The Goldenacre

In Edinburgh, Scotland, a painting called The Goldenacre by Scottish artist and architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh is given to a public gallery by the owners in order to avoid heavy inheritance taxes. Thomas Tallis is a representative of the government sent to authenticate and evaluate the painting. When he arrives in Edinburgh, a local artist is brutally murdered. Shona Sandison, a local reporter, is covering the murder. Then a member of the local council is also killed. In disjointed fashion, two separate story lines follow Sandison and Tallis as their personal dramas and the lines of inquiry they follow slowly progress. Miller presents an intriguing plot but fails to execute it in an entertaining way. The two protagonists are depressing and dejected. The separate story lines fail to converge until near the end of the book. While the concerns over the painting and the connection to the dead artist are resolved, the resolution of the second murder seems an afterthought. The conclusion is also disappointing.