Into the Vortex (A Tim Simpson novel) - Hardcover

When Tim Simpson goes to Notting Hill Gate to meet four strange men who claim to have a large and important Wyndham Lewis painting in prospect for him, he tells no one about it, for back at White's Bank, where Tim runs the Art Fund, the atmosphere of crisis and change is not receptive to the treasure-seeking excursions Tim finds so congenial. All is not well at the bank; mysteriously, while Tim has been away in France, the notorious Piers Hargreaves, a powerful and disruptive tycoon whose amorous exploits regularly grace the tabloids, has been brought into the bank's orbit and threatens major upheaval.

Events begin to take a sinister turn, and soon one of the strange men is killed by a hit-and-run driver, and another loses his life just as Tim seems to have found a connection between him and the unlikely rural source of a large painting whitewashed over for use as a pantomime backdrop.

As though this were not enough, the arrogant Hargreaves's ambitious and mendacious presence is threatening the Art Fund, Tim's job at the bank and even his marriage. International financial connections and the brooding, maverick ghost of Wyndham Lewis crop up everywhere in Tim's investigations, and slowly but surely he is drawn into a violent vortex that threatens to suck in all that he cares for...

A tightly plotted and fascinating art mystery that will keep the reader guessing until the very last page.

ACCLAIM FOR JOHN MALCOLM:

'Hung Over'

"Customary resounding entertainment".
John Coleman, 'Sunday Times'

"The mystery is neatly plotted and the characters well drawn".
Susanna Yager, 'Sunday Telegraph'

'The Burning Ground'

"Delightful Tim Simpson – as good in the rugby scrum as he is on lesser-known 20th-century painting".
Felicia Lamb, 'Mail on Sunday'

"Busy, sardonic, unflaggingly well informed".
Philip Oakes, 'Literary Review'

'Sheep, Goats and Soap'

"Briskly entertaining stuff, full of fascinating throwaway information".
Matthew Coady, 'Guardian'

"Fizzes pleasantly".
Marcel Berlins, ' The Times'