Review: THE PICTURES by Guy Bolton

Publisher Bolinda Audio
Length 12hrs 8mins
Format audiobook
Published 2017
Series Detective Craine #1
My Copy I bought it

My Review

Jonathon Craine is a Hollywood detective, working for the big studio, MGM, more-so than the LAPD.  His deceased wife was a movie star; he knows the business, the studio’s know they can rely on him as their on-call fixer – he can sweep crime under the carpet, make the ghosts of convictions past disappear all for the sake of saving the studio image. Hollywood in 1939 glitters with gold and perfection, it’s Craine’s job to preserve the public facade. 

The Pictures is all about scandal and cover-ups. It's a multi-faceted read that encompasses many typical crime troupes mixed with the stardom of Hollywood; high end prostitution, extortion, murder, assassination, with a dose of syndicate action. I loved it all.

Craine is a well rounded character accompanied by a nice supporting cast on either side of the law;Detective O'Neil is a worthy sidekick, one whose importance in the investigations isn't realized until later in the book, while a certain photographer, studio exec, and hired hitman pave the way for a nice mix good and bad guys. 

The narration is great, Adam Sims reads Jonathan Craine and co exceptionally well, however, towards the later stages of the book, the voice over’s (corrections) are glaringly apparent which can be jarring at times as Sims often uses a slightly different tone for the voice-overs. Nevertheless it’s a minor gripe in what is overall a very good performance.

My rating: 5/5, I hope to read more books involving studio 'fixing' in this period.