The Pictures: Shortlisted for the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award - Hardcover

Guy Bolton lives in London and has worked in publishing, film and television. He currently works in drama at the BBC. Guy is also a screenwriter whose work has been optioned by Bedlam Productions, Hat Trick and Tiger Aspect. The Pictures is his first novel. Last year it was short-listed in the Telegraph Harvill Secker crime writing competition.

"Guy Bolton manages to create real atmosphere in THE PICTURES. Kudos to him for that atmosphere ― which isn't restricted to just the MGM lot and the glamorous Lilac Club downtown, but also includes several disparate Los Angeles neighborhoods where interesting crimes might take place."
- NPR Books
"An astonishingly accomplished debut."

―Daily Mail
"A splendid read...handled with great skill...[Bolton] paints a portrait of the period with a confidence usually reserved for old survivors.’

―The Times
'[A] laser-sharp noir thriller.... vividly evokes a vanished era while delivering a tale as mesmerising as any of the great movies of his chosen period."

―Financial Times / Crimetime

"Bolton spins a lurid tale of Hollywood after dark, complete with drugs, prostitution, and pornography.... nicely mixing Hollywood glamour with backroom sleaze."
―Booklist
"Brilliantly atmospheric and compelling."

―Mail on Sunday
‘Craine is not the usual maverick cop and his ambiguous nature makes this novel tick... Place and period are lovingly described.

―Spectator
“Riveting and absorbing.... It is no coincidence that you are put in mind of some of the greats of hardboiled writing with this first-rate vibrant story.”

―Shots Magazine
Star Pick: “an impressive new take on a well-worn noir location: 1930s Los Angeles.”

―Sunday Times Crime Club
"A flawed hero and a fascinating background & times make for a great read."

―Maxim Jakubowski, Lovereading
"A skillfully written, atmospheric tale."

―Literary Review
"It's one of those books which you pick up idly ― and don't put down. Definitely recommended."

―The Bookbag

"Guy Bolton's debut noir mystery, The Pictures, is a hardboiled delight: a fascinating, twisted puzzler with well-developed characters. It's 1939, and Los Angeles police detective Jonathan Craine is a Hollywood studio "fixer"--covering up domestic abuses, back-alley abortions, illicit affairs and drunken car crashes that might tarnish the reputations of movie stars and executives employed by the city's biggest and most profitable industry: the movie studios. After months away from his post following the suicide of his actress wife (spun as a "dreadful accident"), Craine is immediately embroiled in two crimes that threaten the production of The Wizard of Oz.

Called to the scene of a young woman's brutal murder, Craine's kneejerk reaction is to downplay the savage violence at the scene and instead reframe the crime as a botched robbery. The following morning, MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer summons him to help cover up the suicide of Herbert Stanley, a producer and husband to one of the studio's biggest stars, Gale Goodwin. When Craine is paired with rookie detective Patrick O'Neill (who has his own issues as the son of a famous police officer), Craine begins to awaken from his grief and complacency. Instead of brushing aside inconsistencies in the two cases, the two detectives decide to investigate the seedy links between the deaths.

The Pictures is a compelling and dazzling debut for fans of Raymond Chandler and James Ellroy. Bolton's tightly paced mystery vividly re-creates 1930s Hollywood and is enriched with complicated, fascinating and flawed characters."

-- Shelf Awareness