Schmincke — Allan Jones

Meredith Pryce, an established landscape artist from South Wales, regains consciousness in a London hospital after an attack in the street. On arrival in ER she was murmuring incoherently in Welsh. The young police officer assigned to sit with her also speaks the language and they have a common interest; art and a missing paint box.This short story is a prequel to The Chinese Sailor and introduces Constable Catrin Sayer, from Pontypridd. Each novel in the series is a self-contained ‘art crime’ story. Initially as a police constable in The Chinese Sailor, Sayer takes her first ‘plain clothes’ role in case set in North Wales. By the seventh novel in the series, The Thornham Copyist, she is a seasoned investigator with the rank of detective inspector. Events are set mainly in England, Scotland and Wales, but places like Hong Kong, Dubai and Kuala Lumpur also feature. While there is the occasional corpse in some of the books, the stories are mainly about art crime rather than murder. Nor is the principal character a dark ‘loner’ figure, fighting archetypal ‘evil foes’ against all odds. They are more about life, police work, teams, greed and misadventure… and a clever Welsh woman who solves cases.