The Colours of Corruption by Jacqueline Jacques
| The Colours of Corruption by Jacqueline Jacques | |
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| Category: Crime (Historical) | |
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Reviewer: Susmita Chatto
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| Summary: Police artist Archie creates an unexpected problem when he paints a picture of Mary; a picture so astonishingly real, the buyer soon wants to buy Mary herself… | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 368 | Date: January 2013 |
| Publisher: Honno Welsh Women's Press | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1906784539 | |
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Mary, an impoverished cleaner, is witness to a murder. Archie is one of the first artists to work with the police and creates a picture of the man she says she saw. Taken by her looks he persuades Mary to sit for a portrait, but the man who buys the portraitwould rather buy Mary herself...
The Colours of Corruption is a lively and absorbing work from the very first page. Kicking off with a major event, Jacques demonstrates the enviable skill of being able to place the reader in the midst of a scene as instantaneously as if we had been dropped into another world via parachute!
From the lively beginning, the book continues at a cracking pace. But the pace doesn’t prevent the characters being drawn in detail. Just as Jacques uses Archie to demonstrate the passion and absorption of the artist at his work, she herself masters the art of packing out the novel with detail that always serves to contribute. Nothing is self-indulgent or irrelevant, in spite of hearty and full descriptions.
The storyline itself is jam packed with content and never dull; we follow each character, good and bad, through paths that are unpredictable and intimidating. The problems of grinding poverty and the crises to which those problems lead are shown in unflinching detail. We also meet those who see fit to exploit it in order to increase their wealth; the balance of power between such people and their victims, and the fear of being a potential victim, are also clear throughout the work. Dealing with a criminal underworld is risky territory in terms of things getting a little too grim, but our artistic interludes with Archie, luscious description and some hilarious one liners save this novel from suffering that problem. It is a whirlwind of activity at times but this makes it a page turner from the very first.
The local area is familiar to me so I took pleasure in the illustrations of what it might have been like at that time. 'Illustration' is a key word with this novel; the novelist is also an artist and some of that skill has most certainly transferred into her written work. We don’t just experience the characters as told by the narrator, but very often as seen through Archie’s eyes, and that makes them seem even more real. It also makes Archie an even stronger protagonist, which was vital with some other strong characters in the novel also dominating many scenes.
Overall, this is an action-packed historical crime drama which won’t disappoint.
If this book appeals then you might like to try The Pleasures of Men by Kate Williams
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