Review: Ace In The Picture

The short blurb bit: A polyamorous quad gets involved in a crime and the detective who is heading up the investigation is asexual. Raith, Mike, Ross, and Phil live together in the north of England. They’ve carved out a world for themselves in which they can be free to love and care about each other. Their life together is unique and has a few challenges but they make it work. When artist Raith is accused of forging a painting … things get very complicated very quickly.

The descriptive bit: If you like crime stories and are interested in reading characters who aren’t run of the mill then this is a good book for you. Of particular interested to readers may be the lifestyles of the characters. While their sexuality and partnerships aren’t the plot of the story, they are, of course, part of the plot. If you’re interested in reading about asexual folks, polyamory or diverse relationships then you’ll find this story intriguing. You may even learn something – like I did!

My thoughts bit: First, I should say that I didn’t read the first two books in this series but I will say that I plan to go back and do that now! That’s got to be a vote in the win column. There was enough history written into this novel that I didn’t struggle too much to understand who the characters were and where they had come from. There were some past events mentioned vaguely that I now want to go and read about!

The art forgery case in the novel is really well thought out and well written. Even though it was a bit convoluted at times, it was very intriguing and had a lot of good twists and turns.  A painting has been forged, and because of Raith’s Tetrachromacy and his artistic ability, he is accused of being the forger. As the investigation progresses, the quad works closely with senior investigative officer, Nick Seabrooke. There is a great subplot following Nick’s exploration of his feelings when he is exposed to the men in the quad.

At first, I found it a little tricky keeping track of which characters were which. After all, I think it’s unusual for almost the entire cast of characters to be male. But, I settled into it and managed to keep track of all the different folks.

Well worth a read! Start from the beginning of the series though because you don’t want to have to go back like me!

The warnings bit: extreme violence, car accidents, discussion of past violence, discussion of past sexual assault.

I received an ARC of this book by Jude Tresswell from Cameron Publicity & Marketing Ltd via NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.