Thursday, February 8, 2024

Portrait of Lies by Clair M Poulson

Trey Shotwell's parents were both world famous artists, but all his life Trey wanted to be a police officer.  The desire is only strengthened when his mother is killed during an art robbery and the teenage Trey vows to eventually find his mother's killer. Years later he is a police detective in Australia when he and his father go on a cruise where some of his father's paintings are going to be auctioned.  On board he meets a woman, Ariah, who enchants him, and also finds a painting he is pretty sure is one that was stolen the night his mother was killed.   As Trey investigates the stolen artwork, things heat up and more crimes occur.  Soon both his, his father's and Ariah's lives are threatened. Trey must decide how much she wants to pursue finding his mother's killer when doing so risks the safety of the woman he is growing to love. 

This is my second or third Clair Poulson novel. It isn't great writing, and it draggs at places, but in the end had a decent mystery plot.  It is interesting to me how not PC the book is.  The love interest, Ariah, and her mother primarily exist in the story to give moral support to the main character, and cook him good meals. They also play the role of damsel in distress several times.  Poulson is a Latter-Day Saint author and there is a very unsubtle subplot of him sharing his religion with Ariah and their other friend, Hans.  The characters are two dimensional, the writing is stilted, the pacing is less than perfect, and I still enjoyed it. Clair Poulson is not a bad go-to author while I am waiting for other holds to come in. (2015, 272 p)

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