Jose Carlos Somoza is the talented Spanish (or maybe Argentinian) author of The Athenian Murders, a very clever mystery set in both present day Spain and ancient Athens.
His latest (well, I say latest, but I’m not completely sure of the original Spanish publication dates) is set in the art world. Well I say, art world, but it’s an art world in a strange parallel universe where a new form of art – hyperdramatic art – where models are painted by superstar artists, and are treated as part of the work of art themselves.
So we get a pretty vivid picture of this world. But there’s a murdered loose – The Artist – hell bent on destroying (ie murdering) some of the most famous and valuable “canvasses”.
It’s quite a page-turner, and the multiplicity of characters means that we’re never quite sure who could be guilty. The idea of hyperdramatic art is pretty hideous, and is several steps removed from something as simple of body-art, but morals don’t really enter into it; we’re living in a world where it happens at that’s all.