Painting Death A Novel

“Duckworth is a worthy heir to a tradition of seductive, cultured literary monsters that include Humbert Humbert [and] Hannibal Lecter.” —The Sunday Times

"Hovering adroitly between tragedy and farce . . . a good novel to savour by the pool in Tuscany this summer." —The Times (London)

"Neatly written, full of calamitous moments in which the comedy is suddenly elbowed aside by genuine emotion." —Spectator

"One to relish . . . sharp, funny and satirical, with a wonderfully overblown ending." —The Guardian

“This is a fiendishly clever pitch-black comedy — if not a work of art then a supremely diverting caper.” —The Australian

"Admirers of Parks’s mainstream fiction should enjoy this black comedy." —Publisher's Weekly

“Painting Death is a book that questions the idea of murder as entertainment while also making murder entertaining. It's supposed to make us squirm and it does.” —Herald Scotland

“Parks is at his strongest depicting the art world and its intrigues and intellectual snobbery.” —Financial Times

"In this final chapter of the Morris Duckworth trilogy . . . Think Patricia Highsmith meets Jeff Lindsay . . . as Duckworth's voice provides a strong dose of humor." —Booklist

"Admirers of Parks’s mainstream fiction should enjoy this black comedy." —Publishers Weekly

“Colorful, often amusing, intermittently suspenseful . . . Parks uses the museum intrigue to draw, as he has done in his more serious efforts, a vivid, impressionistic portrait of contemporary Italy.” —The New York Times