century Glasgow (with a trip to Edinburgh). For those who know Glasgow, there's lots of lovely name-dropping and scene-setting, enough even, for me, who does know the City, to reach for the street map and follow along. Some light-hearted jokes at the expense of the broad Glaswegian accent also made me chuckle. Insights into the early days of photography and how it was viewed as an artform are welcome too. There's a definite nod to The 39 Steps in here, with action in music halls, an opera singer, spies and assassins and heroes on the run. Lovely stuff.
Readers of Ambrose Parry, Oscar De Muriel and ES Thomson will love this book, and like me will probably track down the first in the series. I was lucky to received a Netgalley ARC, but will definitely be investing in a print copy.
February 20, 2021
Is this book ever enjoyable! The writing and descriptions are beautiful and the story itself kept me glued from the first to the last pages. The perspective of a photographer at the murder scene is intriguing and it's obvious the author did his research into photography. Mystery layers, romance, twists, secrets and deception are what this book is about. Such fun!
A man is found murdered in Glasgow, 1899. Photographer/sleuth Juan Camarón shows his stuff as he uses his own techniques to photograph the body and the environment in which he was found. Juan had established his reputation with the previous mystery he solved but his techniques are still new to the police so not yet trusted. But that is not where the crimes end, nor the investigations. Juan also sets out to right a past wrong. He is besotted with his independent fiance and has pinch-me moments when with her.
This book will appeal to Historical Fiction readers. I really liked it a lot and finished it in one sitting. Already anticipating the next and am wondering what will happen as there are many possibilities, at least in my mind.
My sincere thank you to Allison & Busby and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this enthralling book!
A man is found murdered in Glasgow, 1899. Photographer/sleuth Juan Camarón shows his stuff as he uses his own techniques to photograph the body and the environment in which he was found. Juan had established his reputation with the previous mystery he solved but his techniques are still new to the police so not yet trusted. But that is not where the crimes end, nor the investigations. Juan also sets out to right a past wrong. He is besotted with his independent fiance and has pinch-me moments when with her.
This book will appeal to Historical Fiction readers. I really liked it a lot and finished it in one sitting. Already anticipating the next and am wondering what will happen as there are many possibilities, at least in my mind.
My sincere thank you to Allison & Busby and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this enthralling book!
February 13, 2021
The overwhelming feeling I had when reading this book was how traditional it felt. This was nothing to do with the historical setting of the book, but more to do with the plot construction and the characters, who, for me, seemed a little dull. I felt that the prequel was referred to more than it needed to be and although this book could be read as a stand alone story, after about the third or fourth reference to the previous adventure I did start to wonder whether there were things about Juan and Jane that reading the prequel would have given me more insight into. The final chapter indicated that this will be a series and I suspect that this book might be something of a bridge between the two stories. The description of Glasgow and the world of the theatre and its characters were vivid and well drawn but overall the book was not as compelling as I would have liked. Thanks to Net Galley for an advance copy.
February 19, 2021
I had hoped for more sleuthing via the photographs, that was described in the description of the book as I thought that sounded really interesting. The main plot of "The Art of the Assassin" by Kevin Sullivan was satisfactory but I do wonder if I would be in a better position if I had read the prequel first. Lovely descriptions of Glasgow, the theatre and the characters that inhabit the city and the theatre..
February 19, 2021
I have to say that I did not read the first novel, but I don't think it would have made much of a difference, since the plot was easy to follow either way. The only aspects for which reading the former book would have been helpful, were some backstory parts, especially when it comes to the relationship between Juan and Jane. It also took some time to get used to the writing style, but the setting in Glasgow was really interesting and overall I enjoyed the book.
May 16, 2021
I like the first book in this series and liked this one.
This is an enjoyable and gripping story with a complex and interesting plot.
As in the previous installment the author mixes historical facts and fiction. The mix works and is entertaining.
Even though I enjoyed I felt that some parts were a bit rushed.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
This is an enjoyable and gripping story with a complex and interesting plot.
As in the previous installment the author mixes historical facts and fiction. The mix works and is entertaining.
Even though I enjoyed I felt that some parts were a bit rushed.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
February 14, 2021
1899 Glasgow Juan Camaron, serial photographer is instructed by Captain Smith, of Special Branch, London to take photographs of a murder scene in a tenement. Anomalies in the photographs lead him to investigate. But this will not be the last murder, and what is the motive.
An enjoyable historical mystery told from Camaron's point of view.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
An enjoyable historical mystery told from Camaron's point of view.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
March 4, 2021
An intriguing romp across Glasgow in the 1990's. I didnt realise this was the second in the series about Juan Cameron, a photographer who is asked to take photos of a murder in the tenements of Glasgow. It is a very descriptive and atmospheric book which follows Juan's adventures. I especially liked the episode in the theatre and would recommend to anyone who likes historical crime.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews