Paint, Gold and Blood

(CC) Photo: Jerry Bauer
Michael Gilbert on the back cover of Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens, 1982

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Paint, Gold and Blood is a 1989 suspense novel by the British mystery and thriller writer Michael Gilbert, published in England by Hodder and Stoughton and in the United States by Harper & Row. It was Gilbert's 25th novel and....

Plot

Unusual for a Gilbert novel, it is difficult to immediately discern its direction. It begins with its youthful protagonist, Peter Dolamore, on a bicycle trip along the north coast of France during the spring break at his boarding school in England. Perfectly bilingual in both French and English as a result of having lived with his French mother in Paris for his first 11 years. He has just spent a uncomfortable few days at the château of a wealthy Englishman who has a vineyard and an extensive art collection in the Médoc area of Bordeaux—the Englishman is the uncle of an attractive girl who is a close friend of Peter's at his boarding school and has suggested Peter's visit.

Reception and/or Appraisal

The New York Times and Kirkus Reviews had very different appraisals of it:

The New York Times:

Kirkus Reviews: .