Review: A Portrait in Time by Charles J. Schneider

Published: August 2013

Pages: 309

Synopsis: “A contemporary thriller that delves deep into a surreal psychological drama complete with art, love, ancestry and time travel. A beautiful naked woman and the grotesquely crushed body of a man mysteriously appear in the main gallery of the Musée d’Orsay, the famed Paris art museum. There’s no trail of blood and no external clues. The man is naked and has no I.D.—but the body appears to have been crushed by tremendous external forces. The man’s fingerprints turn up nothing: he doesn’t seem to have ever existed. The only clue Paris detectives have is a fleeting glimpse of someone else on the museum’s surveillance video. Someone who looks identical to the museum’s own assistant director, Susanne Bruante, a woman with a sterling reputation in the art world. And a rock-solid alibi, but one she may not want to make public: Susanne is involved with the museum’s own executive director, a married man, a relationship meant only to further her own career. With Inspector Michèle Crossier of the Police Judiciare on her trail, Susanne finds herself a prime suspect in a murder mystery that grows more bizarre by the hour. Who is the mystery woman, if it isn’t Susanne herself, and where is the woman hiding? Where did the body come from, and how could it have been crushed within the museum without leaving any other evidence behind? And how does the apparent murder tie in with Susanne’s news-making and controversial theory about a certain nude model in the nineteenth century—a theory that, if proven, could make Susanne’s career? Forced to come up with answers or face more scrutiny from the police, Susanne must call in favors from some of the people she’s loved and left, including an old boyfriend who happens to be doing research—on time travel.”

Rating: *****

The title suggested a time travel element (confirmed by the blurb), which was an intriguing idea in a murder thriller that opened up endless possibilities for both culprit and motive.

The blurb and opening of the book reminded me of how the Da Vinci Code started with the museum curator being found dead inside the museum. But that is where that particular comparison stopped.

The second half of the first chapter was incredibly well written. I remember at school doing an exercise where you had to describe something in great detail to an alien so they would understand our strange human customs or actions. This is exactly what Charles Schneider does when his character appears in the present; taking note of everything and wondering at every minute detail, for example how the flooring fitted together. This clearly conveyed how the character was feeling and what they were experiencing. To go into that much detail strongly suggests a confident writer who is aware of his characters and strives to make them believable and relatable.

A Portrait in Time felt both old fashioned and modern at the same time, and the two strands fit together wonderfully. It just seemed to work. Initially when reading A Portrait in Time, I wondered where it was going and how it would all come together, but when I started thinking about it and chatting about the novel to friends I realised how much it did work and go together and how much I was enjoying it.

The ending was just as good as the rest of the novel. With a very interesting twist that sets things up nicely for the sequel.