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Tim Simpson #3
Gwen John Sculpture
Book by Malcolm, John
199 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1986
About the author
John Malcolm
214 books7 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
John Malcolm is the pseudonymn of John Malcolm Andrews, who lives in the south of England. He is an English author on antiques, journalist and crime writer, engineering businessman and author – as John Malcolm – of the Tim Simpson series of art crime novels and as John Andrews of the first Price Guide to Antique Furniture (1968) and Managing Editor of Antique Collecting magazine
Most of his novels feature Tim Simpson, art investment specialist, and the series began with 'A Back Room in Somers Town' in 1984. '
Born in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, he is the son of May (née Whiteley) and Ernest Andrews, an engineer, His education was at Sale High School in Manchester and The British Schools of Montevideo (1946–1950), he returned to to England as a boarder at Bedford Modern School (1950–1955), and then attended St. John's College, Cambridge, where he read Engineering and was Captain of the Lady Margaret Boat Club. He graduated MA in 1958. Andrews worked as design engineer (1958–63), an export sales manager (1963–70), management consultant (1970–76), and international marketing manager (1976–90) before setting up his own business as a machinery broker in 1990,
In 1966 he was a founding member of the Antique Collectors' Club and published its first book under the name of John Andrews with The Price Guide to Antique Furniture (1968). He went on to write more books on antique furniture and is currently Managing Editor of Antique Collecting magazine.] He was Chairman of the Trustees of Rye Art Gallery from 1995 to 2004.
He published his first crime novel in 1984. He was Chairman of the Crime Writers' Association from 1994–5 and wrote a number of short stories.
Andrews is a member of the Crime Writers Association and the Society of Authors. He married Geraldine Lacey (a picture restorer) on 25 March 1961. The couple live in East Sussex and have one son.
John Malcolm is the pseudonymn of John Malcolm Andrews, who lives in the south of England. He is an English author on antiques, journalist and crime writer, engineering businessman and author – as John Malcolm – of the Tim Simpson series of art crime novels and as John Andrews of the first Price Guide to Antique Furniture (1968) and Managing Editor of Antique Collecting magazine
Most of his novels feature Tim Simpson, art investment specialist, and the series began with 'A Back Room in Somers Town' in 1984. '
Born in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, he is the son of May (née Whiteley) and Ernest Andrews, an engineer, His education was at Sale High School in Manchester and The British Schools of Montevideo (1946–1950), he returned to to England as a boarder at Bedford Modern School (1950–1955), and then attended St. John's College, Cambridge, where he read Engineering and was Captain of the Lady Margaret Boat Club. He graduated MA in 1958. Andrews worked as design engineer (1958–63), an export sales manager (1963–70), management consultant (1970–76), and international marketing manager (1976–90) before setting up his own business as a machinery broker in 1990,
In 1966 he was a founding member of the Antique Collectors' Club and published its first book under the name of John Andrews with The Price Guide to Antique Furniture (1968). He went on to write more books on antique furniture and is currently Managing Editor of Antique Collecting magazine.] He was Chairman of the Trustees of Rye Art Gallery from 1995 to 2004.
He published his first crime novel in 1984. He was Chairman of the Crime Writers' Association from 1994–5 and wrote a number of short stories.
Andrews is a member of the Crime Writers Association and the Society of Authors. He married Geraldine Lacey (a picture restorer) on 25 March 1961. The couple live in East Sussex and have one son.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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January 17, 2021I bought this for more money I usually spend on a book because the idea of a mystery book about Gwen John (artist and one of the many victims of the vampiristic Auguste Rodin!) was just too tempting to resist...
And what did i get? A boring book where the writer spent more time talking about the dry industrial process of making paper than art...
BORING does not cover it...
stilted dialog too...
In short, if you have not guessed it, i did not like it!
And what did i get? A boring book where the writer spent more time talking about the dry industrial process of making paper than art...
BORING does not cover it...
stilted dialog too...
In short, if you have not guessed it, i did not like it!
June 10, 2025
🍷
Throwing in the wine glass as well, because the book is chockablock with art history and lots of background on artists we’ve “known” but now know a lot more about, and of course the usual exposition on artists of a lot less repute, but still interesting for all that. Tim Simpson is another of those “tough guy” ‘tecs and heroes, fast with his fists and fully able to take on any assailant, which he somehow often seems to need do, and come out on top (usually.) Mickey Spillane was a bit before my time and certainly nowhere near as cerebral so I would not make that comparison, but he fits in neatly beside Jonathan Gash’s Lovejoy and Marvin Albert’s Pete Sawyer (The Stone Angel) - Lovejoy a deal more raffish and less adept at the physical tumult, Pete Sawyer more a traditional detective…but all 3 might have originated from the same gene pool, fellows you’d be happy to have at your side in a scrape.
Here Simpson heads to rural France to meet a woman who claims to have a Gwen John sculpture, actually a sculpture of Gwen John done by Rodin! If authentic, it would be quite a coup should White’s Bank and its Art Investment Fund obtain it for their collection. But things go quickly off the rails as soon as he arrives and it takes a good deal to get all back on track. Hard to put down.
Throwing in the wine glass as well, because the book is chockablock with art history and lots of background on artists we’ve “known” but now know a lot more about, and of course the usual exposition on artists of a lot less repute, but still interesting for all that. Tim Simpson is another of those “tough guy” ‘tecs and heroes, fast with his fists and fully able to take on any assailant, which he somehow often seems to need do, and come out on top (usually.) Mickey Spillane was a bit before my time and certainly nowhere near as cerebral so I would not make that comparison, but he fits in neatly beside Jonathan Gash’s Lovejoy and Marvin Albert’s Pete Sawyer (The Stone Angel) - Lovejoy a deal more raffish and less adept at the physical tumult, Pete Sawyer more a traditional detective…but all 3 might have originated from the same gene pool, fellows you’d be happy to have at your side in a scrape.
Here Simpson heads to rural France to meet a woman who claims to have a Gwen John sculpture, actually a sculpture of Gwen John done by Rodin! If authentic, it would be quite a coup should White’s Bank and its Art Investment Fund obtain it for their collection. But things go quickly off the rails as soon as he arrives and it takes a good deal to get all back on track. Hard to put down.
August 2, 2009
This entry in the series is a little more violent (that's by British and not American standards), and involves a sculpture of Gwen John by Rodin. Much of this one occurs in France, and it is a fairly satisfying read. Again, the art part is interesting...and the bank stuff in this one didn't confuse me quite as much!
May 28, 2011
Pretty good English mystery, interesting art background, but credulity stretched by the leaps of logic taken on the way to resolution.
September 12, 2015
Another good read in this series but I want to get the first book to read next.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews