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Bored septuagenarian Maureen enlivens a pub lunch by asking her shocked fellow National Trust volunteers what item they'd steal from Ham House. This harmless game plants a dangerous seed in her head.
With no children of her own, Maureen has become very close to her niece and great-niece, after her sister died over ten years earlier. So she's distraught to hear that they're relocating to New York. At the volunteers' Christmas party, she also learns that her favourite painting will move to a Scottish castle. Gripped by an apparent eve-of-life crisis, Maureen plans to steal the painting during onsite filming of a Poirot drama. After a series of narrow escapes, Maureen makes off with the swag.
The novice fine art thief is rumbled by some fellow room guides, but snitches get stitches and instead of grassing her up, camaraderie wins out and they decide to help.
Often written off as an insipid old fart, Maureen's new set of friends make her feel alive again. No longer quite so invisible, can this unlikely pensioner gang return the now infamous painting without being caught by the Feds?
With over five million members, the National Trust is a huge British institution. Yet, next to nothing has been written about it in terms of contemporary fiction. Until now.
For lovers of upmarket cosy crime, No Oil Painting will have you rooting for Maureen and wishing you were part of her crew.
A propos de l'auteur
Genevieve Marenghi's writing uses dark humour to probe the difference between our perception of people and their true selves. The gulf between what is said and what is meant. While No Oil Painting explores themes of insignificance and loneliness in older age, it is mainly intended to entertain and offer the reader some respite from the everyday grind. Genevieve's work has been listed for the 2021 Curtis Brown, CBC and Women's Prize Trust Discoveries Prize, as well as the Writers' & Artists' Short Story Competition 2024. She also received 'an honourable mention' for the Failing Writers' Podcast Festive Flash Fiction Competition 2024. With a degree in English and Philosophy from Exeter University, she worked for eleven years at the Weekend FT, where she helped create and launch How To Spend It magazine.Genevieve lives in London's burbs with her husband. While she never tires of the Big Smoke, her soul lies on the wild north Cornish coast. She also enjoys visiting her daughter in Manchester - another great city. Fuelled mainly by chocolate, crisps and Prosecco, she values live music and old friends. Recently, she has developed an alarming fondness for museum shops and fridge magnets.
