Painting in the Dark Paperback - 2014

Russell James is a British writer who was known first for his hard-hitting, low-life thrillers, mainly set in south east London, then later for his non-fiction, alongside his historical and other novels. He has written ten crime novels, five historical and two other novels, some short stories and four biographical encyclopaedias. (He was also a main contributing editor to Harcourt's Encyclopaedia of British Crime Writing.) In 2001 he was elected Chairman of the Crime Writers Association. As a crime writer Russell was named by GQ magazine as 'the great unknown talent of British crime writing', by Ian Rankin as 'the Godfather of British Noir' and by the Times as 'surely the best of Britain's darker crime writers'. Talking of his crime novels, he said, "Most writers don't write crime novels, they write anti-crime novels: police procedurals, PI stories, puzzlers etc. I write about criminals and victims. I write about crime. However, my stories are less hard boiled than my reputation suggests. Families are important - even central - in my books. Perhaps they are not 'normal' families, but they are real - and they work. By concentrating on the ordinary people caught up in the crimes, rather than on poetic policemen and gifted old ladies, I can introduce the themes that interest me: death, loyalty and the ties that bind. Old fashioned themes, perhaps - but they're the lifeblood of fiction." His books include: AFTER SHE DIED EXIT 39 THE EXHIBITIONISTS RAFAEL'S GOLD REQUIEM FOR A DAUGHTER VICTORIAN WRITERS & POETS VICTORIAN ARTISTS & THEIR MODELS GREAT BRITISH FICTIONAL VILLAINS GREAT BRITISH FICTIONAL DETECTIVES THE MAUD ALLAN AFFAIR NO ONE GETS HURT PICK ANY TITLE THE ANNEX PAINTING IN THE DARK OH NO, NOT MY BABY COUNT ME OUT SLAUGHTER MUSIC PAYBACK DAYLIGHT UNDERGROUND